Back in the early 2000s, I got hooked up with a couple Fantasy Football writers that wanted to start a new league with me. Josh Kerkau and Brian Roberson invited me to join their Absolute Gridiron Association, which 10 years later, I now deem “The Most Interesting Fantasy Football League Ever.”
To put it simpy, this was a dynasty, IDP, auction league. But, as you can imagine, it was much more involved than that. A few weeks ago, a friend told me they were changing from a straight yearly league, to a keeper league – with an auction draft. That reminded me of this league, and it made me realize just how special this league really was.
Over the past decade, I’ve worked with dozens of other writers, including my five years at CBSSports.com. Dave Richard and I would always discuss strategy about this league, as he helped me gauge the incoming rookies every season.
The league was incredibly intense, and owners bowed out every few years, including Kerkau, who was out after three or four seasons. I finally left the league in 2010 – after never coming very close to winning it.
The auction draft was a slow draft held on MyFantasyLeague.com – an awesome site for handling quirky leagues like this – and any other league, really. Basically, you’d nominate a couple players at a time, and the entire league was able to bid on the player. The player was won after nobody bids on the player for 24 hours. So a bidding war would ensue, then it would slow, and finally, after 24 hours of no one bidding, the player would be won.
We had a rookie draft every season. Seven rounds of rookies were selected every year, in a worst-to-first non-snake order. Each rookie slot was given a salary number, which counted toward your salary cap.
Our salary cap would gradually increase each season, just like the NFL’s salary cap.
When you cut a player, your cap penalty depended on how many years left that player had on his contract.
We made it so that the $100 yearly league fee increased to $125, with $25 going into a jackpot that rolled over each season until Year 4, when the winner of that season got a Super Duper Jackpot. This helped keep owners in the league from year to year, since they had already invested in future seasons.
Below, I’ve copied over the entire rules for your reading pleasure. I’m sure there are many leagues out there that borderline the similar amounts of insanity that this one had. Shoot me an email through the Contact page and tell me about it!
Is your league the most interesting Fantasy Football league ever?
I. Divisions and Schedule
A. The AGA League will consist of three divisions of four teams. League primary website will be found at myfantasyleague.com. The 2010 URL is www8.myfantasyleague.com/2010/home/33721#0. All league reports can be found there. Teams will be placed in divisions according to their order of finish the prior season. 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th ranked teams are in the Gulf Coast Division. 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th ranked teams are in the Great Plains Division. 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th ranked teams are in the Rocky Mountain Division. The AGA schedule will be posted before rosters are completed.
B. The regular season will be 13 weeks. Each week, each team will play two other teams. During weeks 5 and 10, each team will play three other teams. The trading deadline will be kickoff of the first week 10 game.
C. Playoffs will begin week 14. The three division winners gain the top three seeds in the playoffs. The three wild card slots will be awarded to the three teams with the best records regardless of division. In the event of a tie of records, the NFL tie-breaker system will be used to determine playoff teams.
To Break a Tie Within a Division, Two Clubs
1. Head-to-head
2. Best won-lost percentage in games played within the division
3. Best won-lost percentage in common games
4. Most net points in division games
5. Most net points in all games
6. Coin toss
To Break a Tie Within a Division, Three or More Clubs
1. Head-to-head
2. Best won-lost percentage in games played within the division
3. Best won-lost percentage in common games
4. Most net points in division games
5. Most net points in all games
6. Coin toss
To Break a Tie For The Wild Card Team
1. If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply the division tiebreaker
2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps:
To Break a Tie for Two Wild Card Teams from Different Divisions
1. Head-to-head
2. Best won-lost percentage in common games, minimum of four
3. Most net points in all games
4. Coin toss
To Break a Wild-Card Tie with Three or More Clubs
1. Apply division tiebreaker to eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to Step 2.
2. Head-to-head sweep, applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.
3. Best won-loss percentage in common games, minimum of four
4. Most net points in all games
5. Coin toss
D. Playoff teams will be matched up like this:
WEEK 14
· #3 SEED (LOWEST DIVISION WINNER) HOSTS THE #6 SEED (LOWEST WILDCARD)
· #4 SEED (WILDCARD) HOSTS THE #5 SEED (WILDCARD)
· #1 and #2 SEEDS RECEIVE A BYE
WEEK 15
· #1 SEED HOSTS THE LOWEST REMAINING SEED
· #2 SEED HOSTS THE HIGHEST REMAINING SEED WINNER FROM WEEK 14
WEEK 16
THE ABSOLUTE GRIDIRON BOWL!!
