16 Tips on How to Draft Under the Influence
It’s pretty safe to say the most exciting, and anticipated, time of the fantasy football season is getting closer and closer - it's draft day.
I’ve been playing fantasy football since the 1990s—a time of no smartphones, no apps, and limited fantasy football websites and information. I think back then I owned a Startac phone, remember them? Each of those years, I’ve participated in or hosted a live, in-person draft.
For me, drafting with your league mates in the same room makes the day 10 times more fun. In the league I’ve been running for well over 20 years now, draft night is considered more like time away from the family, where we yell out some names, form some fantasy teams, and create a league in the process. It may be the one time of year I actually see some of my longtime friends.
At my drafts, I always provide snacks, and on occasion, I have even cooked out on the grill. The draft usually takes place on my patio, which can be quite pleasant on an early September evening in Pennsylvania.
If you know anything about me and my friends, you can conclude there is a 100% chance there will be alcohol at my draft. Just about everything is more fun with a couple of beers, and fantasy football drafting is no different. Much like playing golf, I'm pretty sure it's a law you have to drink while drafting.
Adding alcohol to any style of fantasy football draft can be a dangerous element, however. You've likely waited about 365 days since your last draft and that's a lot of time to build up excitement and anticipation. Fortunately for myself, having lots of experience drinking at drafts, I like to think I’m pretty good at it - and - have learned a few things along the way. And the best part is, I'm still learning.
Drafting under the influence can actually go beyond just your team. In the league I run, I not only have to draft my own team, but I also have to keep track of who paid me league fees, keep track of who everyone else is drafting, as well as play host. That can be hectic sober. Luckily, my experience, as well as the use of 4for4 tools, has certainly made my life easier—and by easier, I mean it allows me to drink more at drafts.
So here are some tips if you're planning to enjoy some drinks at your draft this fantasy season:
1. Get to Your Draft Early
This is something even non-drinking drafters should do. I like to get to a draft as early as possible. If someone says to show up any time after 7 p.m., I get there at 7:00:01 p.m. I like scouting out a good spot, feeling comfortable where I'm going to spend the next few hours, making sure my laptop has an outlet to plug into, and then doing some last-minute preparation before the rest of the people roll in. This is also a good chance to have a beer and get the butterflies out. I still get a little anxious on draft day, so getting set up early helps me out in several ways.
Sidenote: If at all possible, sit next to someone who you know will be less drunk than you, but still helpful, all while knowing they won’t get annoyed with you at the same time.
Related: 8 Ways to Keep Managers Engaged in Your Fantasy Football League
2. Be Prepared
If you’re using any kind of draft software, set it up ahead of time before you get to your draft. A friend of mine once showed up to my draft prepared to draft in a 10-team league. It was the most prepared he'd ever been — the only problem was we had 12 owners that year. What was probably a quick fix to adjust the number of teams from 10 to 12 turned into him giving up before the first pick was made, and turning his attention to beer the rest of the night. Paying attention to league rules or emails leading up to draft day when not under the influence is just smart. You can maybe have draft day papers printed ahead of time, because at my house, we’re out of ink in the printer for more days than we have ink. In other words, don't count on printing anything at my house. So either way, have a plan in place, be it Zero RB, Robust RB, QBs early — anything. If it’s in your head or already written down, there’s a better chance of success - and remembering. Drunk and blind is no way to draft.
3. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
We've all heard the above saying throughout our lives from any coach or teacher. Don't just practice, practice perfectly, or try until you get it right. This may be the most important tip I share in this column.
If you want to be successful at anything, sometimes you really need to submerge yourself in the project. In the weeks leading up to your draft, try to simulate your real-life drafting situation as close to reality as possible. I guess what I’m trying to say is, yes, you should get "draft drunk" and do some mock drafting at home. The more you do this, the more natural it will feel by the time the actual draft rolls around. It just makes sense.
It would probably be a good idea to warn your significant other and boss that August and early September could get a little dicey with any day-to-day responsibilities you usually have during that time. Maybe even show them this column as proof you aren't just making things up, and there's a legit reason for your actions and increased drinking during this time period. Unfortunately for them, Draft Season is just not going to be a very productive period around the house or in the office and there isn't much you or they can do about that.
