Think you can beat us?
This season, we're throwing down the fantasy football gauntlet in the brand new Buccaneers FANtasy Challenge. It's you versus us, fans competing with Buccaneers insiders. One league, 12 teams, nine fans and three self-styled experts. One live draft night to remember, complete with special guests, held in the very same room that the Buccaneers use to conduct their actual NFL Drafts.
Who will end the season with fantasy football bragging rights, the fans or the pros? Could it even be you?
Here's our lineup of ringers who work at the AdventHealth Training Center:
• Casey Phillips, Team Reporter, Buccaneers.com
• Scott Smith, Senior Writer, Buccaneers.com
• Carmen Vitali, Staff Writer, Buccaneers.com
That's our team and we're brimming with confidence. If you want a chance to be on the other team and prove it's the fans who really know best, follow the link below to a submission form. Tell us why you think you can beat us, in 250 characters or less by July 29. We'll pick the six best stories and form our Buccaneers FANtasy Challenge League.
And if bragging rights aren't enough to motivate you, well, there's more good news. There are real prizes at stake. The winner, should it be one of the nine fans, will be invited to the Buccaneers' headquarters, where she or he will receive a trophy, a tour of the facility, a custom jersey and a package of pregame passes and four (4) Mercedes-Benz Hall of Fame Club tickets to the Buccaneers game against Atlanta on December 29.
All nine fan competitors will actually get a chance to visit the AdventHealth Training Center, because the draft will be conducted, naturally, in the Buccaneers' Draft Room on the evening of Thursday, August 22. That's the same space that Jason Licht and his player personnel staff use to plan, prepare for and finally conduct the Buccaneers' efforts in the real NFL Draft every spring. You'll feel like an NFL G.M. for a night, and then perhaps prove you deserve to be one during the fantasy football season.
Team owners must commit to that single draft night and to run their teams through the first 16 weeks of the NFL season. Complete league settings and rules will be shared with the entrants once the lineup of owners is set. The league will be private, but weekly results will be covered on Buccaneers.com in detail, which means other fans will know just how well you're hanging with the experts. Don't play if you can't take the heat!
