Kicking Off the League Year

Well. Here we are.

You can feel it, can't you? That first cool Wednesday night of September, the lights come on, and — boy — there is just nothing like it. I have been doing this a long time, and the night a season kicks off still gets me every single year.

And tonight, the Bad Hombres league year is officially live. The rosters are set. The trash talk is warmed up. And somewhere out there, twelve grown men are refreshing a Yahoo app like it owes them money. Welcome back, fellas. This is the good part. This is what you drafted for.

And what a night to do it. The real thing starts tonight too — the champs, the Seahawks, hosting the Patriots under the lights up in Seattle, right there on our air. You talk about a way to open a season. So pour something cold, put the phone on Do Not Disturb, and let's take a walk through your Week 1.

Now, The Week 1 Slate

Now, here's a guy — Jason, your commissioner — sitting there projected to win his opener, about 130 to 124 over Drew's I Stand with Jordon. And I love it, I do. But let me tell you something: this man did not draft a quarterback. He is starting Jaxson Dart. You talk about living dangerously — that's a fella walking the high wire with no net, and I cannot wait to watch it.

Tola's Alien Awareness draws Erick and the King in the North — and boy, if you're Erick, coming off a year where you spent more time with the trainer than the trophy, you have got to feel good about a healthy start. Tola's favored by a touchdown on paper. But that's a heck of a football team on the other side.

Here's the one I've got circled: Critical Chase Theory and Carlie’s Headset — Hoa and Dylan — projected inside three points of each other. Now here's a guy in Hoa with maybe the best group of receivers in this whole league, going up against Dylan and that young quarterback Jayden Daniels, who — you talk about a weapon — can beat you with his legs and his arm. Three points. That is a cold-Sunday-night kind of ballgame.

Your defending champ, David's Drain the Swamp, gets Pastor Wes and MikeLee4 Prez — and that's the biggest gap on the board, David favored by a dozen or so. But listen, that's why they play the games. Wes went from dead last a year ago to one of the best rosters in this league, and if there is a week for the football gods to smile on a preacher, brother, it is Week 1.

Chris — and he is calling his team "Maye the Force Be With You" now, which, I love the effort — takes on Matt's San Diego Chillin’, and Matt has got the one thing the entire industry agrees on: Josh Allen. You talk about a security blanket at quarterback. Matt's a slight favorite, and I would lean that way right there with him.

And then the warm-up act of the week: Adam's Suck My Diggs against SEWP and the Sewer Pigeons. Adam's the favorite — which, if you know Adam, is exactly the kind of setup the universe draws up just to break a man's heart in Week 1. I'm only being honest with you.

Let's Play Some Football

So there it is. Twelve teams, one trophy, a whole season out in front of us. And those projections? They're a nice place to start the conversation, but you and I both know this thing gets decided out on the field — on a Sunday, when somebody's kicker yanks an extra point and some waiver-wire fella nobody's heard of goes for a buck-forty and wins a man his week.

Buckle up. The 2026 Bad Hombres season is here, and I for one cannot wait to watch every minute of it.

Let's play some football. — From the Booth