4. Don't Be the Annoying Drunk Guy/Gal
It’s obviously fun to drink and get a little crazy at drafts. But it's very important you're not the drunkest person at the draft. You know, the guy or gal who predictably gets so drunk he can’t stand or even talk in a language anyone else can understand. This is especially true if you’re at someone else’s home. The last thing a host of a draft wants to do is clean up vomit, spilled drinks, or who knows what. Leaving a draft one time I witnessed a fellow league mate throw up in the host’s bushes by his mailbox. Not a smell I would want when the sun beats down the next summer morning. This tip will take care of itself if you practice perfectly. The drunkest person at the draft is often ignored or avoided because they're always up in your face. So your goal should be the second drunkest person to attend the draft because no one ever remembers that person.
Related: Tips for Hosting a Live Draft
5. Craft Beers and Hard Alcohol Won't Help
Personally, I try to stay away from hard alcohol on draft day. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just very dangerous for me, especially when my friends start mixing the drinks for me because I'm trying to run the draft. That’s never a good thing. I prefer to stick with beer, but in this day and age craft beer spells trouble, too.
I love beer.
My wife loves beer.
So I have no one in my life to discourage me from trying any new beer that is the latest and greatest in the beer world. Going to new breweries during my kids' soccer tournaments or games is a nice, little hobby in our family. Personally, I love a double IPA anywhere in the 7%-11% alcohol range. (You can follow me on Untapped at @spagel19). These go down smoothly from start to finish. But that's not always a good thing. During drafts, I've witnessed people falling over, falling asleep, getting sick, disappearing for a while - the list goes on.
So, something to think about for your draft day is some lighter beers. I’m not one of those beer snobs who look down on those who drink “regular beer.” I'll drink just about anything. A lot of my friends bring their own beer, so there isn't much I can do about their choices, but if you're going to provide any kind of beer, maybe keep it on the lighter side. I've found several, lighter IPAs that have fewer calories, and less alcohol, than Coors Light and Miller Lite, while still providing my taste.
6. Use the 4for4 Tools
This is probably my most obvious tip and maybe should have been listed first. You subscribed to this site, so let our award-winning tools and rankings do the work for you. I’ve been a big fan of our draft software over the years, such as Draft Hero—it can just about make the picks for you. Now, you still have to keep track, but hopefully, if you follow tip one, you’re still coherent enough to click names as they’re picked and let the software do the work for you when it’s your turn.
If using a laptop on draft day isn’t your thing, we do offer our Top-200 and Custom Rankings tools, which have printer-friendly options so you don’t have a ton of paperwork to drag along. And at this point, you already learned to print them ahead of time. Visiting our site every day and taking in every bit of information also helps. I’m a little biased toward our news section (because it’s part of my job here). Reading the fantasy news every day will make you absorb the information, and you’ll be shocked by what you remember, or at least what sounds kind of familiar.
7. Use the Little Drafter's Room—A Lot
An Irish friend of mine once told me if you’re going to drink all day, pee a lot to keep you sober. Seems like it makes sense, right?
After looking into this, it turns out urinating a lot while drinking doesn’t necessarily make you one bit more sober - it’s just a myth. I always wondered why he did it because it never seemed to help him anyway. But at the very least, your bathroom time can be a good time to reflect, take a breath, splash some cold water on your face, and gather your thoughts before your next pick. You can look at yourself in the mirror and maybe give yourself a pep talk, too. You can also make a plan for your next couple of selections and figure out a direction you want to go based on what you already did in the draft to this point, assuming you can remember. A moment of focus never hurts. Just make sure you get back before it's your turn to pick.
8. Eat and Drink Water
Speaking of myths, drinking water and eating isn’t going to sober you up either, which is sobering in itself to hear after all these years of believing that. Sorry for the bad news.
But obviously, it’s still a good idea to do both.
Drinking water will at least keep you hydrated and help you the morning after the draft when you’re taking a look back at your team. A lot of my friends will drink two beers, then drink water, and so on throughout the night. Now eating, according to Internet research, will at least help to slow down the absorption rate, which is something you should be interested in doing for a long draft day. But in the end, you’re still going to have the alcohol in your bloodstream. Coffee is only going to make you feel more awake, it isn’t going to make you any more sober.
