Vikings navigate hateful rhetoric created by fantasy football

The fantasy football playoffs have arrived and while star receiver Justin Jefferson is just as disappointed with his lack of production this season as the people who drafted him he couldn t care less about those internet championships on the line over the next minimal weeks No matter how various people slide into his direct message to voice their discontent It s very hard not to see it because we re in the day and age of social media Jefferson noted with a wry smile earlier this week at TCO Performance Center That s definitely not my favorite conversation The Vikings offensive struggles this season have had a residual effect on the production of their skill position players within the fantasy football realm That has resulted in multiple of them having to tackle a large amount of hate on social media They want to comment on all of my pictures Jefferson declared They want to be in DMs and all of that stuff It s nearly impossible for Jefferson to ignore the hateful rhetoric that comes across his page He s the face of the franchise with million followers on Instagram and the various brand deals that require his online presence He can t altogether divorce himself from the platform The same goes for veteran running back Aaron Jones He has million followers on Instagram and enjoys engaging with fans on social media whenever he can He doesn t even mind a few of the banter he encounters in response to fantasy football I like it Jones reported It can be fun I think the difficulty is a lot of people get lost in it That s where it can get messed up The logistics of fantasy football are rather straight forward for those that might not be familiar with the concept A fantasy football owner builds a unit by drafting skill position players then sets a starting lineup on a weekly basis that goes up against other teams in their league The scoring system is also fairly intuitive as skilled position players earn points based on production The goal is to amount as may points as attainable Fantasy football has been a net positive for the league in the aggregate More than a decade ago NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about fantasy football noting the impact it has had on growing the tournament He added the existence of fantasy football inherently creates more interest for a longer period of time Even if the Vikings are destroying the Commanders like they were last week for example multiple fans are going to stay tuned in until the very end because of fantasy football implications There were nearly million people playing fantasy football across the United States in according to an article from USA In the present day and that number has steadily increased since then That it s been good for business isn t lost on tight end T J Hockenson He referenced how there are more eyes on the NFL than ever before There s an argument to be made that the positives of fantasy football outweigh the negatives It can get a little bit out of hand Hockenson stated We re humans and specific people don t look at us like that As he reflected on particular of the hate he s dealt with on social media Jones emphasized there s a line that gets crossed far too often from fantasy football owners They say whatever they want while hiding behind a keyboard I m sitting here like Where s the respect ' Jones announced We don t come to them at their job and criticize I know that s part of being in the NFL and that s what comes with it It doesn t make it any easier to deal with when it s literally happening The comments occasionally gets so out of pocket that Jones feels the need to respond I try not to stoop to their level Jones mentioned I can t help myself He also consistently has to remind himself to keep everything in perspective They aren t at this level Jones revealed They can t do what we do As for how running back Jordan Mason has handled it he keeps a low enough profile that he s managed to block it out as much as achievable My friends do all that fantasy football stuff Mason disclosed They know not to talk to me about all that Though he made it clear he doesn t condone the hate being spread on social media right tackle Brian O Neill offered a different perspective while also acknowledging that he doesn t have to deal with the backlash of fantasy football by nature of his position At the core of it we re in a revenue sharing model So the more people that care about the NFL and the more people that can interact with the contest in avenues like that the better the league does and in turn the better we all do O Neill commented I know it s easy for me to say that being immune to all that stuff Would guys want a lower salary cap if people didn t care as much I d guess possibly not He s seen the impact of fantasy football on a personal level My wife had a bunch of friends in town O Neill announced They play fantasy football And before they started playing fantasy football they weren t fans of the NFL It helps get more eyes on us A rising tide lifts all boats As the fantasy football playoffs begin the numbers speak for themselves when looking specifically at the Vikings No skill position competitor on the roster is presently in the Top of scoring at their position Jones is ranked as the No running back with points Mason is the No running back with points Jefferson is the No receiver with points and Hockenson is the No tight end with points Not that any of them are thinking about fantasy football or the hate on social media as the Vikings prepare for their primetime event against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at AT T Stadium I kind of look at it as motivation Jefferson explained Just seeing the comments that they leave and seeing the opinions that they have That s something that motivates me To go out there and shut them up Related Articles The Loop NFL Picks Week Vikings star Justin Jefferson still cares about reaching yards J J McCarthy definitively looked the part for the Vikings Is it sustainable The Loop Fantasy Football 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