Objective
The object of the league is to draft and manage a team of national football league players to score more points than your opponent in a head-to-head match-up on a weekly basis over the course of the season and win the annual championship match-up.
League Organization
The league shall consist of a single division comprised of ten (10) teams
League Fees
League fees are $200. Participating in the league without paying the league dues will result in elimination from the league. Dues must be paid by the first regular season game. In the event an owner cannot submit dues by the due date, they must confirm as such with the league commissioner and provide a date by which due will be paid. If an owner does not submit dues or notify the commissioner with a date by the deadline, that owner will be removed from the league immediately.
Prize Money
League fees will be collected and held by the Commissioner until the end of the season. The payout will be as follows:
· League Champion – 50% of the total prize pool ($1000)
· League Runner Up – 10% of the total prize pool ($200)
· Regular Season Best Record – 10% of the total prize pool ($200)
Season Long High Points (Weeks 1-17) - 10% of the total prize pool ($200)
Weekly High Points - 20% of the total prize pool ($400, paid $25 per week)
Roster Construction
Rosters
The active roster size is seventeen (17) players – Ten (10) starting players and seven (7) bench players. There is one (1) Injured Reserve slot available for players that have been placed on Injured Reserve (see Injured Reserve)
Starting Lineups
Eleven (11) players constitute the weekly Starting Lineup
Quarterback
Two (2) Running Backs
Three (3) Wide Receivers
Tight End
One (1) Flex Position (Running Back, Wide Receiver or Tight End)
One Team Defense/Special Teams
One Place Kicker
Each Starting Lineup slot will lock individually at the scheduled game time of the player in each slot.
Bench
Seven (7) players constitute the Bench. These players can be comprised of any combination of position players, Team Defense/Special Teams or Place Kicker
Injured Reserve
Each roster has one roster spot designated for players who have been placed on injured reserve and have the red IR designation next to their name
The injured reserve designation can be either the season ending injured reserve or the designated to return injured reserve
Players with “Questionable – Q”, ‘Doubtful – D” or “Out – O” designation are not eligible for the injured reserve by default
In the event it is announced that a player is going to be placed on Injured Reserve, but due to extraneous NFL roster restrictions/stipulations the player is not immediately tagged with the red IR designation in the league software, the owner may decide to place this player on IR early to free up a roster spot for another player acquisition
In order to do this, the owner must notify the league commissioner in writing, as this will serve as confirmation of the transaction.
If the player does not end up being placed on injured reserve after the declaration is made, the player must remain in the IR slot for 4 weeks before being eligible for the active roster.
Free Agency and Waiver System
All players who are not acquired via the draft are then placed in the free agency pool after the draft. During the season, owners may elect to acquire players from the free agent pool, a team’s roster may not exceed the maximum seventeen (17) players.
For each player obtained via waivers, a player must be dropped, unless the roster of the acquiring team has fewer than seventeen (17) players on the active roster at the time the player is acquired. The dropped player is then available for acquisition by any other team.
The free agency waiver acquisition bidding system is the process by which players who have been placed on waivers can be bid on by all owners, with the player being awarded to the highest bidder for the amount that owner bid on the player (for example, if owner one bids $25 (twenty-five) for player a, while owner two bids $35 (thirty five) for player a, player a is awarded to owner two).
At the beginning of each season, each owner is provided with a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)
The free agent acquisition budget amount is $1000. This amount is the total budget that can be used for the entire season to bid on players. There is no minimum bid amount, owners may bid as little as $0 (zero) on a player or they may spend their entire $1000 (one thousand) budget on a player. Once this budget is exhausted, the owner may still place bids on players with $0 bids.
The waiver period is one (1) day. When a player is dropped to waivers, there is a one (1) period during which owners may enter their bids for the player. At the end of the one (1) day waiver period, the player will be awarded to the highest bidding team.
In the event that two owners bid the same amount for a player, the player is awarded to the owner who is higher in the free agent auction tiebreaker, which is the inverse order of the standings. This tiebreaker resets each week to the inverse order of the standings.
