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While I have won Fantasy Football championships in the past, this year was simply not my season. Early in the year, I thought I’d CRUISE to a final thanks to a roster that included Matthew Stafford, Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon, Mike Evans, D.J. Moore, and Mike Williams. In fact, for the first month of the season, I was in first place by some distance. But then it all came crashing down.
Sam Darnold and the Panthers became who we thought they were (big Dennis Green energy, RIP), which brought Moore down to WR3 status. Mike Williams decided to stop catching touchdowns. While Joe Mixon carried me for a while, Nick Chubb was an absolute disaster of a first-round pick considering how many analysts consider him to be the best “pure runner” in the league. Baker Mayfield playing with one arm certainly didn’t help, either. Now, while I did make the playoffs as the five-seed — which is really all you can ask for, just get into the dance and see what happens — I was knocked out in the quarterfinals after my team put up literally their worst point total of the season. Pain.
Still, there were, obviously, hundreds of thousands of people who made it to the Fantasy Football championship this weekend, with a staggering number of those games likely decided by Najee Harris’ game-ending, relatively meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown run against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.
NAJEE CALLED GAME@ohthatsNajee22 | 📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/0vaG5Vj4j4
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 4, 2022
It should come as no surprise that the reactions on social media to Harris’ decisive run ranged from pure jubilation to abject horror.
Pure Jubilation:
https://twitter.com/_mikaylaboone/status/1478224466740232193
https://twitter.com/showtimetim10/status/1478224256680878080
Shout-out @ohthatsNajee22 for getting that last second touchdown to give me a fantasy football championship belt 🙏🏻 I owe you big time for that Touchdown Mr Harris…. pic.twitter.com/ZibQtFwDHn
— Huncho3oH (@huncho3o) January 4, 2022
@ohthatsNajee22 i love you so much. Won me my fantasy super bowl on the touchdown run you just earned yourself a life long fan.
— Zach (@Zach_Master_54) January 4, 2022
NAJEE HARRIS JUST WON ME MY FANTASY CHAMPIONSHIP ON THR FINAL PLAY LETS GOOOOOO
— Vance Boyer (@VanceBoyer) January 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/cmooonmane/status/1478223838747893760
https://twitter.com/Lupin_2nd/status/1478322669112250374
Abject Horror:
Everyone who just lost their fantasy championship on that Najee Harris TD pic.twitter.com/QBn3snUfMl
— FantasyLabs NFL (@FantasyLabsNFL) January 4, 2022
Just lost my fantasy championship by .15 points on that Najee Harris run. pic.twitter.com/v671an6LME
— Doug Norrie (@DougNorrie) January 4, 2022
Lost my league on that last Najee Harris touchdown. I hate fantasy. pic.twitter.com/1ds7tbidRl
— Dookie Fresh (@dookie_fresh1) January 4, 2022
Lost the fantasy championship…when Najee Harris ran for that score pic.twitter.com/s9qx1bNeCv
— JJ McCarthy Stan 〽️ (@CallMeHOV) January 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/ZaySwoope/status/1478223944620593152
Was up by 5 in the fantasy championship with 1 minute left in the Steelers Browns game. My opponent had Najee Harris. Needless to say I am retiring from fantasy football.
— Trevor Szelis (@tszelis16) January 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/HazlettCw/status/1478224008927752196
That Najee Harris meaningless touchdown just cost me a few grand. Worst fantasy loss of my life.
— Jay (@KingJay_89) January 4, 2022
Look at the glass half full, championship game losers: if your league had a decent buy-in, odds are you still won yourself a solid payout by coming in second place. That’s certainly more than I can say about my squad this year.
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