Parsippany Fantasy Football League celebrates 30 years

PARSIPPANY – At fantasy football drafts nationwide, millions of people currently are debating who to pick for their fictional squads. Andrew Luck or Aaron Rodgers? Adrian Peterson or Marshawn Lynch? Dez Bryant or Odell Beckham Jr.?

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But three decades ago in Parsippany, one group of friends remembers debating Joe Montana and Walter Payton years before fantasy football became the phenomenon it is today.

Fantasy football’s roots can be traced back to the early ’60s but it didn’t reach mainstream until the Internet became widespread in the ’90s, so the Parsippany FFL – celebrating its 30th season this year — was significantly ahead of the curve.

The first public fantasy football website wasn’t launched until the late ’90s by CBS, which the Parsippany FFL uses for their league today. Other organizations including Yahoo, ESPN, and even the NFL eventually followed suit and the game has skyrocketed in popularity during the past decade, with about 41 million people playing fantasy sports according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

The Parsippany FFL started in the 1986 season when the then group of six were just 14 years old and really interested in sports. The first player drafted in league history was quarterback Dan Fouts.

“Those first few years we were writing names on toilet paper in one of our bedrooms,” Parsippany FFL commissioner Rob Reiber said. “Back then you only got points for touchdowns. The rules changed as fantasy football adapted.”

Reiber, now 43 and living in Randolph, joined in the second year, and after a few years took over commissioner duties for the league.

“I remember when we were all in college and I would be fielding 11 people calling me to set their lineups every Sunday morning,” Reiber said. “Then I’d get up at 3 a.m. Monday and go to the 7-Eleven, waiting for USA Today to come in so I could see the official box scores from the games.”

Most of the in-season discussion would take place through phone calls and handwritten letters during those college years.

“It was a lot of work, but to be honest I kind of miss that, the research you had to put in. Now anyone can just go online and print out a list,” Reiber said. “The Internet made the game a lot easier, from the accessibility of statistics to trash talking through email.”

Eddie Weiss, league secretary and unofficial historian, joined the Parsippany FFL in 1990 and the draft has been held at his home in Parsippany for the past two decades.

He’s created an extremely detailed 43-page “Owner’s Guide” to celebrate the 25th season, and keeps up-to-date career statistics in an Excel spreadsheet.

“I’m an accountant so I like keeping track of things,” Weiss said.

According to the statistics, Matt Levine is the winningest player in league history.

The league has evolved through the years, with rules changing with the times. After starting as a touchdown-only, six team league, Parsippany FFL is now a 12-team points-per-reception league.

Teams field one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end and a kicker. The league doesn’t use defenses and now has a super-flex position, allowing for teams to choose an additional player, usually a second quarterback, as they typically score the most points.

The first eight rounds are an auction-style draft, followed by a traditional snake draft for the final rounds.

Of the 12 teams, 10 people are Parsippany High School graduates, classes of 1990 and 1991. Two are around from the league’s first year, and most of the rest joined over the next few years. When there’s a rare opening spot, Reiber said he tries to fill it with someone from Parsippany.

The league always drafts the Sunday before Labor Day at Eddie Weiss’s house in Parsippany, giving them all a reason to return to their hometown for the holiday weekend.

Last place from the previous year always supplies dinner.

Unlike many fantasy leagues, no teams have funny names, just the names of the people who control them.

“We tried funny names one year, but it didn’t take,” Reiber said. “We’re too old school.”

Every summer they league gets together to go over any rule changes, which then go in the official Constitution.

The buy-in for the league is $200, divvied up between a few different competitions including the traditional head-to-head format. But the true championship goes to the team with the most total points scored at the end of the season. That winner gets their name engraved on the league trophy, which they keep for the year.

Like any fantasy league that’s been around for some time, Parsippany FFL has its share of memorable stories, like the time a kicker — typically selected at the very end of draft — was picked in the first round by longtime league member Jeff Edelstein.

“Listen, I wasn’t the only one (that drafted a kicker early),” Edelstein said. “I forget who, but another kicker went right after.”

Edelstein finished in fourth place out of six teams that year.

For the 25th anniversary, Weiss sent that kicker, Tony Franklin, a letter explaining the story. He responded by sending a signed photo, lambasting Edelstein for drafting him in the first round.

And just like in poker, players seem to remember their bad losses more than their victories. Reiber vividly recalls then-Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson prematurely spiking the football before crossing into the end zone a few years ago.

“That play cost my fantasy team six points, which under most circumstances wouldn’t be a big deal, except that year I lost the total point championship by four points,” Reiber said. “That premature spike by the rookie cost me a championship.”

Weiss still remembers the “Big Trade Controversy of 1998.” Three weeks into the season, the top scoring team acquired Barry Sanders, the number one pick of the year.

“We had conference calls about whether or not we should let the trade,” Weiss said. “It’s a very competitive league. Hard to pull anything over on anyone.”

Weiss said the league stayed together for three decades, including difficult college years, because of the “natural bond” between the Parsippany graduates.

“There’s that competitive nature but also the history, and there’s no better day of the year than our draft day,” Weiss said. “It’s the only league I do. I’ve been in other leagues, but they haven’t done anything for me. It’s just a lot of fun with this group of guys. It’s not about the money, it’s about pride.”

With just days to go before the football season kicks off, the year’s teams are now locked in for their historic 30th year after drafting Sunday.

“Honestly, I’d play for free. It’s about bragging rights,” Reiber said. “The thing I love about fantasy football is it keeps me in touch with people. Knowing I’ll see these guys every year, talking nonstop through football season, it’s really great.”

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636;mizzo@GannettNJ.com