1963 Player of the Week - Week 6

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 6 (October 11-13)

Mike Ditka, TE, Chicago Bears (44.00 fantasy points).

Against the Los Angeles Rams on October 13, 1963, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Metropolitan Stadium in Los Angeles, California, Ditka Randle had 9 receptions and 110 receiving yards with 4 receiving touchdowns. His touchdown receptions were 13 yards, 25 yards, 2 yards and 14 yards with the first three from Billy Wade and the fourth one from Rudy Bukich. 

This is Ditka’s first Player of the Week Award. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jim Brown, FB, Cleveland Browns (42.90 points); Jackie Smith, TE, St. Louis Cardinals (42.20 points); George Blanda, QB, Houston Oilers (36.16 points); Tommy McDonald, FL, Philadelphia Eagles (33.90 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

1963 Player of the Week - Week 5

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 5 (October 5-6)

Sonny Randle, LE, St. Louis Cardinals (39.90 fantasy points).

Against the Minnesota Vikings on October 6, 1963, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, Randle had 6 receptions and 159 receiving yards with 3 receiving touchdowns. His touchdown receptions were 21 yards, 68 yards and 15 yards with the first two from Charley Johnson and the third one from Buddy Humphrey. 

This is Randle’s first Player of the Week Award. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Frank Ryan, QB, Cleveland Browns (35.32 points); Len Dawson, QB, Kansas City Chiefs (34.20 points);  Art Graham, SE, Boston Patriots (33.60 points); Buddy Dial, FL, Pittsburgh Steelers (33.40 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

1963 Player of the Week - Week 4

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 4 (September 28-29)

Charley Hennigan, FL, Houston Oilers (38.30 fantasy points).

Against the Buffalo Bills on September 28, 1963, at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York, Hennigan had 8 receptions and 123 receiving yards with 3 receiving touchdowns. His touchdown receptions were 15 yards, 14 yards and 6 yards all from George Blanda. 

This is Hennigan’s first Player of the Week Award. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Joe Morrison, FB, New York Giants (35.70 points); George Blanda, QB, Houston Oilers (32.48 points); Lionel Taylor, FL, Houston Oilers (29.90 points); Ray Poage, TE, MinnesotaVikings (29.70 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

1963 Player of the Week - Week 3

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 3 (September 21-22)

Jim Brown, FB, Cleveland Browns (35.20 fantasy points).

Against the Dallas Cowboys on September 22, 1963, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, Brown had 232 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. His rushing touchdowns were a 71 yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter and. 62 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter.

This is Brown’s second Player of the Week Award in 1963 and second of his career. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Billy Wade, QB, Chicago Bears (34.22 points); Chris Burford, LE, Kansas City Chiefs (33.60 points); Charley Hennigan, FL, Houston Oilers (33.60 points); Mike Ditka, TE, Chicago Bears (32.40 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

1963 Player of the Week - Week 2

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 2 (September 14-15)

Jim Brown, FB, Cleveland Browns (47.20 fantasy points).

Against the Washington Redskins on September 15, 1963, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, Brown had 162 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Additionally, he had 3 receptions for 100 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown. His receiving touchdown was an 83 yard touchdown reception from Frank Garza and he followed that up with a 10 yard and 80 yard touchdown rushes. 

This is Brown’s first Player of the Week Award.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tommy McDonald, FL, Philadelphia Eagles (36.90 points); Y.A. Title, QB, New York Giants (36.12 points); Tommy Mason, HB, Minnesota Vikings (34.20 points); Clem Daniels, HB, Oakland Raiders (33.80 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

1963 Player of the Week - Week 1

Starting with Week 1 of the 1963 season and working my way through the present day, I will be posting the weekly high point scorers in fantasy football, or Player of the Week. 

1963 Player of the Week - Week 1 (September 7-8)

Len Dawson, QB, Kansas City Chiefs (35.12 fantasy points).

Against the Denver Broncos on September 7, 1963, at Bears Stadium in Denver, Colorado, Dawson had 278 passing yards and 4 passing touchdowns. He had a 17 yard touchdown pass to Curtis McClinton, a 15 yard touchdown pass to Chris Burford and two touchdown passes to Frank Jackson for 21 yards and 81 yards. 

This is Dawson’s first Player of the Week Award.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Frank Jackson, FL, Kansas City Chiefs (31.90 points); Art Powell, LE, Oakland Raiders (31.10 points); Bake Turner, LE, New York Jets (26.30 points); Charley Hennigan, FL, Houston Oilers (23.10 points). 

