Post your leagues' best special rules (1 Viewer)

[PainTrain]

Most old leagues have some quirky rule, penalty, or custom scoring that give it character. Post your best.

In one league I play in, missed PATs cost -5 points.

Another makes the last guy to pay their entry fee serve as treasurer the next season.

There is a trophy someone had made from a cow scrotum for the last place finisher. It's called the Sack-O.

Whatchu got?

 

[yonder]

no rushing or receiving points until 40 yards (2 pts) and then a pt for every 10 after, no pts for receptions until 5th catch, 3rd catch for TEs, and then 1 pt for each catch after

Edit - 15 year league

 

[wlwiles]

I've toyed with an idea for a "just for fun/wacky/no money involved" league: after every head to head matchup, the losing team gets to choose any player they want off the winning team's roster. On paper, it sounds like you'd end up with a bunch of .500 teams, but I'm curious to see how big a factor smart waiver wire hawking would work in this format. A stacked team wouldn't remain stacked for long..

 

[just_want_2_win]

In one league:

Weekly high scorer gets $5 added to FAAB, which starts at $100.

3 point home field advantage in the playoffs to the higher seed in each match up.

 

[montana_grizzly_bears]

5pts for each 5 recepts, 20 rushes or 25 completions. Every pick in the draft is drawn lottery style from the trophy starting with the last pick and moving up to the first( just the slots not the actual players). FCFS waivers starting Tuesday morning at 6 am (was 2am on Tuesday when we were all younger and didnt have jobs). Head to head player matchups to break in game ties between teams.

 

[habsfan]

The winner is subjected to the trophy (a miniature helmet) being piped in by a piper in full regalia. He must also drink a dram of single malt from the trophy.

 

[msudaisy26]

I've toyed with an idea for a "just for fun/wacky/no money involved" league: after every head to head matchup, the losing team gets to choose any player they want off the winning team's roster. On paper, it sounds like you'd end up with a bunch of .500 teams, but I'm curious to see how big a factor smart waiver wire hawking would work in this format. A stacked team wouldn't remain stacked for long..

OMG that league would be so much fun.

 

[msudaisy26]

Love this thread idea because a friend of mine wants to dabble in dynasty next year and we are going to start a new league. We want it to be unique but not over do it. I have heard someone mention it before, and we are going to borrow the rule but the home team will get an "advantage" by starting 2 players at the flex spot and the best score gets the nod.

 

[PainTrain]

I've toyed with an idea for a "just for fun/wacky/no money involved" league: after every head to head matchup, the losing team gets to choose any player they want off the winning team's roster. On paper, it sounds like you'd end up with a bunch of .500 teams, but I'm curious to see how big a factor smart waiver wire hawking would work in this format. A stacked team wouldn't remain stacked for long..

OMG that league would be so much fun.

Nice. Would be cool if they could only poach guys you started, so everyone starts the leanest lineup they can while still expecting to win.

 

[yonder]

I've toyed with an idea for a "just for fun/wacky/no money involved" league: after every head to head matchup, the losing team gets to choose any player they want off the winning team's roster. On paper, it sounds like you'd end up with a bunch of .500 teams, but I'm curious to see how big a factor smart waiver wire hawking would work in this format. A stacked team wouldn't remain stacked for long..

Amazing idea

 

[PatsWillWin]

Playoff callouts. When there are more than 2 opponents (i.e. not the championship game) the higher seed can choose who he wants to play in each round, rather than it being fixed in that highest plays the lowest, etc.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

I'm in a league that does a combination Auction/Draft every year. One guy selects a player, then everyone else bids him up to the highest price, then the original guy can "Steal" the player by paying 10% or $2 extra, whichever is greater.

 

[Rich Conway]

Formations. Besides the QB and DEF, your lineup consists of one of the following:

Wishbone - 3 RBs and 2 TEs

Pro-Set - 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE

Spread - 1 RB, 4 WRs

Switching formations each week is perfectly legal, of course.

 

[spodog]

For years, we did league winner gets to choose the music played during the draft the following summer. One year we listened to rap music from India.

 

[Jimbo Slice]

I'm in a league that does a combination Auction/Draft every year. One guy selects a player, then everyone else bids him up to the highest price, then the original guy can "Steal" the player by paying 10% or $2 extra, whichever is greater.

Not crapping on your idea, because it's intriguing, but why wouldn't the original guy just bid $1 more instead of paying the "steal" premium?

 

[TeeDub]

In my big money league every transaction and trade you make cost $5. So if you had 20 transactions by the end of the season you have to add $100 to the pot which gets distributed to 1st place winner (75%) and 2nd place winner (25%)

 

[PainTrain]

I'm in a league that does a combination Auction/Draft every year. One guy selects a player, then everyone else bids him up to the highest price, then the original guy can "Steal" the player by paying 10% or $2 extra, whichever is greater.

Not crapping on your idea, because it's intriguing, but why wouldn't the original guy just bid $1 more instead of paying the "steal" premium?

Because the paying the premium ends a bidding war and bidding $1 more extends it.

 

[Adam Harstad]

I'm in a league that does a combination Auction/Draft every year. One guy selects a player, then everyone else bids him up to the highest price, then the original guy can "Steal" the player by paying 10% or $2 extra, whichever is greater.

Not crapping on your idea, because it's intriguing, but why wouldn't the original guy just bid $1 more instead of paying the "steal" premium?

