On CBS Fantasy Football

A post of corrections ended with a glaring grammar error seemed … funny.

couldn’t stay healthy though.

So around 150 players are gone before auction and draft. (Technically you have a 250 dollar/15 man max cap, if you are over, you don’t get to keep 15 total players. I think twice we’ve seen a 13 player freeze roster, and once a 14).

Then we have an “RFA” (restricted free agent) auction prior to the draft, which is 25 rounds. You will have, at the conclusion of the draft, anywhere between 40 and 45 players depending on how many picks you have. (If you acquire additional picks, you can draft additional players. If you are short picks, at the conclusion of the draft you get to pick up compensation players until your 40 man minimum roster is filled… oh, and during the year you can drop below 40, but you get to start there at least.)

RFA auction starting bid is 10 dollars or 1/2 last year’s contract, whichever is higher. (For example Peyton’s starting bid was 53 dollars last year due to a 96 dollar contract.)

The RFA auction allows you to sign any player who was on a GLFL (Gordie Lockbaum Football League) roster at any time the year before. So, basically, no rookies. Arian Foster wasn’t on a team last year, so he wasn’t available. Some guys slip through the cracks every year and come auction time you WISH they were available.

You of course are not allowed to exceed your 250 alloted dollars during the auction (the cap is for freeze and auction, and doesn’t come into account during the season. We’ve debated a higher cap during season adding drafted player salaries, but are afraid it will restrict trading and weaker team’s ability to rebuild by trading established higher price guys to contenders in the stretch run.

One more thing— signing an RFA involved loss of a draft choice. 5th round for the first signing, then 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and even 1st round if you choose to go that route. Also, if you trade for an “RFA Pick” (any draft pick in the first five rounds) you then have additional opportunity to sign RFA auction players if you so choose.

This year, for example, we (co-GM and I) have already given up our 1st rounder, but we have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and two 5th’s through trade. RFA picks are HUGE trading chips, and most trades involve a combination of players and picks, and a GM needs to make moves thinking of both this year and the next, in regard to the picks, and the potential resigning/contract status and potential escalation of a player’s salary. You are allowed to trade picks two years in advance— basically as long as contracts extend.

After the auction concludes, we have the draft. Any player not signed in RFA auction and all rookies are now available. Last year the first 3 picks were Ryan Mathews (Fuck us, we traded up to get him and now some jackwagon wants us to give a future RFA pick for Tolbert now. UGH!)

We do things to balance the scoring like giving yardage escalations— for example TE’s get a bonus 5 points at 25 yards. Considering top players score around 10-14 a game, that’s HUGE and makes an upper tier TE not only a solid scorer, but a potential flex play if you have multiple.

Another neat rule we have is that we have no playoffs, but a couple times a year we have “matchup weeks” in which 1 plays 2, 3 plays 4, etc. Unlike playoffs which are slanted oddly, this allows you to build your playoff into the season when rosters are more complete and teams are playing games that matter, instead of the classic “week 16/17 bye week” screwing up the fantasy playoffs.

Not to brag, but we set this league up ourselves in 2004 and have revised rules every year since if there is a need— constantly trying to keep a balance and equality to both the contenders and the rebuilders, and the scoring evolution of the NFL. The league is super cool, we formed it in SoCal when I taught and coached with about 1/2 the league members.

Whenever I bring the GLFL up to “fantasy geeks” they’re pretty much blown away. This last year my co-GM and I drove down to Cali to participate in the draft live for the first time. It was a golf, poker and fantasy football loaded weekend. Not a bad way to kick off the NFL season.

Another benefit— in other leagues I don’t need a cheat sheet or anything. Our research for that draft is so intensive that I can pretty much just draft from memory and base knowledge in other leagues.

So yeah, that’s the league in a nutshell!