There is no limit to the number of players that may be acquired during a weekly match-up or the season.
If the player remains unclaimed after passing through free agency waiver acquisition period, the player is then available to be acquired by any owner without bidding, so long as the owner has room or makes room for the newly acquired player on their roster.
Trades
If two (2) or more owners wish to trade players, they may do so. There is no limit to the number of trades that any owner may make during the season. There is no trade deadline during the regular season. In order to be eligible for the Championship Playoffs or Consolation Playoffs, players must be traded during the regular season. After the last game of the regular season, traded players are not eligible for a starting lineup slot; these players must remain on the bench for the duration of the playoffs. Trades can include both players and future draft picks. Of note, when a player is traded, they carry their keeper status and eligibility with them, which is detailed below in Keepers.
When two (2) or more owners agree upon terms for a trade, the trade is then submitted through the ESPN league management software by one of the owners involved in the trade. Once the trade offer is accepted by the other owner within the ESPN league management software, the trade review period begins and will last for two (2) days. During this two (2) day period, all league owners will have the ability to vote for or against the trade. If six (6) or more owners vote against the trade, the trade is considered vetoed and will not be allowed to process. In the event the trade is vetoed, the trade will be evaluated by the commissioner could be brought to a second vote amongst all owners. If the trade is accepted and passes the trade review period without being vetoed, the commissioner will ensure the trade is processed through the ESPN league management software and the players are placed on the new teams
Since the ESPN league management software can only accommodate trades between two (2) owners, if three (3) owners or more agree to terms on a trade, one (1) of the owners involved will manually submit the trade to the commissioner, who will put the trade to a vote amongst all league owners, following the same two (2) day trade review period indicated above. The veto process will be done manually, with each league owner submitting their “for” or “against” vote to the commissioner directly. Once the trade review period ends, the commissioner will ensure the trade is processed through the ESPN league management software and the players are placed on the new teams.
Offseason Roster Management & The Draft
Offseason Roster MAnagement
This a keeper league, which means that at the beginning of each season, each owner can choose up to two (2) players to “keep” entering the draft. Each kept player will be awarded to the keeping owner and the cost will be two (2) rounds ahead of the round the player was drafted in the previous season (for example, if player a is drafted in the 10th (tenth) round and the owning team elects to keep player a the following season, the owning team will keep player a in the eight (8th) round).
In the event a player goes undrafted and is acquired via free agency and the owning team elects to keep that player the following season, the owning team will keep that player in the 14th (fourteenth) round.
If an owning team has two (2) players whose keeper value places them in the same round and is electing to keep both players, the player acquired later, either through overall draft pick or waiver wire add date, is kept in the designated round, while the player acquired earlier is kept 1 (one) round earlier. There are two scenarios for this: (1) both players are eligible to be kept in the fourteenth (14th) round, but player a was drafted in the fourteenth (14th) while player b was a free agent acquisition, player b would be kept in the fourteenth (14th) round while player a would be kept in the thirteenth (13th) round or (2) both players were drafted in the fourteenth (14th) the previous year and are being kept by one team, the player acquired earlier in the round will be kept in the eleventh (11th) round while the other in the twelfth (12th).
If a player is traded during the season, they carry their corresponding keeper value with them. It is not required that a traded player be kept by the team who acquired them. If a player is traded during the off-season, they carry their corresponding keeper value with them. However, it is required that the traded player be kept by the team who acquired them.
Players who are drafted in the first (1st), second (2nd) or third (3rd) round are not eligible to be kept the following season; only players drafted in round four (4) or later are eligible to be kept. There is no term limit on how long a player can be kept; a player may be kept each consecutive season until their draft position falls within the first three (3) rounds, per above.
The keeper deadline will be determined each season by the Commissioner. The date will be determined based on the pre-season and regular season schedule that allows owners time to determine their best keepers while also taking into consideration time to allow other owners to plan for the draft. If an owner fails to submit their keepers by the deadline determined by the Commissioner, he forfeits his right to keep any players for that season. After the keepers are selected and the deadline set by the Commissioner has passed, if a selected keeper suffers a season ending injury and is placed on Injured Reserve prior to the draft, the owner has the option to change out that keeper for a healthy player from their roster.
