If you or anyone you know is an archivist specializing in the preservation of historic materials, please reach out. We have recently discovered a 41-year-old fantasy draft board that must be protected for the benefit of future generations.
It’s just so terrible and perfect.
Behold:
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The only reason this document has survived to the present day is because the league’s original commissioner, Bob Bosco, is a self-described fantasy hoarder. Bob kept everything — every scrap of founding materials from his league’s earliest days. It was as if he always knew he was safeguarding America’s cultural heritage.
The Ohio Valley All-Stars formed among a group of friends in East Liverpool, Ohio, a smallish city located just across the river from West Virginia, roughly an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh. The league’s original scoring system was limited to touchdowns, field goals and extra-points, a reflection of the information environment at the time. Box-score data was thin and never available before Monday. Widespread public use of the internet was more than a decade away.
It should become immediately clear upon looking at the above draft board that these guys, in their inaugural season, were lacking guidance and good judgement. Seven of the first twelve picks were quarterbacks — defensible given their league settings. Three kickers were selected in the second round, beginning with Ali Haji-Sheikh. By the end of the fifth, ten kickers were off the board.
Breathtaking stuff.
Let’s review an incredible opening round:
1.01, QB Joe Theismann - An understandable pick, if also wrong. Theismann was the reigning MVP, having passed for 29 touchdowns the previous season — which, back in the day, was an uncommon total.
1.02, RB Eric Dickerson - Hell yeah. After a stellar rookie season, Dickerson would establish a new single-season rushing record in ‘84 while tying for the league lead in rushing scores. Bob absolutely nailed his first pick in his first draft. Solid work.
1.03, RB Marcus Allen - This man was a PPR legend before PPR was a thing. He was also about to lead the NFL in total touchdowns (18), which makes this a quality selection.
1.04, QB Lynn Dickey - Ostensibly a wild-ass pick, but Dickey had led the league in both passing yardage and touchdowns the previous year, with surprisingly modern totals (4458 and 32). He had also thrown a league-leading 29 interceptions in ‘83, so he had a dash of Jameis to his game.
Please note that Mark’s team followed the Dickey selection with James Lofton in the second round, making this perhaps fantasy’s first deliberate attempt at stacking.
1.05, QB Dan Fouts - Disastrous pick by Jon, unfortunately. Fouts was only 33, but the legendary seasons were all behind him, his receiving room a spent force.
1.06, WR Roy Green - Great call here by Rick. Well played. Green was about to lead the NFL in receiving yards (1555) while catching a dozen scores for a surprisingly frisky St. Louis Cardinals offense.
1.07, RB John Riggins - Looking back, Riggins almost seems like a fictional player. He was coming off a year in which he found the end-zone 24 times yet averaged only 3.6 YPC. He would deliver another 14 rushing touchdowns in ‘84, which is really all anyone cared about in this league. Fine choice.
1.08, QB Joe Montana - An all-time player headed into a terrific season by the standards of the day, but it was only moderately helpful for Brent in this league. He shoulda taken either of these next two icons.
1.09, RB Walter Payton - A crazy slide for the best running back to ever do it. Walter was 30 and entering his tenth NFL season, yet he was about to deliver another 11 touchdowns and the second-highest rushing total of his career (1684). An unreal player.
1.10, QB Dan Marino - There it is, the greatest pick in the greatest draft. Marino was about to produce a season that was decades ahead of its time. His yardage (5084) and TD totals (48) would have easily led the NFL last year. Marino opened with a five-TD game at Washington and closed with four straight four-TD performances. Absurd season. He was of course the top fantasy scorer in the Ohio Valley league. Amazing work by Jeff.
1.11, QB John Elway - OK, so Elway was not a particularly good pick in his second season, but let’s please focus on another aspect of Darrell’s draft: Is it possible this man invented Zero RB?
I think maybe he did. He is surely the first and only person to begin a draft with this positional sequence: QB-WR-WR-WR-K-QB. At last, in the seventh round, he selected his first running back, Wendell Tyler.
Honestly, it’s pretty crazy Shawn Siegele claims all the credit that rightly belongs to pioneering fantasy thought-leader Darrell Tudor.
1.12, QB Dave Krieg - This gentleman would lead the NFL with 24 interceptions in 1984, not that it mattered to anyone involved in a points-only league. Krieg also passed for 32 scores, second-most in the NFL but well behind Marino.
Eight of twelve picks in that first round are now enshrined in Canton, so that’s pretty impressive work by these guys, all things considered. It didn’t really get unhinged in the Ohio Valley draft until the kickers started flying in the second.
If you’re curious about the winner of this league’s first title, it was Tim Bosco, Bob’s brother. He rode the scorching-hot arm of Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax, who capped an outrageous outlier season with a pair of three-TD performances. Here’s the hand-scored championship matchup:
Seriously, protect these documents behind the thickest glass, in a climate controlled chamber. They must never age.
The Ohio Valley All-Stars may not quite be the oldest continuously running fantasy league in existence, but there aren’t many stretching back further. I have certainly never encountered a league that retained its founding documents for 40-plus years. Bob is no longer scoring matchups by hand, having outsourced that responsibility to ESPN.
Delightfully, nine original members are still involved in the league, so draft boards aren’t the only things being well-preserved in East Liverpool.