Playing the Game:  Fantasy Football Rules You Should Know

Yep, even in fantasy world, there are rules.  After all, what's a fantasy football game if it's a barbaric free-for-all?  Here are some of the most important fantasy football rules you should learn:

Joining a league

If you want to play fantasy football, you should be a member of a league in order to play against other team owners. There are no outsiders to this game.  A group of owners forms a league and it's headed by a commissioner. 

In your league, you can pretty much agree on a set of rules that will govern your group. These rules will cover scheduling, drafting, number of owner teams allowed, scoring method, even prizes. Once the league's rules have been established, you and all other team owners will have to abide by them or risk getting fined or kicked out.

Your league can also determine whether you want to be a keeper or a non-keeper league. Keeper leagues allow owners to retain some of their players between seasons. Non-keeper leagues start fresh each season. 

By the way, you can start your own league if you have a group of friends who are interested. That way, you can adjust the rules to your liking.

Drafting

Drafting in fantasy football is an orderly process. This is the part where you get to choose your players from the draft list. Since you belong to a league, there are certain rules that you will have to follow, depending on whether you're using an auction style or a serpentine draft. 

In an auction, you receive a budget and make bids on a player. Using the serpentine style, a predetermined order will be followed wherein each owner will be given a priority slot to make his pick. This order reverses for each round.

Competing

Scoring is the basis of your standing in the fantasy football competition. Real NFL players build up their statistics during the season. Each of these figures has a corresponding point value. The statistics your player racks up in the actual games will translate as earned points for your team. Your goal as the team owner is to receive the highest number of points in your league to obtain the championship.

Playing with rules

The rules in your fantasy football game will depend greatly on your league. If you're thinking of joining one, get to know the rules first to see if your playing style, temperament and degree of interest are a good fit. If not, move on to the next league. 

You can also check out the info at the National Football League website (www.nfl.com).  You'll get a better idea to help you decide which league to join or how to build your own.