9. Don't Get So Emotional, Baby
During your time drinking and drafting, you’re likely to experience a lot of different emotions:
Not Caring
Every year a friend of mine gets to the point where he’ll stare at his notes for what seems like forever before saying, “Ah, [bleep] it, I’ll take…”. It’s one thing to have this attitude in the waning rounds of a long draft, but in the early to middle rounds—that’s not good. If you find yourself beginning to not care at some point, it’s time to refocus. Maybe you can think back to all my suggestions and your many drunk practice drafts? Maybe it's time for a trip to the bathroom? Every pick counts.
Love
At some point when things get cloudy in your mind and picks start to take longer, owners will resort to taking a player from their favorite team. I always tried to avoid this no matter how much I drank. I will admit, I was known for drafting Donovan McNabb in pretty much the same spot, every year, in the same keeper league (during his good years). And, honestly, it worked. I actually didn't even love McNabb as an Eagles fan, but he was a solid QB to take a few rounds into a draft. And Brian Westbrook was a long-time, protected player in my keeper league. Taking your favorite NFL team’s players is certainly okay, but only at the right spot in the draft.
Anger
On the flip side, don’t avoid players you hate. In my league, most of my friends are also Eagles fans, so as the draft goes on, good players can sometimes slip due to the drunken anger and hate that starts to form. Hated players and teams at my draft usually include the Steelers, Patriots, Cowboys, and Giants in my league. I’ve scooped up guys from these teams late in my draft over the years, accepted the boos, dirty looks, death threats, and things thrown at me, and moved on to have those picks usually work out well. This can be a trend you can use to your advantage. In fact, drafting players you hate usually works out - because they’re probably good, and you hate them for that reason.
Spite
After a few beers, a lot of us think we get smarter. At that point, c-blocking starts to come into play. There’s a right and a wrong way to do this. In my two annual live drafts, we have a few Steelers fans and one Cowboys fan who the rest of us like to give a lot of crap. Usually, at a point in the draft where owners' level of caring starts to drop, they think they’re annoying those fans by drafting Pittsburgh and Dallas players. It’s one thing to do this early on in the draft, but taking a team’s WR5 just because you’re drunk and think someone else is going to grab him because he’s from their favorite team, well, that’s not a good way to draft.
10. Don't Take Long to Pick; Know When You're Up
The good and bad of a live draft is there’s usually no time limit. I’m rarely ever in a hurry during an in-person draft anyway, so I don't care how long it takes. They are too much fun. I’m so used to no time limit, in fact, that I’m kind of uncomfortable having one when I draft in leagues on a website.
No time limit can be good if a guy gets drafted right before you pick and you need to gather your thoughts and find another option. The bad part is some owners take full advantage of this, and after 20-some years, I know who these guys are. I usually use this opportunity to hit the bathroom, but all too often they are still on the clock by the time I’m done, still staring into their magazine. (That’s the beauty of our draft software, it’s up-to-date and all your options are right in front of you.) Either way, don’t take long to pick. Have a few options in mind before your pick that you’ll be perfectly happy with. It’s just common sense, drunk or sober.
The worst is the owners who just don't even realize it's their turn to pick. Knowing when you’re up is the first lesson in Drafting 101. At drunken, in-person drafts it only takes a few rounds to get used to who you follow in snake drafts. Then after a few rounds, it runs pretty smooth only to come crashing down in the extremely drunk, later rounds. Again, Draft Hero will prevent you from forgetting when you’re up to pick as long as you’re keeping track. Learn to know who is sandwiched around you during the draft. Sometimes it is fun to just sit and wait ... and wait ... and wait some more until the person who is up, finally asks "Who's up??"
One draft many years ago, the guy who had the final pick in the draft passed out before that pick was made, and he ended up not making the pick until the next day.
11. Keep The Background Noise Down
I love to listen to music, especially when having some beers. In fact, when hanging out with friends or during picnics, listening to music can make the beers go down smoothly. Most of my league mates feel the same way. As much as I love in-person drafts, I don't really love in-person drafts where there is total silence and you can hear people breathing and chewing. However, the flip side of this is music that's too loud. One owner in my league needs to control the music and after a few, he's always trying to turn it to max volume. As much as I worry about my neighbors, it's also pretty annoying when you can't hear the picks or have a conversation with the person next to you. Having music or a preseason football game on TV in the background is a great way to break up silence if it's at a reasonable level. And, of course, don't let the music distract you from your draft.
