Iorio eyes Bucs players for fantasy football charity league

Mayor Pam Iorio plans to sit in a war room, scrutinize NFL players and determine whether they deserve to play for Tampa's team.

"I don't want divulge any strategy, but I have begun to pencil a few names in, and I have my fantasy football magazine that I read in the evenings," Iorio said.

Tampa is one of a dozen cities participating in the Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football Mayoral Face-Off. The winning city will receive $15,000 and provide that money to a local youth charity with a sports element.

Iorio is expected to participate in the player draft sometime next week, her spokeswoman said today. The team nickname is the Tampa Con Leches.

This will be Iorio's first time playing fantasy football.

Many fantasy football prognosticators say the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' stars won't pile up points. But Iorio is confident the athletes will perform beyond expectations.

"We are going to play to win, and of course playing to win means drafting some Bucs," Iorio said, "because I happen to believe there many quality players on the Bucs' team. ... I have been putting quite a lot of analysis into this. I suspect that we will do very, very well. But only time will tell."

An additional $15,000 will be given to the city that gets the most support based on Yahoo sports metrics, Iorio's media spokeswoman Liana Lopez said.

If Tampa wins, it will give the money to the NFL Youth Education Town initiative. NFL YET Centers, begun about 15 years ago in cities hosting the Super Bowl, are designed to provide educational and recreational grounds and programs for underprivileged children. Tampa has a YET Center in Jackson Heights.

Iorio and four others will work together to draft Tampa's team. Of the four others, one will be a city employee and three will be community leaders.

Lopez sent an e-mail to city staff members last week saying Tampa needed one to serve as a fantasy football advisor and team coach. She asked staff members to send her 100 words or less on why they should be named the advisor.

One staffer wrote that he has played fantasy football for a decade and has "won the Super Bowl of Fantasy in two different leagues a total of four times. I keep up with all of the team rosters and study all of the players. I take into account consideration [sic] offensive styles, strength of schedule, team makeup, and the type of scoring system to make determinations of what players to select in building a team."

Another said he has played fantasy football for three years and has compiled a record of 38-10. "I spend hours and hours of research on each team," he wrote. "I would like the opportunity to help our city win."

Asked which athlete Iorio plans to draft first, Lopez said, "She hasn't decided yet. Or, at least, she hasn't released it to me."

Fantasy football is a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real players and score points based on those players' actual statistical performances.

Yahoo's competition will match mayors head-to-head each week this football season. This is the first time Yahoo has had a league for mayors.

Other cities included in the competition: Buffalo, N.Y.; Green Bay, Wis.; Kansas City, Mo.; Minneapolis; Oakland, Calif.; Oklahoma City; Orlando; Pittsburgh; Sacramento, Calif.; and San Francisco. A 12th city will sign on before the season.

Yahoo has offered insight and input for the mayors from its fantasy football experts. Tampa has taken Yahoo up on the offer. Iorio was knowledgeable and the expert "had homework" from her, said Yahoo spokeswoman Nicol Addison.

Fans can monitor their mayor's roster and lineup at http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/mayoral_faceoff09.