Sam Hendricks is a fantasy sports writer, member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) and author of five books on fantasy football in addition to playing in various fantasy football leagues (including some High Stakes Leagues) each year.
After completing four years at the University of Virginia, Hendricks graduated in 1986 with a degree in Environmental Science with a specialization in Meteorology. His "weather" degree would help him in his career as a USAF aviator. For the next seven years he flew in various aircraft earning his wings and finally flew in both the RF-4C and the new (at the time) F-15E.He earned three aerial achievement medals for combat missions during Operation Desert Storm before leaving the military in 1993 to pursue his hobby in fantasy football (which started in 1991 while stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC).
Several years later in 1998 he completed his Masters in Businesss with another Masters in Individual Personal Finance from City University of Seattle.
From 2002-2006 he taught graduate level classes with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Sam is married to Birgitte Hendricks, the Danish creator of SewDanish, a Scandinavian Textile Art company.
He continued to play and win fantasy football and commish for leagues on three continents over the next thirteen years until 2006 when he "retired" from his work as an F-15E instructor to write Fantasy Football Guidedbook
Sam plays in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC), NBC Sports Fantasy Football Championship and the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He has a .725 winning percentage in regular season games in the WCOFF. In 2008, he finished in 7th overall in the FFPC out of 180 competitors.
His first book, Fantasy Football Guidebook, was published in 2007 and is a comprehensive guide to playing fantasy football. The 400-page book attempts to cover every fantasy football subject available. Topics range from the history of fantasy football to ranking players to draft strategies and finally the psychology of fantasy football.
Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football is a 2007 reference book that describes in detail the various strategies, tips and rules of how to play fantasy football. The early chapters include the history of fantasy football, the basics, types of leagues, scoring systems and types of drafts. Once this groundwork is set then the book delves into deeper topics such as ranking players, draft day tips, draft theories and strategies and advanced draft theories.
Fantasy Football Guidebook sets itself apart from other books on fantasy football with two complete chapters dedicated to auction drafts (Chapter 11 Auction Tips and Chapter 12 Auction Strategies). Additionally, Individual Defensive Players (IDP) and Keeper/Dynasty leagues are also examined in detail. Roster management is discussed in Chapter 13 Start/Bench Strategies, Chapter 14 Free Agency Upgrade and Chapter 15 Trades.
The latter chapters explore the high stakes leagues such as the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) and National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and preparations for them (Chapter 16 and 17). Commissioners will be interested in Chapter 18, Rules Variations and Chapter 19 Commissioner Information. Finally, the last few chapters cover injuries, resources and fantasy football enjoyment.
Fantasy Football Almanac is a reference book for the 2007 fantasy football season and published in 2007. It is the first book in the Fantasy Football Almanac series and releases annually in May. Fantasy Football Almanac contains the first and second round draft picks from the past four NFL drafts, free agent and coaching changes, offensive line and strength of schedule analysis, team predictions, IDP, rookie and keeper rankings and more. Fantasy Football Almanac includes over 250 player projections, rankings and cheat sheets for use in fantasy football drafts for 2007.
The 158-page book also covers the NFL schedules: preseason, regular and post season as well as bye weeks and draft strategies. Sprinkled in between topics are fantasy football expressions or quotes. Fantasy Football Almanac can assist fantasy football players in preparing for the upcoming season whether they are participating in a traditional or auction draft format.
Sam’s rankings, projections and Expert analysis appear in numerous fantasy football magazines, including Fantasy Football Index, Fantasy Football Draftbook and Fantasy Football Diehards. Sam is also an expert participating in Fantasy Index’s weekly online “Ask the Expert” column at www.fantasyindex.com.
Fantasy Football Guidebook was named "Top 4 Fantasy Football Book of All-Time" by RotoNation.com.
USABookNews.com, an online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced Fantasy Football Guidebook as a finalist in sports of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS” 2008 AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2008.
Finalist in Sports category of the IndieExcellence 2009 Awards
In 2007 Sam finished in the playoffs in every “expert” league in which he competed.
In 2008 Sam finished 7th overall (out of 180 competitors) in the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC)