1. Introduction
1.1 Commissioner
2007 Commissioner - Jason
2007 Backup Commissioner - Dave
The Commissioner is in charge of making sure all league actions are
carried out and that the league runs smoothly. The Commissioner helps to make
sure fairness and integrity is adhered to in all decisions.
2. League Structure and Requirements
2.1 Teams and Divisions
There will be 10 teams in one division.
This league is a standard "re-draft" league, meaning no players are kept from year to year. Each year teams draft an entire new roster.
Teams will compete in head-to-head competition each week whereby the
winner is the team whose starting lineup scores more points than the
starting lineup of their opponent. Player points are determined by the
scoring system detailed in section 5.
2.2 Internet Access
All owners are required to have Internet access. If Internet is not accessible, owners are responsible for letting the rest of the league and/or Commish know ahead of time if they need something updated like their starting lineup. All reports are
published on the Yahoo league site and all league announcements are made
via email. All league transactions are executed on the Yahoo league site.
2.3 Rule Changes
Any vote taken by the league to change a rule requires a majority vote to
pass (60% - 6 out of 10). In theory, everything will be covered and defined
100% at the start of the year, however, we
all know new things can come up. If we find something drastically wrong
(logic error in scoring rules or something like that), we'll simply vote
on how it should be updated and make the update based on majority vote.
If someone has a new idea, we can vote on it and make changes during the offseason.
3. League Fees and Payouts
3.1 Owner Costs
Franchise Fee (per team) due by draft day: $20.00
An owner vote of 10 out of 10 is required to lower or raise the franchise fee from
it's current $20.
There are no transaction fees. That means no fees for free agent
pick-ups or trades.
Commissioner will hold the money and make payouts after the end of week
16.
3.2 League Costs
We use a free Yahoo league, so there are no league costs.
3.3 Prizes Awarded
With 10 teams we'll have a $200.00 pot, to be divided as such:
Super Bowl Champion: $100.00 (50%)
2nd Place: $50.00 (25%)
3rd Place: $30.00 (15%)
4th Place: $20.00 (10%)
4. Rosters and Lineups
4.1 Active Roster
Each owner will have 16 players on their roster. Each owner is responsible for drafting enough players at each position
to submit a starting lineup each week.
4.2 Players and Positions
Each player on a team's roster must be considered either a Quarterback
(QB), Running Back (RB), Wide Receiver (WR), Tight End (TE), Kicker (K),
or Team Defense (D).
The final say on a player's position will be determined by the player’s NFL team web site and nfl.com will be consulted.
Accordingly, if a player's position is potentially in question, an owner
should request a decision from the Commissioner regarding the player's
position prior to adding the player to their roster. Example: Kordell
Stewart's position was QB. Even if he started a game at WR, you could not start him as
a WR because his position is QB. However, if you started him at QB,
you would still receive any points he accumulated at the WR position.
4.3 Starting Lineups
Each team must set the following starting lineup each week.
9 players consisting of:
1 QB
2 RB
2 WR
1 TE
1 “Flex” which can be a RB or WR
1 K
1 D
Players must be set as starting or benched just prior to the start of his NFL game. Players are locked at kickoff of their game. A lineup can be changed as many times as an owner wants up to the
deadline for their players.
5. Scoring
5.1 QB/RB/WR/TE/K
Passing TD: 6 points
Rushing TD: 6 points
Receiving TD: 6 points
Punt Return TD: 6 points
Kickoff Return TD: 6 points
Offensive Fumble Recovery TD: 6 points
2 point conversion (all): 2 points
Passing Yards: 1 point per 25 yards
Rushing Yards: 1 point per 10 yards
Receiving Yards: 1 point per 10 yards
Kickoff and Punt Return Yards (yardage combined): 1 point per 25 yards
Interception thrown: -2 points
Fumbles lost: -2 points
Extra Point Made: 1 point
Length of Field Goal Made: 1 - 39 yards = 3 points
Length of Field Goal Made: 40 - 49 yards = 4 points
Length of Field Goal Made: 50+ yards = 5 points
5.2 Team Defense and Special Teams
This is a combined position meaning the team's defense and special team count towards points.
