I have been in this industry for a long time and have met many types of people. From someone coming from the lower level of fantasy circles and trying to make my way to somewhat respectable spot its hard to get there with out help from other people from social media spots. I have run into some that have helped a bit and some that have helped out greatly. One guy that helps out on almost all of my topics posted on twitter, has helped me find players for my 16 team dynasty league and was a huge part of our first couple fantasy football round tables was Eric Dickens of Dynasty League Football. With that said I thought I could give him as much help as I could by doing a little interview with him.
FFHD Interview with Eric Dickens of DLF
Follow Eric on Twitter:@DLFootball
Mike: Having this debate with a buddy on who is a better player Lebron James or Kobe Bryant, what are your thoughts?
Eric:
As much as I hate to say it, Lebron.
Sadly I agree with you lol, If I were to start a team right now it would be with Lebron James as well. Enough about that tell me a little about yourself Eric.
I’m 31 years old, married to my high school sweetheart, and have a 10-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy. I’m currently working full-time in insurance sales, going to school full-time to become a high school history teacher/administrator, and I’m the social media specialist/marketer/recruiter for Dynasty League Football.
Social media has become an integral part of the fantasy football industry for sure and it’s how I met you so you must be doing a good job at DLF. Give me a little background about how you got into this industry.
I had played keeper/dynasty football for a few years and stumbled across DynastyLeagueFootball.com. I was immediately hooked and began posting in the forum quite a bit. I loved what DLF offered but noticed their twitter account was rarely used and thought it would be a great tool to promote the site. I wrote a couple of guest articles for the site in 2010 and in the spring of 2011 I began tweeting for DLF and it has evolved from there.
How long have you been playing fantasy football?
I’ve been playing fantasy football since I was 16 years old, so around 15 years now.
On an average how many leagues do you play in each fantasy football season?
Because of the amount of work there is to do in-season I really try to limit myself…however, I’ve found myself in 7 leagues again this year…my longtime redraft league with buddies, Race To The Bottom (an incredible part of the FPL Championship Series of leagues commished by @FantasyJedi & created by @EyeoftheGator) where the point is to score the least amount of points while still using starters, 1 auction/contract years dynasty league, 1 deep keeper league w/ IDP, and 3 standard dynasty leagues. I get requests for more all the time but have to turn them down in order to keep what little sanity I have left.
For the upcoming fantasy football season what is your major goal?
My goal is to help dynasty owners win their league. I really enjoy spreading the word about resources that can help the average dynasty owner and making sure they are equipped to win their leagues and develop their rosters into dynasties. On a personal note, I’d like to continue to improve my player evaluations.
Why did you get into this line of work?
I’ve loved sports my whole life and always wanted to be involved in sports, whether that would be writing, radio, tv, or otherwise. Fantasy football quickly became my hobby and once I found dynasty fantasy football I became hooked for life. I still follow other sports when I can, but ultimately I spend so much time on football that it’s pretty much it for me now. I guess you could say “I’m all-in”.
Where do you see your company 5 years from now?
I really think that the dynasty version of fantasy football is growing at a rapid rate and will soon be much more mainstream. DLF is the best dynasty/keeper site out there and continues to improve and grow. We have some of the best writers in the industry, an incredible community of owners in the forums and site owners that are passionate about what they do. I think the sky is the limit for where DLF can be in 5 years.
Where will the fantasy football industry be 5 years from now?
I think it might be a bit more streamlined than it is today. When I look at how many sites and blogs are out there, it seems never-ending. However, starting a blog/site and keeping one going for a long period of time can be a grind if you don’t love what you do and have a passion that drives you to keep going. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of those sites decide to go a different route altogether if they don’t grow in the first few years.
Why does DLF stand out from the rest?
There are several things I could point out here, but the first thing that pops into my mind is professionalism. We work really hard to make sure our content is valuable, credible, and timely for dynasty owners, while still being interesting. On the flip side, I love that our team of partners and writers at DLF are normal, everyday guys who happen to love dynasty fantasy football. We really try to connect with our readers and forum members, through various fashions, such as article comments, social media, our dynasty forum, and email. If you’re a dynasty fantasy football owner, you belong at DLF.
Favorites:
- NFL Team – Denver Broncos
- MLB Team – Hmm, my favorite Middle Linebackers are probably the 49ers.
- NBA Team – Quit watching professional basketball when Jordan retired…the third time.
- NHL Team – None
- College Team – Love UNC basketball, watch college football, but don’t have a favorite team.
- Dinner – Chicken Parmesan, but could be persuaded differently with my wife’s chicken taquitos.
- Drink – A good Belgian ale, such as Unibroue’s La Fin Du Monde, Boulevards Two Jokers or Chimay’s Grand Reserve.
- Pastime – Fantasy Football
Thanks again Eric for doing this the FFHD community greatly appreciates it. If you have any questions for Eric maybe he will answer them if you post them here.
