3FL - Forever Fantasy Football League

League History

Jim Gordon talked with Phil Murphy, who he knew through soccer. Jim Gordon pitched the idea, and Phil was interested in it, so they set up the league. Phil recruited Josh, a classmate from Father Ryan High School, while Jim Gordon brought in his USN classmates Dmitri Deveaux, Miller Hancock, Nathan Steele and Jimmy Taylor along with Jim Gordon's younger brother, Jon Gardiner. Those eight people comprised the "founding fathers" of the FFL.

The league prospered in its first three seasons, but following the 1994 campaign there was a problem: high school graduation. One year before, graduation had cost Dmitri his spot in the league (since he was a year ahead of the other league owners in school). Knowing that communication would be limited, and that gathering for a yearly draft would be difficult at best, the league embarked on an ambitious four-year carryover format. Also, in a move that would have been impossible ten or even five years earlier, the league established a webpage on Lou Pickney's University of Evansville student account. The league page went online in August 1995.

The timing was perfect; five years earlier it would have been next to impossible to pull it off. But thanks to the internet and e-mail, the league continued to thrive. Following the 1998 season, another bold move was taken -- to make the FFL a true lifetime league. In the summer of 1999, a draft was held in Nashville, TN, with the league owners drafting teams that they would have from that point forward. The FFL became the 3FL -- the Forever Fantasy Football League.

Now, the 3FL is in its second decade of fantasy football excellence. And, as the level of competition continues to increase, the action should only get better with time.