All Return Touchdowns(Kickoff, Punt, INT, Fumble): 6 points
Points Against
(Does not include points scored by the opponent's team defense (Example: Interception return TD, fumble return TD, safeties)
0: 10 points
1 - 6: 7 points
7 - 13: 4 points
14 - 20: 1 point
21 - 27: 0 points
28 - 34: -1 points
35 or more: -3 points
Fumble Recovery (from Opponent): 2 points
Interception: 2 points
Sack: 1 point
Blocked Kick: 2 points
Safety: 3 points
Note Yahoo's ruling on Blocked Kick scoring:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/football/scoring/football-73.html
5.3 Scoring Disputes/Stat Changes
We will adhere to Yahoo's scoring dispute rules:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/football/scoring/football-01.html
If you have a scoring dispute, bring it up to the Commissioner and we'll consult the NFL.com gamebook then file a dispute with Yahoo if the dispute is valid.
6. The Draft
The draft is 16 rounds. Trades are
not allowed during the draft. (See section 8 for more info on trading)
The draft order will be determined as such;
Each owner's name will be written on a piece of paper and put into a
bag. The first name pulled gets the 1st pick, second name pulled gets the 2nd pick, and so on.
The draft will be ordered in a serpentine fashion.
There is no set time limit for each owner to make their draft
pick, but please pay attention to the action in front of you and have your
selection ready. Keep up the pace. At an average of 1 minute per
selection with 10 teams and 16 rounds... that's a 2hr,40min draft. The goal is to keep the draft around 3 hours.
Owners can only draft their own team. To clarify, an owner can't draft their team and another owner's team due to conflict of interest.
7. Free Agents/Waivers - Drops/Adds
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Cliff Notes for the 7+ paragraphs below:
Each week contact Jason by phone or email BEFORE Saturday 1PM to submit your free agent requests. There are 2 rounds per week, therefore you can drop 2 players and add 2 players, per week. Requests are executed based on the current standings in the league, worst-to-first.
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The terms “Free Agent”, “Waiver”, “Drop/Add” are all used synonymously. It simply means dropping one player from your roster to pickup another.
All dropped players will be released as free agents and can be picked up the following week at the earliest. This means a dropped player cannot be picked up the same week they're dropped.
There are 2 rounds of free agent requests per week starting with week 2 and ending with week 14. Each owner can drop up to 2 players and add up to 2 players per week, UNLESS an owner has less than 16 players on their roster (due to an uneven trade). In that case, they can add more players after round 2 until they fill up their roster to the limit of 16.
The last opportunity to make free agent requests will be week 15 (Playoffs week) before the first kickoff. This means drops/adds are not allowed after Thursday December 13th, 2007. Prepare for the playoffs wisely.
Free agent requests are processed in a worst-to-first order based on the same criteria as the regular season standings. Each round of requests is ordered in the same way. Owners must submit their requests to the Commissioner. Each owner can submit multiple requests per round and prioritize them as they wish. Here is an example you could submit to the Commissioner:
Round One
Drop [TE-Smith], Add [RB-Jones]
if [RB-Jones] isn't available, then Drop [TE-Smith], Add [RB-Johnson]
if [RB-Johnson] isn't available, then Drop [TE-Smith], Add [WR-Davis]
if [WR-Davis] isn't available, then Drop [TE-Smith], Add [QB-Marino]
Round Two
Drop [WR-Owens], Add [WR-Jones]
if [WR-Jones] isn't available, then Drop [WR-Owens], Add [QB-Thompson]
From the time of the draft until week 2 drop/adds are not allowed.
