by Roger Rotter

Don't worry, we're here to calm your fears and debunk the 10 myths about fantasy football and tell you the real truths.

Myth No. 1: Fantasy Football is only for geeks

Truth: A father and son, or mother and daughter, may be paired together in a fantasy league with other family and friends. Old college or high school buddies may play fantasy football as a way to maintain their friendship and stay in touch. Co-workers can play fantasy football for bragging rights and a trophy. Hardcore football fans can use fantasy football to get deeper into the game, and lukewarm football fans can use fantasy to deepen their knowledge of the game or find a new way, and possibly even better way, to follow the NFL.

Myth No. 2: Fantasy football is make-believe football, with players made of cardboard cutouts that you move around on a board game based on the roll of a dice.

Truth: Real NFL players make up fantasy football. Instead of, or in addition to, rooting for an NFL team like the Patriots, you root for a specific player such as quarterback Tom Brady. If he throws a touchdown pass, then you get points for his feat.

Myth No. 3: You must put in hours and hours of study into fantasy football.

Truth: You just need a few minutes before the draft to print out the rankings sheets. You'll just cross out the names of the players who have already been drafted and then when it's your turn, just announce your pick to everyone. And then during the season, you just need a few minutes every week to set your lineup online.

Myth No. 4: Only football experts can win at fantasy football.

Truth: Anyone can win a fantasy football league title. Just because the experts might know the players better doesn't mean they will win. Some fantasy players are better than others, but some may do better than expected and some worse than forecasted. Nobody knows for sure which ones those will be.

Just imagine the Kentucky Derby. The horses are handicapped and given odds to see who has the best chance of winning. But the odds-on favorite doesn't always win. And in fantasy football, the top-rated players don't always turn out to be the best players at the season's end. Maybe you will draft one of those underrated players that will help you win. We provide draft guides (like cheat sheets) to help you on draft day and weekly advice during the season to help you win every week.

Myth No. 5: Fantasy football will get in the way of me cheering for my favorite team and cause me to root for teams that I don't like.

Truth: You will find that fantasy football just gives you new ways to follow the NFL without interfering with your enthusiasm for your favorite team. While watching your team play, you'll now find a new appreciation for those stats and score updates that scroll along the bottom of your television set. And don't worry about having to cheer for the Cowboys if you're a Redskins fan or something like that. You can cheer against the Cowboys, even if you do hope Tony Romo has a good game statistically.

Myth No. 6: Fantasy points are given out like Weight Watcher points. You are rewarded for personal sacrifice.

Truth: Fantasy points are given when your player does a feat on the football field, and you get rewarded for his good play.

Myth No. 7: A fantasy league is like a book club where your friends and/or co-workers meet weekly and share your innermost feelings and deepest thoughts.

Truth: A fantasy league is a weekly competition made up of your friends and/or co-workers who want to score more points than you for pride, bragging purposes or some combination thereof. You face a different owner every week in a head-to-head matchup from a preset schedule. Whoever scores the most points gets a win in the standings.

Myth No. 8: A football draft happens when a gust of wind nearly knocks you off your seat at a football game, an especially painful fate if you happen to be sitting in frigid Green Bay in December.

Truth: A fantasy football draft is when everyone in your league gathers together and picks players for your team before the NFL season starts on Sept. 10. You can get together and draft in person, or you can all get together online and draft via cyberspace in an online virtual draft room like FOX Fantasy Football offers when you sign up.

Myth No. 9: Draft rankings (or commonly referred to as "cheat sheets" in fantasy circles) are discretely found on the bottom of your league-mate's shoes to help him cheat in the draft.

Truth: Draft rankings are used by everyone to help figure out who to take, who's been taken and who's left in the draft. The players are ranked by their ability to score fantasy points and are categorized into different positions that most fantasy football leagues use: Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers and defenses.

Myth No. 10: The best fantasy players are found on Super Bowl teams.

Truth: The best fantasy players are found on both good and bad teams. Your fantasy players get points for yards and touchdowns. Just because the running back on your fantasy team lost in an NFL game, doesn't mean that he had a poor fantasy game. He may have run for 150 yards and scored two touchdowns, which could help your team win even if his effort didn't translate into a victory on the field for his real team.

Just enjoy the ride and have fun beating the football experts. Your co-workers will be mad they lost to you.