Fourscore and many months ago, three men weary from their long days toiling in the glaring heat of the sun (or in the radiant glow of their computer monitors) decided to create the ultimate fantasy football league. After many years of enduring the trials and tribulations of Sandbox based leagues, the three hardy warriors (it is not improper to call them heroes at this point) were looking for something more out of a fantasy football league. Something new. Something exciting. Something sacred.

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"You know, really Sandbox sucks guys." noted Vince Calvert. "I'm really tired of this shit - it gets worse every year. I mean, Emmitt Smith shows up here as having no stats from last year!"

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"Jesus, I know what you're saying." said Randy Russell. "If I hadn't been using Marty Cordova at catcher all season for Sandbox baseball, I'd be much more pissed. But I agree, Sandbox rots."

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"I've been saying that for some time." added Matt Ellenburg. "Sandbox has really gone downhill. No one works there anymore, and there are too many problems. Its lost the personal touch. We should really start our own league, guys."

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That day, the seed of a new idea was planted.

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A fewscore days later, the three bards met at a roundtable over lager in a studio apartment in Washington DC and began to plan their new endeavor. A few things came easily. The new league would have a live auction draft in the DC area. There would be some sort of keeper system, and a cash prize system. The league would be for people who knew football, but also knew how to have fun with it. And the league would have stable and fair commissioner management, an Achilees heel of some leagues in the past.

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Some of the details took longer to iron out, however.

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"I want to be able to use backup TE's." offered Randy. "I want to be able to use at least three tight ends, maybe more. Tight ends are the bomb."

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"Screw your tight ends Randy, what's wrong with you?" replied Vince. "I think you have a problem. Tight ends are the most worthless peons in sports, more worthless than even the DH. I think the TE position should be abolished."

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"That's great, Vince." Randy shot back. You won't be taking any TE's anytime soon anyway, since you already traded your 1^st round pick in Monsters. Ha-ha…chump."

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"Yeah, and who is it that hasn't ever won that league? Remind me…could it be…YOU? At least I don't waste my draft picks on guys like Joey Galloway."

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"Who needs another beer?" asked Matt. "Besides me, that is.'

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The sages worked late into the night…later than one sage was supposed to be out on a Sunday night in fact, given that his sage wife was going to pick him up at the subway. By the end of the night, many of the specifications of the new league were agreed upon, and talk turned to a wider scope.

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"Something's missing." Vince said when they had finished deciding on the number of keepers to be allowed to non-playoff teams from the previous year. "I don't know what it is, but its there. Conspicuous by its absence."

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"You're right." replied Matt. "The league setup is great, and we think we have everything figured out. But there's something bigger we need. I can't put my finger on exactly what. A greater purpose, maybe?"

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"We need a mission, guys." said Randy. "Our league has to be about more than just watching football and bragging to your friends and hating Fred Taylor. We need a cause, something we can all unite around. In the midst of our fun, we need to have a goal. We need to fight for the greater good of all men and women. We need to align ourselves with greatness, with something or someone who we can all look up to, and all strive to be!"

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Thus, the Free Nate Newton Fantasy Football League is born.

"Free your mind, free your soul, free Nate Newton."