Each week's waiver request period starts Monday at midnight and lasts until Saturday 1:00 PM except for weeks 12, 13, and 14, which have Thursday games so the waiver request period will end Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon.
If an owner hasn't used their 2 drop/adds for the week after the Saturday 1PM deadline, they can still drop/add players before kickoff. For example if their QB gets injured during late afternoon Saturday practice and they don't have a backup. Just contact the Commissioner.
8. Trading
8.1 Core Rules
Trading deadline each week is gametime on Sunday. If the trade includes
players that have already played their game (such as a Thursday game)
the trade will not be accepted until the following week.
For a trade to be valid, all Owners involved in the trade must email or
call the Commissioner with the details of the trade and their
approval. Once a trade has been approved by all teams involved in the
trade to the Commissioner, it cannot be rescinded. Any trade made
involving the Commissioner will be communicated to the Backup
Commissioner. Commish will notify entire league via email on all trade announcements.
Trades not allowed:
- Cash or other items
- Player or draft pick "to be named later"
Traded players cannot be traded back to their previous team for 3 weeks
unless the player has already been traded to a 3rd team in between.
8.2 Trade Deadline
The regular season trading deadline is kickoff of NFL Week 11.
For 2007 this is November 18th, 1:00 PM.
9. Schedule and Playoffs
9.1 Regular Season
The regular season will consist of 14 games and will be played during
weeks 1 to 14 of the NFL season. The regular season schedule is setup
randomly by Yahoo. The regular season is used to determine
which teams advance to the playoffs to compete for the Super Bowl to
determine the league champion.
9.2 Playoffs and Super Bowl
Brackets
The playoff tournament will take place during weeks 15 and 16 of the NFL
season. The top 4 ranked teams at the end of the regular season will
qualify for the playoffs. Team rankings are determined in accordance
with the standings tiebreakers. (See section 10 for tiebreak rules)
During week 15 (semi-finals), the #1 seed will play the #4 seed and the
#2 seed will play the #3 seed.
During week 16 (championship and 3rd place game), the winners of the two
week 15 games will play for the Super Bowl Championship. The losers of the
week 15 semi-final game will play for 3rd and 4th place.
9.3 Consolation Bowl
Brackets
The Consolation Bowl tournament will take place during weeks 15 and 16
of the NFL season. The 4 teams ranked 5th-8th that did not make the playoffs will
compete. Teams that finish 9th and 10th don't get to compete in any sort of playoff competition.
During week 15, the #5 seed will play the #8 seed and the #6 seed will play the #7 seed.
During week 16, the winners of the two week 15 games will play for the Consolation Bowl Championship. The losers of the week 15 game will play for 7th and 8th place.
10. Tiebreakers
10.1 Regular Season Games
Regular season games may end in a tie and they will be recorded as such
in the standings.
10.2 Overall Standings and Playoff Entry Tiebreakers
To break a tie for overall standings and playoff placement we will use Yahoo's tiebreak rules:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/football/scoring/football-31.html
10.3 Playoff Games
To break a tie in a playoff game, we will use Yahoo's tiebreak rules:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/football/scoring/football-82.html
11. Owner Conduct and Accountability
It is expected that all owners will, at all times, conduct themselves in
the best interest of the league. In particular, owners will operate in a
competitive and sportsmanlike manner during all league events,
discussions with other owners and activities.
Owners agree not to collude with other owners to the potential detriment
of another owner, group of owners, or the league as a whole.
Owners agree at all times to not act in a way that may be perceived as
them "giving up" on the season or making a mockery of the league. Even
if an owner is "out" of the playoffs, please continue to field the best
team you can and make it fun for everyone. All owners are expected to
take the 15 minutes a week it takes to check the injury report and the
bye weeks and submit a valid lineup.
If at any time the Commissioner sees an owner not acting in
accordance with the terms of this section, then the Commissioner will
confront the owner for an explanation. If the owner fails to provide a
sufficient explanation, the Commissioner can decide to remove the owner
from the league.