George Blanda Rotisserie Football League

     The George Blanda Rotisserie Football League (GBRFL) started out in 1993 with eight teams as the George Blanda League of the Armchair Sports Group (ASG).  ASG ran our league until 1997 at which time we began to administer the league independently.  For the 1997 and 1998 seasons we were simply known as the George Blanda League (GBL).  During the ASG years, the league was run by phone, fax and snail mail.  Those first two years we ran it, we did things primarily through e-mail, which was an improvement, but it was time we needed a web site.  In 1999 with the launching of our web site, it became apparent that a name better describing our league needed to be created.  Not wanting to abandon the "George Blanda" name, particularly after the publication of the 1998 Pro Football Weekly article naming good ole' "George" the number one all-time fantasy football player, we became the George Blanda Rotisserie Football League or GBRFL, emphasizing the roto-element of our unique fantasy system.

     We are now in our THIRTY-FIRST year, and during these years we have gone through many changes.  We have added, removed, modified and re-modified the rules of the game.  In the GBRFL almost all issues are dealt with in a democratic manner.  There also have been some issues regarding ownership in the GBRFL.  Due to our high level of competition and apparent growing interest in the league, we have had to black-ball owners, suspend owners as well as had owners succumb to the pressure and quit.  The current owners have 297 years of experience in fantasy football.  Of the original eight members five remain:  Steve Stegeman having 35 years of experience, Frank Gonzalez - 34, Dave Bohrer - 33, Danny Feder - 32 and Mark Hahn - 32.  The other members are Dave Trout, a returning owner in 1997 who was one of the originals and brings 39 years of experience to the table, Joe Parsons and Steve Warner, both of whom took over teams in 2000 and have 29 years of experience each, Travis Cooper, who entered the league in 2006 and has been playing for 21 years now, and James Bird, who joined the league in 2021 as a reexpansion owner and has 23 years of experience.  Notable past owners, with their years of participation in the GBRFL indicated, include: Rob Pak - 21 years, Rob Murtha - 7, Doug Owens - 4, Vic Fattore and Art Murphy.  To view the GBRFL's current and former champions, go to the "Champions" page.

     The GBRFL is a keeper league.  There are ten teams.  Rosters are comprised of 21 components (it used to be 22), which include individual players of offensive skill positions and team defensive and special-team units.  We have typically protected twelve players/components per team from season to season except during seasons where an owner was being replaced or added.  These years we typically protected less, like six or nine.  After expanding by one team in 1999 and cutting down to eight, we kept eleven players for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.  At the Winter Meeting after the 2000 season, we decided to revert back to protecting 12 players starting in 2002.  We also decided on a last-minute expansion for 2002 during the 2001 season.  It is not our usual practice to vote on an issue like this so late in the going, and so, as a result, we decided to maintain 12 protections for 2002, which did make it very difficult for the incoming member at that time.  We have chosen to be a keeper league which protects a high number of players/components, and not a redraft league or two- or three-player keeper league, as we want to have a true depiction of our fantasy football skills by allowing for assessment of success over time.  Yet, we are not a dynasty league, which protects every player, because such leagues involve less strategy and we want to maximize skill and minimize luck as best as possible.

     Also to this end, our weekly starting lineups are larger and more rigid than the usual, requiring the fielding of two quarterbacks, three running backs and three receivers.  There are no swing positions.  In the GBRFL, research, the maximization of each and every roster spot and the development of a sophisticated approach to trading, picking up free-agents, cuts, decisions regarding protection spots, restocking draft tactics, analyzation and interpretation of competing owners' strategies, etc., via depth chart and game match-up analysis, rookie assessment, the discovery of trends, etc., are integral parts of continued success.  An owner simply does not have the luxury of starting from scratch and drafting a new team every year.  On the contrary, every owner has to make difficult decisions regarding cuts and how to deal with protection spots.

     For the 2006 season we added the flex lineup option, which allows members to field two different lineups during weeks when they have two games.  Also, in 2006 we added extended play into the postseason.  As for the GBRFL schedule, every team plays 29 games, that is, three against every team with a two-game bumper week the last week of the season, which is extended into the NFL's postseason.  Members can choose to field players/components in postseason games instead of the last week of the season.

     The George Blanda Rotisserie Football League's membership is not limited by region.  We have and have had owners from all over,  including: New Jersey, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., California, Hawaii, Illinois, and, believe it or not, South Korea.

     The GBRFL2, an official spin-off of the GBRFL, was disbanded in 2008 after five years of play.  It remained in existence under modified rules at another fantasy league management web site for about another decade until it finally disbanded for good.

     One last note of possible interest, in all these years that the GBRFL has been in existence, no one has ever won a dime.  That's right!  There are awards for our top three finishers, but, really, we all play for the camaraderie and the love of the game and, of course, bragging rights!