Mark Lauffer, former Arizona Republic editor and reigning champion of the Republic Football League, proudly reflects on his most recent victory during a challenging year for his family. (Photo courtesy of Mark Lauffer)
PHOENIX – The first sign of this fantasy football league’s uniqueness is the walk commissioner Mark Armijo makes to his mailbox every August. Inside sit the $75 entry fee checks required of each participant. Venmo? PayPal? In this league, that’s blasphemous.
Fantasy football – a game in which members are general managers of teams they’ve drafted, often for money – has become a way to unite friends and family, as well as claim glory by way of bragging rights or prize. One group of friends with connections to the Arizona Republic have done just that for 46 years in the most old school of ways: no apps, no fantasy programs, just old-fashioned pen, paper and emails. Lots of emails.
“I still have a flip phone, I’m still living in the 20th century,” said Mark Armijo, commissioner of the Republic Football League. “I’m so attuned to our league that I don’t understand any other fantasy apps.”
Committed to their league, members have received emails from Armijo for years, detailing points scored, roster changes, injuries and more. The group drafts together every year, and for the last few years, they have even drafted on Zoom to get the ball rolling on their seasons.
Every year, thousands of sports fans unite to draft teams of their favorite NFL players, relying on them to accrue enough fantasy points to beat an opponent of similarly drafted players. Fantasy sports leagues are nothing new. They range across all sports and have endured since the 1960s. But over the last two decades, interest in fantasy sports has exploded and become much more common, especially with fantasy football.
Something less common though is finding leagues that have been able to remain intact during a big chunk of time in which fantasy sports leagues have existed. The one that started as a few friends in The Arizona Republic newsroom evolved into 46 years of competition.
“I joined sometime in the late ‘80s and have been a continuous member for all that time,” said Kent Somers, a former Arizona Republic sports writer who covered the NFL Cardinals for many years. “It’s pretty amazing. There aren’t many things in your life you can say you have done for 40 consecutive years almost.”
Somers, who spent 38 years writing at The Arizona Republic, was an active member of the RFL for the entirety of his time there. Even after his retirement and the retirement of others, he continues playing.
The RFL is a 10-man league run by Armijo, a former motorsports writer for The Arizona Republic. He is a rare breed in the eyes of fantasy football gurus. He is a pure commissioner, which means he doesn’t manage a team in the RFL. He just runs the league.
Armijo originally started as a team owner in 1980, but after a few seasons, he realized he would enjoy running the league instead of a team. He scores every game for every player, manages all the roster moves, and manages every trade in the league, all through emails he sends out to each member. He’ll even nudge a member to add a player they may need in case they forgot.
Odeen Domingo, left, a former Arizona Republic sports writer, and RFL commissioner Mark Armijo celebrate a past win by Domingo. (Photo courtesy of Odeen Domingo)
It’s the ultimate style of old-school fantasy football.
“We use our commissioner’s notes, and the template that he has devised and sends us all of our scores,” said Bob McManaman, a current Arizona Republic sports writer and one of the longest-tenured managers in the RFL.
The league’s rules are unique. There is no injured reserve. Each player starts two of their three running backs and two of their three receivers, so if two players in one position go down, a replacement requires cutting someone.
In contrast to some current-day trends that have a punishment for last place, the RFL is focused on who can win the pot and the bragging rights for the season. With an entry fee of $75, the pot already starts high, but waiver moves, which cost $2, and trades which cost $1, help the pot grow.
However, each week members have the opportunity to win some of that pot, as the highest scorer for the seven-day stretch wins $10. Regular season awards like best record and most points scored earn you 10% of the pot before the playoff games even begin. At the end of the season though, the championship winner gets 50% of the pot, second place earns 25%, third lands 15%, fourth secures 10% and fifth place in the six-team playoff gets $20.
Mark Lauffer, another former Republic editor, is the most recent champion of the RFL.
“I had won the Super Bowl a few times over the years but was particularly proud of this year because I won the triple crown – best record, most points and S.B. winner,” Lauffer said.
He clinched the championship at a time when his wife, who has supported him throughout his years in the league, was in and out of the hospital. It shined a little extra light for the couple.
The Republic Football League is a golden example of fantasy football history and what all fantasy football players hope to achieve when they are 46 years deep in their leagues.
“It’s something I look forward to every year,” McManaman said. “We have old-school rules with old-school dudes.”