The moment I knew Urban Meyer was finished as head coach of the Jaguars wasn’t after another team loss, or an unusual player decision, or when he didn’t fly back with his team for questionable reasons. It wasn’t when he admitted a player’s vaccination status impacted roster cuts, which violated an agreement with the NFLPA. It wasn’t even the team’s overall lack of competitiveness or when he was feuding with players.

I knew he was done when he gave a disinterested handshake to Mike Vrabel after getting shut out by the Titans, and just wandered away by himself. He didn’t want to be there and he didn’t have the decency to give Vrabel (who worked with him as an assistant at Ohio State) a few seconds of genuine praise and congratulations. Because when you lose your sportsmanship in addition to everything else, you have no business even trying to compete anymore.

Unfortunately, that last sentence applies to our game as well.

I’m sure you’ve seen the equivalent in your league: A team loses in the playoffs or misses the postseason entirely, and basically shrugs and disappears. A competitive, vocal participant ghosts everyone once their team isn’t in the running for the championship. Or maybe the championship game comes and goes without an acknowledgement from the rest of the league. In fact, eliminated teams don’t even log in anymore, so they have no idea who won.

This is probably my favorite column to write, because it highlights the worst part of fantasy football: The lack of sportsmanship when a title has been earned and a champion has been crowned. I honestly believe that if you can’t offer a few moments of praise and at least acknowledge your league champion at the end of each season, you should quit the league.

Congratulating the league champ is such a no-brainer that I don’t even mention it every year. Sometimes I let a few seasons go by before I bring it up. But right now seems like a perfect time, because I think we’re starting to slip on basic human decency. People are stressed out, tired of lockdowns and restrictions and just exhausted in general. It’s common to see ugly behavior in restaurants, flights, grocery stores and anywhere you might have to wait in a line. I’m not saying we’re a bad society. We’re simply not at our best a lot of the time.

In context, a fantasy football league doesn’t seem like a big deal, because it isn’t. But consider that it’s a wonderful distraction from everyday life, provides a lot of fun, competition and camaraderie, and helps you make new friends while you keep in touch with old ones. Even if you don’t win a single dollar, it provides a lot of value.

So if you put in months of effort and come up short, why not congratulate someone else who also put in a lot of effort and achieved their goal? After all, your league champ is probably one of the “good” managers, as opposed to the part-timers or folks who can’t be bothered to respond to a trade offer or even visit a message board. They’re active, they’re engaged and their efforts deserve to be acknowledged.

I used to say that a personal text or phone call was most appropriate, but I’ve scaled back my expectations over the years. Now I think even a public “congrats” is better than nothing, and at least shows you’re a good sport. But the better you know the winner, the more personal the congratulations should be.

Two examples regarding sportsmanship: Years ago, I played in a league where I would phone the winner each year and have a quick chat about how the season went. I was usually the only one to do that, and it was definitely appreciated. How do I know? Those champions would often become my trade partners in future seasons. We just seemed to be able to complete deals easier, and communicate better. I didn’t congratulate them for that benefit, but I certainly wasn’t sorry to take advantage of it, either.

There was another league I was in for several years. I was fortunate to win a few times, and placed in the money a few others. I had some good luck there, and it was a good league for my wallet.

I never received a single mention of congratulations in any of the years I won. Not a message or a text or even a generic thumbs up. I always got the money, but the league went silent after the last game and that was it until the following August.

A couple years ago I decided to cut back on the number of leagues I'm in, so some of them had to go. That league was the first one I dropped. I even kept a free league over it. I had no affection for it, no sense of camaraderie, and the money didn’t make up for the lack of fun. Would an acknowledgement when I won have made a difference? It wouldn’t have hurt. At least my effort (and I definitely put in my share) wouldn’t have been ignored.

Maybe some people don’t mind playing like that. They win or lose, collect the money or not, and move on. But that’s not how I’ve played over the years and I’m definitely not going to start now. I think common decency dictates that you congratulate your league champion, so I encourage you to do that right now. And if you won it all, allow me to congratulate you, and remember who took the time in your league to give you some kudos. They’re good managers and good sports. Every league needs more of them.

Do you always congratulate your league champion? Do you get congratulated when you win? Does it matter to you, or am I making a big deal out of nothing? Share your thoughts below.