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Mortality and Dynasty Football (1 Viewer)

Hot Sauce Guy

Footballguy
ok, so not the cheeriest of topics, but the reality is, none of us are immortal.

yesterday a friend in my 25+ year FBB redraft said he was retiring from fantasy sports, and this was his last year. When I asked why, he said he’s 75, and feels like it’s time. He then made a joke about not wanting to drop dead mid-season and leave us all hanging. Funny, and also courteous.

Got me to thinking about dynasty football. After all, that’s a redraft FBB league. Dynasty has so much invested in it, both financially, and emotionally. Sweat equity from transactions, the excitement of making the playoffs, winning a ‘ship, etc.

So what happens to your dynasty teams when it’s your time to shed this mortal coil?

Do you include them in your will & bequeath them to someone?

Do you have instructions for the league commish?

Not trying to be funny here, I swear - I’m genuinely curious how folks are considering this. Or if it’s ever crossed anyone’s mind here that it would be necessary?

At some point I hope to take the graceful path that my FBB friend did. Maybe find a nice foster home for my teams and retire from fantasy sports. But I know that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed - so now I’m starting to think I should have instructions laid out, much as I do my home and my business.

🤔

Anyone give this subject any thought ever?
 
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I had not really ever considered this. I guess I'll leave my dynasty teams as strong and ready for the future as I can make them and hope someone better than I am re-shapes what I have put together and has great fun and success with them. FAR more likely that someone I have never known or heard of will take over my teams than anyone I know. When I can't play any more, I don't think I'll have trouble walking away. I just don't want that to be any time soon.
 
Never thought about it. Up to the commish to do what's best for the league. I would say it's handled like any other team leaving the league and follow whatever rules are set forth in the by laws to back fill a team that leaves.

As far as a mid season issue, I would think the league would just let me win as a tribute and then retire my team as the champ.

(I have no idea. I am only in leagues with friends so I would think there would be some sadness and something would be done to keep the league going and fair. Likely my son would just take over the team as he helps now as it is).
 
Insteresting topic. I know a fair number of us have been on this board since the Old Yeller days, so we are getting up there. LOL The only league I am in now is a 10 team dynasty, going into year 31, with 5 original owners still in it, along with one guy who joined in year 4 and another owner is the son of one of our orinial owners. That said, I will likely stay in this league (especially since my team is built with youth and has been in 11 of the last 12 championship games), but have considered giving the hobby up since I am retiring from my job in September and have other things to fill my time. I have taken my son to some of the drafts and league functions to see if he would take my team over if I left, but he seems to not be interested.

I am fairly certain if I retired today, there would be a TON of interest and no problems filling that team.
 
Interesting topic.

I’m a member since the Old Yeller days, so I definitely have done some estate planning, will, family trust, etc (but since I live in the Bay Area with 2 kids, one in college, one just going into HS, I don’t think I’ll be retiring for at least 10+ years. Oy).
Either way, I never thought about my dynasty teams til now. As with loads of online accounts that need to be dealt with when I’m gone, the mechanics of accessing the sites is problem #1 if you want someone you know to take over your team. (For my important financial sites, my wife has all the logins/passwords/etc so that’s all set).

guess the easiest/best way to handle this if you find someone to take over the team is to make them co-owner of your team now, while you’re still active, and then they can smoothly take over once you die at 105 (giving us all a longer life than we probably would want ;) )
 
In my longest running dynasty, 17 years, we have had 2 people pass away.

There are a couple other people over 60 years old in the league, but hopefully we are set for at least the next 10-15 years.
 
In my longest running dynasty, 17 years, we have had 2 people pass away.

There are a couple other people over 60 years old in the league, but hopefully we are set for at least the next 10-15 years.
Tomorrow is never promised my friend. I’m sorry for your losses.

May I ask how you went about replacing them? Did the managers who passed have any instructions?
 
In my longest running dynasty, 17 years, we have had 2 people pass away.

There are a couple other people over 60 years old in the league, but hopefully we are set for at least the next 10-15 years.
Tomorrow is never promised my friend. I’m sorry for your losses.

May I ask how you went about replacing them? Did the managers who passed have any instructions?

No instructions, just replaced by friends/family of people in the league.
 
My Dynasty league was formed from a forum like this one but specifically for West Ham (English football team) fans.

Nobody has died but if they did we'd source someone through there again, which is what we do when we replace others who have left. There are 3 or 4 people who if they passed, I think I'd probably just stop playing just because the hole they'd leave would be too significant for me to enjoy it anymore. Maybe I'd feel differently about that if/when it actually happened though.
 
In my longest running dynasty, 17 years, we have had 2 people pass away.

There are a couple other people over 60 years old in the league, but hopefully we are set for at least the next 10-15 years.

My longest-running dynasty is one I've been in since 2006. At the end of 2018, we had a guy in the league who died suddenly, and then in early 2019, his brother, who was also in the league, had a fatal heart attack. This is a league where everyone is scattered across the country, so I never met either of them in person, but it was jarring to have two people, who were brothers, both die a few months apart. Both were in their 40s, if I recall.
 
Interesting . Last summer, the dynasty league I am in suddenly lost contact with commish. It took a few days, but someone was able to find an obituary online. There was a co-commish who took over. Luckily it was after the rookie draft and FA auctions, so the season went smooth. This off-season the new commish became sick and was unavailable. I took over as commish with very little knowledge of how MFL works for commish. It has been quite a challenge and some advanced planning for such events would have helped a lot. Changing commish with League Safe was very difficult. Hopefully this league will continue, but we are still looking for two owners. Unfortunately, this commish was in charge of several leagues I found out later. Not sure how it was handled in other leagues.
 
You know when you go to the doctor, and they have that form asking who to call in an emergency? Every dynasty owner should have to fill one out, and ensure their "next of kin" has complete access to any required fantasy websites. Also, there should always be a co-commish as well. The show must go on.
 
We had a member pass just before the 2023 season, quite unexpectedly. It has energized us to have the rookie + FA draft (it's a keep 8 league) in person for the first time in 27 years. Thankfully, we were able to pass the team onto a friend of a current member quickly and it was a smooth transition.
 
We had a member pass just before the 2023 season, quite unexpectedly. It has energized us to have the rookie + FA draft (it's a keep 8 league) in person for the first time in 27 years. Thankfully, we were able to pass the team onto a friend of a current member quickly and it was a smooth transition.
Sorry for your loss. I'm glad it inspired a local draft - hopefully y'all make it a sort of wake where stories are told & drinks poured out for the homie.
 
We just lost our co-commissioner this offseason. He had been in the league a while longer than I have, 18 years of the 23-year history.

One of only two owners to win four titles, including the only threepeat. But more importantly, though I didn't see him other than at our drafts, he seemed like a really good guy and served well as a commissioner. It says something that practically everyone voted for him to be commissioner when we needed a new one.
 
One long time dynasty that formed from "The Huddle" message board had a member die in a car accident several years ago. The league was in its 20th season then. This was in October of that year. We ended up letting his team ride that year, setting his lineup each week to the highest projected lineup using the MFL projections. The team actually made the playoffs but lost in the first round. I ended up winning the league that year and donated all of the winnings in his memory to a charity. We followed our league's set protocol for finding a new owner in the off season.

Last year in February my younger brother passed away unexpectedly. He was in a fantasy baseball and a football league made up primarily of guys from our high school days, with a few new people added in over the years to fill gaps as needed. I took over his teams even though I am useless in baseball, but for me it was a small way to honor his memory and to reconnect with some high school friends.
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
Never too late to do that. Or name the league after him.
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
Never too late to do that. Or name the league after him.
🤝 Excellent thoughts. When you think of someone establishing a league today, you don't get a sense of what a monumental undertaking that was in pre-internet (and even pre-fantasy football magazine) 1990. We were intrigued by the concept, and we had heard only minimal details of another league, so, in the days leading up to the 1990 season kicking off, we hammered out some rules, and, undaunted, we learned from our mistakes along the way.

I was in the hospital with COVID in November of 2020 in pretty bad shape. You would think my fantasy football team would have been the last thing on my mind. On the contrary: I spent countless hours analyzing my lineup choices. If I die in-season, I assure you, I will set my lineup before kicking the bucket!
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
Never too late to do that. Or name the league after him.
🤝 Excellent thoughts. When you think of someone establishing a league today, you don't get a sense of what a monumental undertaking that was in pre-internet (and even pre-fantasy football magazine) 1990. We were intrigued by the concept, and we had heard only minimal details of another league, so, in the days leading up to the 1990 season kicking off, we hammered out some rules, and, undaunted, we learned from our mistakes along the way.

I was in the hospital with COVID in November of 2020 in pretty bad shape. You would think my fantasy football team would have been the last thing on my mind. On the contrary: I spent countless hours analyzing my lineup choices. If I die in-season, I assure you, I will set my lineup before kicking the bucket!
If I die in season yall will have absolute proof of whether or not ghosts are real, because I will straight up haunt the new team owners until they set the lineups correctly!
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
Never too late to do that. Or name the league after him.
We renamed our league after the former commissioner after he passed away last year.
 
Year 24 of my contract-dynasty league. We have had 2 owners pass. Each had a co-owner so succession plan in place.

We also had an owner who was ill give up his team right after winning the title. I found a new owner. Unfortunately passed a little over a year later.
 
I am on a 20-year rebuild just to ensure that I am around awhile . . .

On a serious note, the 1990 co-founder of a league I am in passed away some years back. We replaced him in the ordinary course of operating the league. I have one regret. I wish that I would have established an annual award that honored his memory and his management style.
Never too late to do that. Or name the league after him.
We had a member of only 22 years old commit suicide during season. His team was awful as he did not seem to not like any trade offer. We named our league after him and just played out the season. In off season the 3 teams that had dominated since inception gave up resources to even league somewhat.
 
It's funny you bring this up. I'm in my early 50s and have thought about how much longer I want to play this hobby. I'm in three leagues. One is Dynasty, and the other two are contract keeper leagues, with one being a salary cap league. The leagues are all a little different in format, and I enjoy that. I'm a co-commissioner in one league, which my son plays with me. My Son loves this league and would be crushed if I ever gave it up. My son is in his 20s and has had some difficult times in his young life. I won't get too deep, but I'm not sure I can ever leave that league since he loves it so much, and really, it provides us both with something we can talk about and connect with. That league has been around for around 20 years, so he has become a part of the league and grew up watching and hearing stories about the league. He took over my Dad's team when my Dad decided to hang it up. My Dad got ill and could not keep up with it all. My Son and Dad co-owned the team till my Dad passed away, and then my Son took it over. He might have been 15 when he took it over full-time, but the league embraced him because they knew my son through Dad and me talking about my Son on the board, and he wanted to be a part of it for a long time before we let him jump in. He also ran their team for about two years before my Dad passed. My Dad was like the silent owner who reaped the rewards of my Son's decisions. It was fun for them.

My point in this story is that there are times when I think about how long I will do this. I still enjoy it, but not like the early days, and I have had several friends and family pass away young. My Sister passed away at 53, and that threw me for a loop. We are both adopted, so there is no biological link between us, but still, it made me pause in a lot of ways. The leagues would go on, and I'm sure owners would be found in two of the leagues, but I'm not sure the one with my son would continue. Most managers are Gen X, so we all are getting older. This is a good topic and something we should talk about a bit, but the subject is also taboo. Interesting to think about, though.
 
I also can say this about my leagues. I have gained friends I have never met. In the league I discussed in my previous post, I have a good friend I have never met face to face. My wife calls him my best friend I never met, and she loves the stories that come out of this league and the people involved in these stories. When I was going through some of the worst times in my life, the passing of my Dad and Sister, among other things, in the last 20 years, my co-commish and friend was always there to chat and discuss. We also celebrated good times in our lives and talked about our kids and family. We live in different parts of the country and have league discussions about meeting in Vegas for a weekend, but it has never happened yet. It's most likely time we discussed some plans and what-ifs.
 
