Fantasy Football: Have Some Fun

I have been playing Fantasy Football for 21 seasons now. I go back before there were magazines dedicated to it, before there were websites and 'gurus.' Before the rules (some of which I'm sure were borrowed from me) were even established.

Over the years, I got tired of the plain, vanilla, cookie-cutter way everyone has done it—even though I was one of the guys who established those rules.

I also hate salary caps and auction leagues. With 16 teams, there is no time for that, anyway.

The way I like to play is in a 16-team league. Why? It cuts down on the luck factor. You gotta know your stuff on draft night, or you'll be twisting in the wind by October.

One of the wrinkles of the draft is that each team gets to draft one rookie, who they will put a franchise tag on. That player is the only player a team can keep, and they can only keep him for two seasons.

For those of you who are daring, you should try it. I find it keeps all franchises interested until the very end. 

16 teams broken into four divisions. The regular season lasts 13 weeks, with all teams making the post-season tournament. There are prizes for division winners, high game (regular season), most points and most yards.

The regular season is a grind. With 16 teams, there is hardly any free agents worth picking up, but sometimes you can get a few usable parts. Moves are free and unlimited, but done in power-ranking order each week.

That is the skill part of our program.

To show I'm not a hard-hearted guy, the tournament is where the fun is (and the most money, too). The seeding is based high-seed. low-seed but it's like a game of wolf-tag. After every round, the winners get to draft two players off the roster of the team they just beat. By the finals, most teams look completely different. It's wild.

I find this method to be the most fun. You guys should give it try.