FRANKLIN—The second annual Franklin Parks and Recreation Fantasy Football PPR League is getting ready to kick off with its live draft set for Monday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. The draft will be at the Martin Luther King Center.

Brenon Artis of the Parks and Recreation Department got this started last year because he loves fantasy football.

“I’m usually in four or five leagues every year, and I figured that there are other citizens of Franklin that enjoy it as much as I do,” he said. “So why not start a City of Franklin Fantasy Football League? It was initially going to limited to city employees, but I didn’t get a good enough response. So I offered it to the public.”

Last year’s league featured 12 teams, and owners sat in the recreation center with place cards in front of them identifying their team name. Adam Cornwell, who was also a participant in the league, conducted the live draft, calling out whose turn it was to select. Owners were furnished with a packet that consisted of the names and team names of the other owners, rules and regulations, and a list of the top 100 NFL fantasy players to assist in drafting.

At the end of the season, Russell Warren of Franklin was crowned the Fantasy Football League’s champion.

“It was fun,” said Warren. “I’ve been in some other leagues with people that I really didn’t know because they were from out of the area. But this one was really fun — just being able to see the guys on the street, and say, ‘Hey man, you got your roster set?’ The camaraderie of it all was great.”

Warren said having a live draft at the Martin Luther King Center last year was fantastic.

“The way they set up the draft to be in person, that’s what really made it interesting,” he said. “You got to do a little trash talking with one another and what not. Especially when you have got the guys picking with the heart. We had a few Cowboys fans, and they were wanting to pick those players.”

Warren did say that if you wanted to compete with him, that you had to take it seriously.

“You have got to really be a true football fan to play fantasy football,” he said. “You have to keep up with the injuries, who got benched. You can’t just get on and select people and win. You’ve got to do some studying.”

The amount of slots depends on the response. Ideally, Artis said, he’d like to have a league of 12, though he is hoping to get more people involved. If he could get 24 people he’d set up an east and west division of 12 teams each.

The draft party will feature pizza, chips, drinks and other refreshments. The winner of the league will receive a Fantasy Football Champion ring.

“People should sign up because this is an opportunity to show off your knowledge of the NFL and fantasy sports and become the 2014-2015 City of Franklin Parks and Recreation Fantasy Super Bowl Champion with a personalized Fantasy Super Bowl ring to have forever,” Artis said.

Artis said the cost to participate is to be determined, but it should be $25 or under per team. Funds will be used to provide food at the draft party and pay for the ring.

The league will be a standard PPR ESPN Fantasy Sports League with a snake draft. PPR stands for points per reception.

The order of the draft will be random. In a snake draft, the person who got the first pick in the first round would get the last pick in the second round. Then it flips for even and odd rounds.

To join, contact Artis at 353-7684.

And at the end of the day, don’t forget the trash talking.

“I’m most definitely playing,” said Warren. “I’m coming back to repeat.”