12. Clean Up
When I wake up the day after a draft at my house, I fully expect to have some cleaning and recycling duties to take care of. But one thing that’s annoying is finding draft notes and printed sheets (from other fantasy sources no less) scattered around my yard like a tornado went through. Do your host a favor and be sure to at least clean up your area when the draft is over. That may include throwing away your draft notes, picking up any cans or bottles or other garbage, and picking up any food you may have dropped while shoveling snacks in your mouth. I will say, that the more I have to clean up the next day, the more fun the draft usually is.
13. Work the Wire Quickly
Waking up the next day and trying to remember who you picked can be a fun exercise. I always check out my roster the day after and enjoy having the memories all come flowing back, especially when I'm pleasantly surprised by the selections.
But, if you’re horrified by who you picked, shame on you for not following my advice to this point. Get on the wire and get to work as soon as possible. This is something you should do anyway throughout the season, but there’s a chance in your soberness you’ll be able to switch a few of those mistakes out right away and not feel like your season is over before it begins.
14. Have Fun and Use Liquid Courage to Your Advantage
Sometimes it’s just necessary to drink in order to tolerate others in the league and make everything more enjoyable. One draft on a Labor Day, Monday night, this became necessary. I know I’m usually not in a hurry at a live draft, but a late Monday night when I have to be at work the next day is probably the exception. It was one of the worst draft experiences I’ve had, and thankfully beer helped me get through it.
But, drinking can be used to your advantage. Use your drunken confidence in your favor, especially later in the draft when it’s time for a flier or two. There’s nothing wrong with taking a chance on a late-round player no one else may have heard of, but you read about it while on our site and weren’t under the influence. There’s a certain point of the draft when you have to depend on luck anyway. We have plenty of tools here at the site that can help you get a better feel for late-round sleepers.
You can also use your drunkenness to rattle others in your league. A bold, snide comment here and there may cause a sober person to think twice about their pick. Getting under their skin and causing poor picks leaves more players for you.
Most importantly, enjoy yourself and your time with friends and league mates. For some of my friends, this is the one and only time of the year I get to hang out with them. My draft is one of the rare times during the year when everyone makes an effort to get together and hang out, and I’m very thankful for that and hope to keep this tradition going as long as it remains cool to be a fantasy football owner.
I've reached the point in my life where some of my friends' kids are now in my league, and that now includes my twin, 12-year-old sons. I'm excited by this prospect because I feel it will keep this longtime tradition going well into the future. While I always enjoy winning my league and rubbing it in everyone's faces, a big point of all of this is a sense of family, friends, and togetherness - which we celebrate with a beer. Well, not my kids or anyone underage of course. But they do make for great beer servants because it's kind of a rookie hazing tradition.
15. Be Safe
Obviously, you would be very smart to take the above tips as your drafting gospel this year. But in all seriousness, having a safe way to and from your draft is the most important and most serious thing when it comes to drinking on your draft day. While I did joke a lot in this column, the stories I shared were true. The older we've gotten, we have scaled back a lot and usually one free night to draft means the next day is packed with responsibilities.
I don't want to turn this into a lecture, but there are so many alternative options to driving drunk, so be sure to use one and even plan ahead to use one. If my friends don't have wives pick them up, they will Uber home. And like I said above, drinking water or coffee and eating isn’t a magic cure to sober up before you drive home. The damage has been done so don't drive.
16. Maybe Don't Have Plans The Next Day
If you're a younger fantasy player, this may be a lot easier to pull off. If you're my age, we'll say middle-aged, this can be easier said than done. It never fails that after I host my draft, there are going to be early-morning plans the next day. Maybe it's a good thing because, by this point in life, I've learned that maybe I should just tone it down, but that's easy to say until you're a few in and think, "I only need a few hours of sleep and I'll be fine." Having a clear schedule the day after is pretty much a bonus, so if you can plan that around your draft, it may be a good idea.
Enjoy the upcoming draft season everyone!
