Note: This article originally appeared in its entirety several years ago on the now-defunct CommishTalk.com website, a place where fantasy football commissioners could exchange ideas to improve their leagues.
In an attempt to make the 17th week of the NFL season relevant to fantasy football owners, I created a Pro Bowl for the Ultimate Fantasy Football League at the end of the 2008 season, and it has been an annual tradition ever since. My league has 14 teams split into two divisions (Northern and Southern), and the Pro Bowl squads are coached by the owners from each division who accumulated the most fantasy points during the regular season. There is no prize for the winner, aside from bragging rights lasting throughout the offseason.
As for the players, both Pro Bowl coaches receive a ballot featuring 21 of the best players in their division (based on most points scored during the first 16 weeks of the regular season), and create their starting lineups using their respective ballots. Each ballot will have the top three ranked quarterbacks, top five running backs, top five wide receivers, top three tight ends, top two placekickers and top three team defenses. Starting lineups include one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one flex player (RB/WR/TE), one placekicker and one defensive team.
One year, there was an instance where so many players on the original ballot were deactivated for Week 17 that I had to create an emergency players ballot (featuring one additional player at each position, so that both owners would have enough players to field a complete lineup). Emergency ballots have been available every year since then, but fortunately, they haven’t been needed.
Unlike other weeks during the fantasy football season, owners have to factor in the amount of playing time stars might receive in Week 17, adding an extra layer of strategy. NFL teams that have already clinched playoff berths may play their starters sparingly (or not at all), while players who may be chasing records or other statistical milestones might see more action.
From a commissioner’s standpoint, putting the ballot together is the most time-consuming aspect of it all, followed closely by manual scoring for the event. My league uses Fleaflicker, so I can see how many points each individual player has racked up in Week 17, but it’s up to me to add up the scores to determine the winner. Lineups are posted on the league website prior to kickoff of the first game and the box score is usually available the day after all games have been played.
The Pro Bowl still remains popular among members of my league, even though daily fantasy gaming (which wasn’t around in 2008) now exists as a way to fill the Week 17 void. It’s gotten to the point where owners from division rivals will request to make last-minute lineup changes if someone in the original Pro Bowl lineup is suddenly deactivated, in order to make sure their side has a better chance of winning. As far as excitement goes, it blows the NFL version of the Pro Bowl out of the water!
Here’s an example of what one of the Pro Bowl ballots looks like:
http://www.
ultimatefantasyfootballleague. net/games/2014ballot.html Here’s an example of what the box score looks like:
http://www.
ultimatefantasyfootballleague. net/games/probowl14.html