The Draft
The draft will be held before the first regular season game of the year. Owners will draft seventeen (17) players from the most recent First Year player draft as well as the remaining non-keeper players in the National Football League free agent pool, as defined above in Off Season Roster Management. The draft will be a snake format (the draft order will alternate in the odd and even rounds (1-10, 10-1, 1-10, etc). There are no restrictions on the total number of any specific position players a team may draft, however, by the end of the draft each team must have the necessary players to fill a valid starting lineup.
Draft order will be determined by the previous year’s finish as follows:
The four (4) non-playoff teams will be locked into their draft position for the following season based on their final standings position
Tenth (10th) place team will hold the first (1st) selection in the following season’s draft
Ninth (9th) place team will hold the second (2nd) selection in the following season’s draft
Eighth (8th) place team will hold the third (3rd) selection in the following season’s draft
Seventh (7th) place team will hold the fourth (4th) selection in the following season’s draft
The six (6) teams that qualify for the playoffs will have their draft position determined by their position in the final standings after the playoff tournament has concluded (See Championship Playoffs)
Sixth (6th) place team will hold the fifth (5th) selection in the following season’s draft
Fifth (5th) place team will hold the sixth (6th) selection in the following season’s draft
Fourth (4th) place team will hold the seventh (7th) selection in the following season’s draft
Third (3rd) place team will hold the eighth (8th) selection in the following season’s draft
Second (2nd) place team will hold the ninth (9th) selection in the following season’s draft
First (1st) place team will hold the tenth (10th) selection in the following season’s draft
Scoring System
Passing
Passing Yards (PY) = 0.04
Interceptions Thrown (INT) = -2.0
300-399 Yard Passing Game (P300) = 2
400+ Yard Passing Game (P400) = 5
Touchdown Pass (PTD) = 5
2Pt Passing Conversion (2PC) = 2
Rushing
Rushing Yards (RY) = 0.1
100-199 Yard Rushing Game (RY100) = 2
200+ Yard Rushing Game (RY200) = 5
Touchdown Rush (RTD) = 6
2Pt Rushing Conversion = 2
Receiving
Receiving Yards (REY) = 0.1
Each Reception (REC) = 1
100-199 Yard Receiving Game (REY100) = 2
200+ Yard Receiving Game (REY200) = 5
Touchdown Receiving (RETD) = 6
Defense/Special Teams
Kickoff Return Touchdown (KRTD) = 6
Fumble Recovery Touchdown (FTD) = 6
Interception Return Touchdown (INTTD) = 6
Blocked Punt/Field Goal Touchdown (BLKKRTD) = 6
Punt Return Touchdown (PRTD) = 6
Fumble Return Touchdown (FRTD) = 6
Lost Fumble (FUML) = -2
Each Sack (SK) = 1
Blocked Punt, FG or PAT (BLKK) = 2
Interception (INT) = 2
Safety (SF) = 2
Fumble Recovery (FR) = 2
Kicking
Each PAT Made (PAT) = 1
Each PAT Missed (PATM) = -1
Missed Field Goal (FGM) = -1
Field Goal Made (0-39 Yds) (FG30) = 3
Field Goal Made (40-49 Yds) (FG40) = 4
Field Goal Made (50+) (FG50) = 5
Schedule
The regular season schedule begins with Week One (1) of the National Football League Regular Season. Each matchup is a head-to-head matchup that lasts for one (1) week, from Monday through Sunday. The Regular Season will consist of the first thirteen (13) weeks of the National Football League Regular Season.