NOTE: In 1963, the American Football League (AFL) started a week earlier than the National Football League (NFL). So the Player of the Week for Week 1 is only using AFL games played on September 7-8. The Week 2 Player of the Week will be for games played on September 14-15, that is Week 2 of the AFL season and Week 1 of the NFL season. All fantasy point totals are point per reception. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

What Is Relative Fantasy Value?

You will see the term Relative Fantasy Value or RFV mentioned on this blog, but what is it?  Back in the mid-1990's, Joe Bryant of FootballGuys came up with a concept called Value Based Drafting or VBD. The basic idea behind VBD is the value of a player is determined not by the number of points he scores, but by how much he outscores his peers at his particular position. Bryant's concept was created to be used during fantasy football drafts, using player projections and player baselines to determine if you should draft the #10 quarterback, the #22 runningback or the #39 wide receiver.

For a more in depth explanation of Joe Bryant's VBD concept check out the following LINK. 

I took the concept of VBD and am using it to determine the value of players throughout the history of fantasy football and am calling it Relative Fantasy Value or RFV. The big difference is I don't have to project the player stats like in VBD, I already know them because the games have been played and the seasons have been completed. I do have to set the baselines, which I have established as the #13 quarterback, #25 runningback, #37 wide receiver and #13 tight end. Just like Bryant's VBD, RFV determines the value of players not by how many points he scored, but by how much he outscored his peers at his particular position and then he is assigned a point value.

Using this concept I determined that wide receiver Cooper Kupp was the most valuable player in the 2021 season, even though quarterback Josh Allen scored the most points. How can that be possible? Lets look at Josh Allen first. He scored 478.58 fantasy points using my scoring system, which is outlined below:

Jason's Fantasy Football Journal Scoring System

Passing Yards: 1 point per 25 yards passing
Passing Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
Interceptions: -2 points per interception
Rushing Yards: 1 point per 10 yards rushing
Rushing Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
Receptions: 1 point per reception
Receiving Yards: 1 point per 10 yards receiving
Receiving Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
All Other Touchdowns: 6 points per touchdown
2 Point Conversion: 2 points per conversion

Allen outscored the #13 quarterback, Ryan Tannehill who scored 316.36 fantasy points by 162.22 points. The 162.22 points is Allen's RFV. Cooper Kupp scored 439.50 fantasy points, which is 39.08 points less then Allen. But when you compare Kupp's fantasy points to the #37 ranked wide reciever, Russell Gage's 167.00 fantasy points you get a RFV for Kupp of  272.50 points. So in my eyes, Kupp was more valuable then Allen in the 2021 season.

I am taking this concept and going back to when fantasy football was created, using 1963 as my first season to determine the best fantasy players of all-time and the basis for this blog. 

The Origins of Fantasy Football

Before I can share my research here on the Jason's Fantasy Football Journal I have to talk about the origins of the game of fantasy football. 

In the 1994 edition of Fantasy Football Index magazine, Luke Esser discussed the birth of fantasy football. You can view the article by clicking the link below.

The Birth of Fantasy Football

To quickly summarize the article and some of the history, fantasy football was born in a room at the Manhattan Hotel (now the Milford Plaza) in New York City. The Oakland Raiders were on an East Coast road trip in the fall of 1962 when Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach (limited partner of the Oakland Raiders), Bill Tunnell (Oakland Raiders Public Relations Director), George Ross (Oakland Tribune sports editor) and Scotty Stirling (Oakland Tribune beat reporter) met in that hotel room and came up with idea that became fantasy football, a game played by over 60 million people today.

The first fantasy football league, the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL) was formed in 1963. Some sources say the 3rd P in the name actually stood for Prediction? The original eight-team league held their first draft in the basement of Winkenbach’s house in East Oakland. The first pick in the GOPPPL draft was future Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda of the American Football League’s Houston Oilers by Andy Mousalimas and Stirling, who partnered up as team owners.

First GOPPPL Draft (1963)

Welcome to Jason’s Fantasy Football Journal

Welcome to Jason’s Fantasy Football Journal! This site will be used share some of my fantasy football research, past, present and future. I have played fantasy football for 32 years in various forms and look forward to sharing with you some of my research. If you have any suggestions or comments I would love to hear from you. You can reply to individual posts/articles or I can be reached at jlculley@gmail.com.