1) Lineups must be submitted for every week of the playoffs. Carry-over lineups from the previous week(s) are not valid.
2) During the playoffs, teams will be allowed to submit a list of backups (one per position) that will be used if a starter does not play or is injured in the first half of his game and doesn’t return. Proof of this must be obtained from NFL.com via the play by play account of the game or be picked up by an agreed upon news source.
II. Rosters
A. Construction
B. Injured Reserve
C. Practice Squad
III. Starting Lineups
STARTING LINEUPS will consist of 20 total players.
IV. Scoring and Statistics
OFFENSIVE SCORING and BONUSES:
DEFENSIVE SCORING and BONUSES:
* Offensive players can only score offensive/special teams points.
* Defensive players can score defensive/special teams points and offensive points.
V. Transactions
A. Free Agents
B. Waivers
C. Trades
NOTE: In order to sign Restricted Free Agents and/or Tagged players in the offseason, the signing team must have the appropriate draft picks as specified in the rules.
D. Contract Extensions
YEARS ADDED | PERCENTAGE CONTRACT LOWERED |
One Year | 10% |
Two Years | 15% |
Three Years | 25% |
VI. Franchise Setup
A. Please be creative when putting together the cosmetic side of your franchise such as identifying team colors, helmets and locational information in the extra comments section of the ADVANCED FRANCHISE SETUP window on the website. Please visithttp://www.inside99.net/Helmet_Project/ to find a helmet that fits your franchise best. Creativity is encouraged!
B. It is suggested that each owner name his team in the conventional CITY/STATE/REGION – Mascot format. Example: Florida Tarpons, Carson City Gun Runners, Bangor Behemoths…etc. The city/state should be an actual location in North America. (That would be Canada, USA, or Mexico for those short in the geography department!) We are just trying to be uniform and also trying to convey the image of quality ownership. Sexually suggestive or culturally insensitive team names may be replaced if complaints are voiced.
VII. League Funds
YEARLY COMPENSATION BREAKDOWN:
TOTAL LEAGUE FEES: $1100
2011 PROGRESSIVE COMPENSATION BREAKDOWN:
TOTAL LEAGUE FEES: $2000
MVP/GM of the Year voting
At the conclusion of the AGA season, all owners are obliged to participate in three votes. The owners will vote for an Offensive League MVP, a Defensive League MVP and the General Manager of the Year. The vote will be conducted via email. Each owner will vote for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category. The votes will be tallied with 1st place votes = 3 points, 2nd place = 2 points, and 3rd place = 1 point. Highest point total wins the award. Owners may not vote for their own players or themselves (GM). Notification for voting will be sent out the week before the ABSOLUTE GRIDIRON BOWL and will be due a week after the championship game. Failure to vote will result in LOSS of a 2ND round pick in the upcoming Rookie Draft. If offending owner has multiple 2nd round picks, the highest one will be forfeited. If offending owner does not have a 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft, a fine of $1 million salary cap will be levied for the following season.
League payouts will occur within 30 days of the MVP voting results.
VIII. Rookie Draft
The AGA Rookie draft will be held at the completion of the Free Agent auction each season. The draft order is NFL style (not serpentine) based on reverse of records. Trading of draft picks is allowed before and during the draft. An owner is not allowed to exceed the salary cap at any point. Future draft picks can be traded, but no more than two years in advance. The draft will last 6 rounds. Owners may draft rookies and move them directly to their Practice Squad and not incur any cap costs during the rookie draft if they have vacant PS slots to do so.