Each season the regular season schedule will be determined based on the previous years final standings (as defined in Standings). A breakdown of the schedule is below:
Week One - 1st versus 2nd, 3rd versus 4th, 5th versus 6th, 7th versus 8th, 9th versus 10th
Week Two - 1st versus 3rd, 2nd versus 5th, 4th versus 7th, 6th versus 9th, 8th versus 10th
Week Three - 1st versus 5th, 2nd versus 9th, 3rd versus 7th, 4th versus 10th, 6th versus 8th
Week Four - 1st versus 7th, 2nd versus 8th, 3rd versus 10th, 4th versus 6th, 5th versus 9th
Week Five - 1st versus 9th, 2nd versus 4th, 3rd versus 6th, 5th versus 8th, 7th versus 10th
Week Six - 1st versus 10th, 2nd versus 3rd, 4th versus 5th, 6th versus 7th, 8th versus 9th
Week Seven - 1st versus 8th, 2nd versus 7th, 3rd versus 5th, 4th versus 9th, 6th versus 10th
Week Eight - 1st versus 6th, 2nd versus 10th, 3rd versus 9th, 4th versus 8th, 5th versus 7th
Week Nine - 1st versus 4th, 2nd versus 6th, 3rd versus 8th, 5th versus 10th, 7th versus 9th
Week Ten - 1st versus 2nd, 3rd versus 4th, 5th versus 6th, 7th versus 8th, 9th versus 10th
Week Eleven - 1st versus 3rd, 2nd versus 5th, 4th versus 7th, 6th versus 9th, 8th versus 10th
Week Twelve - 1st versus 5th, 2nd versus 9th, 3rd versus 7th, 4th versus 10th, 6th versus 8th
Week Thirteen - 1st versus 7th, 2nd versus 8th, 3rd versus 10th, 4th versus 6th, 5th versus 9th
Weekly Match-Ups and Game Results
Weekly Match-Up
During each seven (7) day match-up, each team will set a starting lineup as defined in Starting Lineup. Each individual lineup slot will lock at the scheduled start time of the player in that slot at that time.
Game Results
The winner of the weekly match-up is the team with the high point total by the starting lineup, as determined by the scoring system defined in Scoring System. There is no match-up tiebreaker (If a regular season match-up ends with both teams scores being equal, the match-up is considered a tie). There is no advantage (Points, etc) for being the ‘Home’ team in any given match-up.
Standings
Teams are ranked in the standings by their regular season record. The standings are used to determine which teams make the playoffs, as well as the determining the following season’s draft order. The tiebreaker for teams who with the same records will be the Total Points Scored. The tiebreaker will apply if teams place the same waiver bid for a player on the waiver wire, as well as determining playoff seeding as defined below in Championship Playoffs and Consolation Bracket.
Best Record
In addition to determined the Playoff bracket, the team with the best regular season record (Most wins) is awarded prize money in defined in Dues & Prize Money. In the event two teams have the same number of regular season wins, the tiebreaker will be determined by the higher total number of points scored during the regular season. If the regular season points for each team are also tied, the prize money is then split between the team with the same best record
Championship Playoff Bracket
The championship playoffs bracket will consist of the top six (6) teams as determined by the regular season standings. The tiebreaker for teams who finish with the same records will be the total points scored during the thirteen (13) week regular season.
Each playoff matchup will be a seven (7) day matchup, the top two (2) records as determined by the standings will have a bye for the first week of playoff matchups. The playoffs begin Week Fourteen (14) of the Regular Season. The playoff bracket will be played out as follows:
Week 14
#1 & #2 seeds have byes in Week 14
#6 seed -vs- #3 seed
#5 seed -vs- #4 seed
Week 15
Loser of #5/#4 matchup -vs- Loser of #6/#3 matchup
Winner of #5/#4 matchup -vs- #1 seed
Winner of #6/#3 matchup -vs- #2 seed
Week 16
Winner of #6/#3 -vs- #2 matchup -vs- Winner of #5/#4 -vs- #1 matchup
Loser of #6/#3 -vs- #2 matchup -vs- Loser of #5/#4 -vs- #1 matchup
**In the event of a tie in any of the playoff matchups, the tiebreaker will be whichever team has the higher total Regular Season Point Total.
