Chris Johnson Takes Right Stance in Fantasy Football Rant

Sep 22, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson (28) rushes against the San Diego Chargers during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Last Sunday after the Tennessee Titans dismantled the New York Jets, Chris Johnson took to Twitter to address his critics. However, this time, the critics weren’t the Titans faithful—they were the less-than-thrilled fantasy football owners of CJ2K. Johnson struggled to find any running room against an aggressive Jets defensive line. He ran for a mere 21  yards on 15 carries (1.4 yards per carry).  Below were Johnson’s tweets:

"“Public service announcement: I can care less about fantasy football. Key word fantasy. As long as we win I’m happy. I rush for 200 n lose y’all happy.” – @ChrisJohnson28“U r the head coach n the owner of ur fantasy team so u should be mad at urself I didn’t ask any of u to draft me so if I’m so sorry y start me.” – @ChrisJohnson28"

For fantasy owners, this rant was a proverbial punch in the nose, although he is quite right. Fantasy football can bring out the worst in people, not the players. Too many times, players’ Twitter feeds are full of harsh, hateful and downright disturbing comments after a player underperforms their “projected” points.

As a CJ2K fantasy owner and Titans fan, I like the rant. It shows that Johnson may have had a breakthrough as far as his emphasis on stats are concerned. Every year, we hear CJ talk about how he wants to exceed 2,000-plus yards. Now his focus has turned to winning games.

I always want to see the Titans come out on top with a victory. If CJ can put an exclamation on it by helping me win my fantasy game, then it makes the victory sweeter.  But just like he said, if he runs for 200 yards, people who drafted him for fantasy purposes are excited, but maybe he doesn’t accomplish his No. 1 priority: winning.