Rookie salaries will be determined by the following chart:
Rookie Salary Chart
Round | One | Round | Two | Round | Three | Round | Four | Round | Five | Round | Six |
#1 | 2.00M | #13 | 1.40M | #25 | 1.00M | #37 | 500k | #49 | 200k | #61 | 100k |
#2 | 1.95M | #14 | 1.35M | #26 | 950k | #38 | 450k | #50 | 200k | #62 | 100k |
#3 | 1.95M | #15 | 1.35M | #27 | 925k | #39 | 425k | #51 | 200k | #63 | 100k |
#4 | 1.90M | #16 | 1.30M | #28 | 900k | #40 | 400k | #52 | 200k | #64 | 100k |
#5 | 1.85M | #17 | 1.30M | #29 | 850k | #41 | 375k | #53 | 175k | #65 | 100k |
#6 | 1.85M | #18 | 1.25M | #30 | 825k | #42 | 350k | #54 | 175k | #66 | 100k |
#7 | 1.80M | #19 | 1.25M | #31 | 800k | #43 | 325k | #55 | 150k | #67 | 100k |
#8 | 1.75M | #20 | 1.20M | #32 | 750k | #44 | 300k | #56 | 150k | #68 | 100k |
#9 | 1.70M | #21 | 1.20M | #33 | 700k | #45 | 300k | #57 | 150k | #69 | 100k |
#10 | 1.65M | #22 | 1.15M | #34 | 650k | #46 | 250k | #58 | 150k | #70 | 100k |
#11 | 1.60M | #23 | 1.10M | #35 | 625k | #47 | 250k | #59 | 125k | #71 | 100k |
#12 | 1.60M | #24 | 1.05M | #36 | 600k | #48 | 225k | #60 | 125k | #72 | 100k |
IX. Contract Options
A. Contract Types
After the initial player auction, all owners will need to designate contract length for each player. Deadline is one week from the end of the rookie draft. If contract lengths are not designated, default contract length will be one year. There are benefits and drawbacks that owners will need to weigh when assigning contract lengths. Here are the four types of contracts and the pay increases involved. Increases are based on original bid price.
4 YEAR CONTRACT | 3 YEAR CONTRACT | 2 YEAR CONTRACT | 1 YEAR CONTRACT | |
Year 1 | Original Bid | Original Bid | Original Bid | Original Bid |
Year 2 | Original Bid | 15% increase | 20% increase | N/A |
Year 3 | 25% increase | 30% increase | N/A | N/A |
Year 4 | 50% increase | N/A | N/A | N/A |
A. Restricted Free Agents (RFA)
B. Franchise Tags
C. Transition Tags
X. Free Agent Auction
XI. Cap Penalties
4 Yr | 3 Yr | 2 Yr | 1 Yr | |
1yr left | 25% | 25% | 25% | 50% |
2 yr left | 40% | 50% | 50% | N/A |
3 yr left | 50% | 75% | N/A | N/A |
4 yr left | 75% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Teams that exceed their cap with a winning bid or finish the draft without meeting their roster minimums will have that winning bid voided and will be penalized as follows:
XII. Expansion Contingency
In the event that an owner departs or is removed from the league, an “expansion team” format will be put in place the following off-season. The specifics of this format will be voted on by the league on an individual team basis, but can include the following:
XIII. Amendments/Rule Changes
Each off-season the owners will have the opportunity to submit rule changes to be voted upon by the league. Rule changes will need a majority vote (7 owners).
XIV. Owner Expectations
In this league owners will be expected to adhere to the following principles.
· NEVER GIVE UP TRYING TO WIN YOUR NEXT GAME
· DO NOT BICKER WITH OTHER OWNERS
· DO NOT ASK FOR “SPECIAL” FAVORS FROM THE COMMISH
· DOUBLE CHECK YOUR SCORE EACH AND EVERY WEEK
· PAY YOUR LEAGUE FEES ON TIME
· ADD YOUR OWN FLAVOR TO MAKE THIS A DYNAMIC, FUN LEAGUE
· DO NOT ENGAGE IN ANY FORM OF COLLUSION OR DUMPING…
– Owners may be relieved of their franchise by a vote of at least 8 other owners if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the league.
– It would take three incidences of “misconduct” for removal to be put to a vote. 1st time = warning, 2nd time = probation, 3rd time = vote for dismissal.
– Probation shall be a 2nd round draft pick and loss of $1 million cap dollars
Collecting Dream Team rookie cards is a must for any basketball card collector, but it’s…
We came up with this list of gifts for card collectors because we know it…
The first couple years of Topps cards were pretty great, but the 1954 Topps Baseball…
These 2024 Topps Update boxes are so hot, it forced me to create this post,…
Looking for the best Topps baseball cards from each set, each year? It's a common…
Grabbing the best 2024 Topps Update rookie cards is always a good idea, since the…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
This is an awesome league type. I created it about 10 years ago! Cool to see someone else took it and made a few modifications. We use the same exact system for baseball too.