The winner of the final ‘Winners’ matchup is considered the League Champion and is eligible for the prize money as defined in Dues & Prize Money. The other team involved in the final ‘Winners’ matchup is eligible for the second place prize money as defined in Dues & Prize Money
Consolation Playoff Bracket
The consolation playoffs bracket will consist of the bottom 4 (4) teams as determined by the regular season standings. The tiebreaker for teams who finish with the same records will be the total points scored during the thirteen (13) week regular season.
Each playoff matchup will be a seven (7) day matchup. The playoffs begin Week Fourteen (14) of the Regular Season. The playoff bracket will be played out as follows:
Week 14
#10 seed -vs- #7 seed
#9 seed -vs- #8 seed
Week 15
Winner of #10/#7 matchup -vs- Winner of #9/#8 matchup
**In the event of a tie in any of the playoff matchups, the tiebreaker will be whichever team has the higher total Regular Season Point Total.
Rule Changes
All formal rule changes must be done during the offseason. The offseason period is considered the day after the Championship Playoffs end and the day before the pre-draft rosters lock.
To amend any rule or regulation as defined in the Constitution, or to add another rule or regulation to the Constitution, a league member must bring the suggestion to the attention of the Commissioner in writing. The Commissioner will then present all of the specifics of the rules to the league members. A vote will be held and all members of the league must vote unanimously to change an existing rule or add a new rule. If a suggestion is voted down, the owner who offered the suggestion can revise the rule offering and present again. If the suggestion is voted down a second time, the matter will be closed for that season and can be reopened the following offseason.
Office of the Commissioner
The Office of the Commissioner is responsible for all league affairs. This includes but is not limited to scheduling the draft, handling all league finances, ensuring accurate and valid rosters for all ten (10) teams, facilitate any offseason rule changes, etc. The Office of the Commissioner is currently held by Chris Shoemaker.
If the Commissioner is no longer able to fulfill the obligations of the office, or he is deemed to be too similar to Roger Goodell, a man who once wiped a booger on the back of a handicapped girl, and is no longer wanted in office by the league members, a new league Commissioner will be determined via vote and that newly elected Commissioner will assume all league duties from that date.
2020 COVID Addendum
Based on the agreement of the league members, due to the existence of COVID-19 and the potential effect it could have on the 2020 season and potentially beyond, in the event that the NFL season is postponed or cancelled, the league results will be determined as follows:
Between one (1) and nine (9) regular season weeks are completed - the season is considered null and void; a regular season week is considered completed only if all teams scheduled to play that week play their scheduled game. There will be a vote at that time to determine if the league members would like to roll over the league fees to the following season or have the fees returned. The results of the draft with regards to keeper values will carry over to the following season in accordance with the above detail surrounding Keepers (see Offseason Roster Management & The Draft). Draft order for the following season will be determined by league member vote in a format to be determined by said vote.
Between ten (10) and thirteen (13) regular season weeks are completed - the season is considered complete and the winner is defined as the best week regular season record as of the last fully completed week; a regular season week is considered completed only if all teams scheduled to play that week play their scheduled game. Payouts will be made to the top 3 records following as follows - First (1st) place receives 70%, Second (2nd) place receives 20%, third (3rd) place receives 10%. Tie breakers will follow the same process outlines above in Championship Playoff Bracket. Draft order will follow the inverse of record standings as of the last completed regular season week
Thirteen (13) regular season weeks are completed but the playoff Weeks fourteen (14), fifteen (15) and sixteen (16) are not completed in their entirety - the season is considered complete and the winner is defined as the best 13 week regular season record. Payouts will be made to the top 3 records following as follows - First (1st) place receives 70%, Second (2nd) place receives 20%, third (3rd) place receives 10%. Tie breakers will follow the same process outlines above in Championship Playoff Bracket. Draft order will follow the inverse of record standings as of the last completed regular season week
Sixteen (16) regular season and playoff weeks are fully completed - the season is considered complete as a normal season and will follow the normal results and payout structure identified above.