While organizing and decluttering, I found an old treasure trove of fantasy football things. These items included old newsletters, drafts, rosters, and other stuff from our dynasty league going back thirty years. So, as an ongoing exercise, I will do an occasional newsletter that will include some of this fun history of our league and the NFL. There was some really cool stuff that I could not wait to share, but I figured it would be more fun to roll it out over time. Thus, I will throw in the occasional tidbit.
One of the fun things I found was our draft from 1999, and since we are about to begin our draft this year, I figured we would look back into that draft from over twenty years ago. So here is a photo of the draft tracking sheet I used.
Remember, this was pre-computer management for fantasy leagues, so we did everything by hand. So this was the sheet I used to keep track of things during the draft. There are some really entertaining things to point out about that 1999 draft. First, notice that this was an email and phone draft.
It was 1999, there was no texting, and I am not even sure if we had cell phones yet. Of course, people were starting to use cell phones, but I do not know if any of us had them. Also, notice that everyone did not even have email. Amazing how much things have changed in the last 25 years.
Actually, it is kind of amazing that we are all still alive. I think the prevailing theory was that we would all die on January 1st. Either the computers would take over or some giant Inca god would end the world because their calendar ended. Or, maybe that was just an excuse to party a little more.
The next thing that caught my eye was how many scratch-outs there were due to trades. There is no list of the trades, just who ended up with the picks and the player selected. Any rostered players would have been scratched out and switched on different pieces of paper. Just wild to think about how we managed all that with pen and paper.
While I love the websites, as the person who has to deal with all the settings and such, I am not sure it saves any time. Sure, tallying up the points was a lot harder back then as we had to wait for the USA Today to get delivered at 3 AM, and live scoring is awesome, but dealing with all that website stuff is still a significant pain in the arse.
Okay, back to all the trades. Some picks were traded multiple times (scratches and re-scratches), and that was after typing the draft order up with regular-season trades already factored in. Even back then, we were very active trading picks.
But the trades are just the beginning of the fun observations about this draft. Next, Let’s look at the first pick by the old Rocky Mount Rattlers (Justin). Love you and miss you Justin.
It shocked me when I saw this. Justin was a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Hurricanes. So if he was on the clock and there was a Cowboy or a Hurricane available towards the top of the rankings, he was sure to take them. But somehow, he took Ricky Williams over Edgerrin James. And Edgerrin was selected ahead of Ricky in the actual NFL draft. Edge went 4th, while Ricky went 5th. It just does not seem like this could have happened. Justin skipping over a Cane to take a Longhorn. What? That just seems blasphemous.
Well, it probably had to do with all the publicity involved with Mike Ditka trading all his picks for Ricky.
That marriage didn’t work out for Ditka and Ricky, as the Saints went 3-13 that next season and fired Ditka. But, oh well, it certainly was fun.
I knew that was a bad season for the Saints but could not remember how bad, so I looked it up real fast. When I did, I noticed that the Saint’s three quarterbacks that year were Billy Joe Hobert, Billy Joe Tolliver, and Jake Delhomme. With two Billy Joes and a guy with a French name in Louisiana, the Saints certainly played to their local audience back then.
The Ricky and Ditka marriage also gave us one of our great sayings, “I will also throw in Ditka.” Which of course means adding all of your picks to the the trade. I for one have on multiple occasions offered a double Ditka. Just classic.
So anyway, Justin takes Ricky. There I was, sitting at number two and always chasing the hyped-up guys, so there is no doubt I was hoping and expecting to get Ricky. But Edge was a great player for me who carried me for about five years while the Ricky and Ditka marriage collapsed. Like I always say, better lucky than good, even in drafting
There is another classic story from this draft. This 1999 draft included Wayne’s famous Champ Bailey selection in the first round. Drafting a DB in the first round is not a good plan. It never was and never will be. So, Wayne did not take Champ because it was a good pick per se. What made it a good pick is that everyone knew me, and I was one pick behind Wayne. Look, fantasy football is supposed to be fun, and I have always been willing to make the fun move over the smart move. And everyone knew I wanted Champ, even if I had not explicitly stated my intentions to take him so early.
So, Wayne takes Champ and knows I will overpay to trade for him even more than I was going to overdraft, which I did. Now, I do not exactly remember what I gave up. But you can see Jevon Kearse and Chris McAllister going to Wayne on the right.
Jevon alone makes this a big win for Wayne. But, if I remember correctly, I also had to give him a pick the next year and a decent offensive player. All for a guy who was never a fantasy asset. One of my worst trades ever, which is saying something, and a shrewd move by Wayne to take advantage of me.
However, this was still an excellent draft for the Hurricanes. Once again, better lucky than good. The Edgerrin James and Daunte Culpepper combination was the foundation of a team that led the Canes to five Super Bowls and three Championships over the next six seasons. That was one of the best six-year runs in our league history.
Drafting is an absolute crap shoot because there is no predictability to it. But, like in the NFL, one good draft can spur you on to a big run of success. So maybe this year, someone will draft the foundation of a team that will carry them on an extended run. Good luck to everyone. And remember, better lucky than good, so just have fun.