My best friend whom I’ve known since freshman year of high school (1980) and who married my sister was just diagnosed with dementia. We’ve been in one league for 27 years together, and a dynasty league for 14. I don’t know what to do. He’s probably not going to be capable this year to run his teams, but he desperately wants to. His son in law is a great kid and into FF, so I’m going to talk to him about teaming with my buddy in his leagues. I’m hoping that works.

We are getting old fellas. Show your family and friends love - you never know when stuff is going to hell.
 
Very unusual topic and I appreciate the thought and emotions that are posted here. Been around for a while myself and getting up in years. Let’s say past 60 right now as a gauge.
My sons don’t want my teams. They gave up the game after a few years playing when in High School.
Only league where an owner passed was a league I had just left (they raised the fees 4 years in a row without warning each time). Many years ago but it had unusual rules & scoring (RTSports platform). Nobody wanted his team as they felt it was a “violation”. So they just reduced it from 12 to 10 and named the conferences after him.
Today, I still talk to some of them & it is a 6 team league for those remaining.
 
I also can say this about my leagues. I have gained friends I have never met. In the league I discussed in my previous post, I have a good friend I have never met face to face. My wife calls him my best friend I never met, and she loves the stories that come out of this league and the people involved in these stories. When I was going through some of the worst times in my life, the passing of my Dad and Sister, among other things, in the last 20 years, my co-commish and friend was always there to chat and discuss. We also celebrated good times in our lives and talked about our kids and family. We live in different parts of the country and have league discussions about meeting in Vegas for a weekend, but it has never happened yet. It's most likely time we discussed some plans and what-ifs.
Make it happen. You won't ever regret getting together even if it's every few years.
 
My best friend whom I’ve known since freshman year of high school (1980) and who married my sister was just diagnosed with dementia

I’s so sorry to hear that. That’s really tough. I have a friend who’s going through something similar.
It’s tough. It’s so strange to see someone who was so sharp go this route.
One thing I've noticed working with a somewhat elderly population is that it REALLY helps a person with dementia to engage with them on a topic that their passionate about. Ask them tons of questions about the topics they enjoy and the visits become more enjoyable for both the patient and visitor.
On a side note, I can't imagine the pain and frustration of going through the dementia process. The patients/friends/family members deserve a LOT of grace.
 
I also can say this about my leagues. I have gained friends I have never met. In the league I discussed in my previous post, I have a good friend I have never met face to face. My wife calls him my best friend I never met, and she loves the stories that come out of this league and the people involved in these stories. When I was going through some of the worst times in my life, the passing of my Dad and Sister, among other things, in the last 20 years, my co-commish and friend was always there to chat and discuss. We also celebrated good times in our lives and talked about our kids and family. We live in different parts of the country and have league discussions about meeting in Vegas for a weekend, but it has never happened yet. It's most likely time we discussed some plans and what-ifs.
Make it happen. You won't ever regret getting together even if it's every few years.

100%
 
I think about this sometimes because I'm in two dynasty leagues where I've never physically met any of the other owners. Several of them I chat with via text or the league chat, but if something were to happen to me how would they get notified?

About a year ago my Dad got diagnosed with Early Alzheimers at 66, and it really threw us all for a loop, but it also threw me and my wife into "we need to do our own estate planning" mode. So not long after we found an attorney, drafted up wills and PoA for each other, did the necessary paperwork and filed it, etc. And we have a folder saved in our file cabinet with copies of it all.

I think I'm going to put a sheet of paper in that folder with my Sleeper ID and Password, and put a couple of the other owners names and phone #'s on the paper with an "in case of X, contact these folks to let them know". They'd probably just replace me and keep the league rolling, which is fine with me, but I'd hate to leave them not knowing if something happened...
 

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