Alexander Mattison situation highlights ugly side of fantasy football, gambling

Week 2 was forgettable for the Minnesota Vikings and Alexander Mattison. In addition to his team losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, the running back rushed for only 28 yards on eight attempts and lost a fumble.

But what happened after the game made Mattison feel sick. That’s when he opened up Instagram to find more than 60 messages he called “disgustingly disrespectful.”

Almost certainly many of these comments came from misguided fans who will gladly cheer on their players when they’re doing well but will curse them out when they mess up or don’t live up to their expectations. Legalized betting surely plays a part in this, along with the rabid nature of some fans.

But there’s also another underlying component that can’t be ignored: fantasy football.

Said Mattison: “There's a lot of fantasy football people out there, and they think that it's all fun and games. We have families. We have people that love us. We have people that we're doing this for. This isn't a fantasy. This is real life.”

While fantasy football actually dates more than half a century, it has become immensely popular over the last couple of decades. It’s now a massive financial industry estimated to bring in billions of dollars annually worldwide. 

For many people, fantasy football isn’t just about having fun or being able to get bragging rights over their friends; it’s about making money. Combine this with the anonymous bullhorn of social media, and it’s no wonder why idiots say outlandish things.

This problem isn’t a recent one, either. In 2013, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs got death threats for both himself and his family from a user on Twitter if he didn’t play well. Calvin Johnson, Justin Tucker and Nate Burleson have also experienced this type of vitriol. Burleson wouldn’t even reveal the worst messages he’s gotten, calling them “nasty and vulgar.”

In an interview in 2022, tight end Dalton Schultz, now with the Houston Texans, talked about the threats he has received: “Some of them are bad. I don’t know if I can say them all. I’ve gotten death threats for sure, over fantasy. I’ve gotten death threats from scoring too many points on fantasy from other people that were playing me.”

Then there’s Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Kevin Dotson and San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel and probably countless others who haven’t revealed the kind of online garbage they’ve had to endure.

It’s clear that fantasy football will continue to be big business for a long time, but what would happen if a deranged fan forgot about the “fantasy” part and took their online threats offline?