Seen & Heard

Lunatic Fringe

People will do crazy things to play and to win fantasy football. Here's proof

THERE IS no shortage of megastaked fantasy football leagues catering to fancy-pants high rollers. These leagues pit thousands of strangers--over the Internet--against thousands of other strangers and typically pay out millions of dollars. More often, though, fantasy is not about ultrahigh stakes, but about dedication, fanaticism, rule book idiosyncrasies and winnings that are relative chump change (especially when considered on a per-hour basis). Here are five leagues whose spirit takes fantasy football to our kinds of extremes.

HJ's Fantasy

Football League

Could it be long before "full fantasy disclosure" becomes a wedding-vow standard? In 2005 five HJFFL members gathered to watch Super Bowl XXXIX with their better halves. Talk quickly turned to the just-ended fantasy season and its $12,000 payout. One opponent asked the champion, "How did you spend your money?" The answer came from the champ's wife, who until then hadn't been privy to the league's high stakes. The cash, she declared, would go toward a Viking stove and granite kitchen countertops--and the champ would never play again.

Quince Football League

How did you spend your summer? In 1999 Quince brethren (all Phi Kappa Psis from George Washington) spent theirs concocting what they've come to call The Constitution. Seven years later their rule book is a monstrous 81 pages. Some elements: franchise and transition tags, practice squads and a two-round rookie draft. Not surprisingly, three members of the league became lawyers.

The Fat Boy Fantasy

Football League