I understood the original post to mean that the nominating owner was not part of the auction. So, Owner 1 nominates Adrian Peterson, Owners 2-12 hold an auction for him, and then Owner 1 has the option to "steal" him from the winner of the auction.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Love this thread idea because a friend of mine wants to dabble in dynasty next year and we are going to start a new league. We want it to be unique but not over do it. I have heard someone mention it before, and we are going to borrow the rule but the home team will get an "advantage" by starting 2 players at the flex spot and the best score gets the nod.

Someone posted a few years back about a league that allowed teams to start one of several different "lineups" (1 RB / 4 WRs, or 2 RBs / 2 WRs / 1 TE, etc). The "home" team every week got to decide which lineup would be used, and both teams would have to start that lineup. So, in theory, a team with a ton of great WRs could start "spread" sets all season long in their home games, but when they went on the road their opponent would have the option to force them into a 2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE "jumbo" lineup. That was my favorite idea for "home field advantage", because it just adds a whole extra layer of strategy on to team building. Do you want to go for a unique lineup (say, draft Graham and Gronk in the first two rounds), knowing that you'll be able to force half of your opponents into bad matchups but also knowing that, in all your road games, you will have to bench one of your best players? Or would you rather go for a balanced lineup, so no matter what your opponent sets you can be competitive, and then just choose your lineups in home games based on your opponent's particular weaknesses?

I've mentioned in other threads, but my favorite "special" rule in my leagues is conditional lineup requests. If you have a guy who is a GTD and plays in a late game, you can submit a "conditional lineup request", which basically says "If player X plays, I start him, and if he doesn't, I start his backup". This way, if your star plays on Monday night and is a GTD, you're not at a disadvantage against someone else whose star plays on Thursday and is a GTD.

 

[grateful zed]

the home ff team gets a 3.5 field advantage. make sence, and no ties.

 

[steelerfan1]

I've mentioned in other threads, but my favorite "special" rule in my leagues is conditional lineup requests. If you have a guy who is a GTD and plays in a late game, you can submit a "conditional lineup request", which basically says "If player X plays, I start him, and if he doesn't, I start his backup". This way, if your star plays on Monday night and is a GTD, you're not at a disadvantage against someone else whose star plays on Thursday and is a GTD.

I would like to try to find a way to do something like this for injuries but haven't been able to come up with great solution yet.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

I'm in a league that does a combination Auction/Draft every year. One guy selects a player, then everyone else bids him up to the highest price, then the original guy can "Steal" the player by paying 10% or $2 extra, whichever is greater.

Not crapping on your idea, because it's intriguing, but why wouldn't the original guy just bid $1 more instead of paying the "steal" premium?

I understood the original post to mean that the nominating owner was not part of the auction. So, Owner 1 nominates Adrian Peterson, Owners 2-12 hold an auction for him, and then Owner 1 has the option to "steal" him from the winner of the auction.

Correct. Owner #1 nominates a player and names a starting price, but does not participate in the bidding.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

1. We play H2H and against the average.

2. The playoffs are a combination of overall average score for weeks 1-14, plus week 15 and week 16.

3. We are two leagues. At the end of a season, one set of teams move up to the upper league, others move down to the lower league (like English Premier League). The lower league is in charge of draft day festivities, an all day event.

 

[Sarnoff]

We strictly follow the NFL's drug-testing policy.

 

[TeeDub]

We strictly follow the NFL's drug-testing policy.

LolMy other league strictly doesn't follow the NFL's drug-testing policy.

 

[Jimbo Slice]

Ah that auction thing makes sense now. I must be slow tonight

 

[Adam Harstad]

I've mentioned in other threads, but my favorite "special" rule in my leagues is conditional lineup requests. If you have a guy who is a GTD and plays in a late game, you can submit a "conditional lineup request", which basically says "If player X plays, I start him, and if he doesn't, I start his backup". This way, if your star plays on Monday night and is a GTD, you're not at a disadvantage against someone else whose star plays on Thursday and is a GTD.

I would like to try to find a way to do something like this for injuries but haven't been able to come up with great solution yet.

The rule I use has always worked well. We have a message board, and teams can submit a conditional lineup request on the message board. The conditional request must clearly name a starter and designated backup. As soon as one of the two players plays- either starter OR backup- both players lock for the week. If the named starter does not play a single snap, the owner gets the backup's score. If the named starter plays so much as one snap, the owner is stuck with the starter's score. I used to require all owners to submit links to a game book that listed the starter as inactive, but NFL.com has made it nearly impossible to find game books anymore, so now I accept 3rd party reports of the weekly inactive list, and I also have a PFF subscription so I can verify snap counts.

 

[steelerfan1]

I've mentioned in other threads, but my favorite "special" rule in my leagues is conditional lineup requests. If you have a guy who is a GTD and plays in a late game, you can submit a "conditional lineup request", which basically says "If player X plays, I start him, and if he doesn't, I start his backup". This way, if your star plays on Monday night and is a GTD, you're not at a disadvantage against someone else whose star plays on Thursday and is a GTD.

I would like to try to find a way to do something like this for injuries but haven't been able to come up with great solution yet.

The rule I use has always worked well. We have a message board, and teams can submit a conditional lineup request on the message board. The conditional request must clearly name a starter and designated backup. As soon as one of the two players plays- either starter OR backup- both players lock for the week. If the named starter does not play a single snap, the owner gets the backup's score. If the named starter plays so much as one snap, the owner is stuck with the starter's score. I used to require all owners to submit links to a game book that listed the starter as inactive, but NFL.com has made it nearly impossible to find game books anymore, so now I accept 3rd party reports of the weekly inactive list, and I also have a PFF subscription so I can verify snap counts.

that's where it kind of is a bummer. for example lastweek. cecil shorts 3rd snap of the game he goes down and you would get a zero because he played a snap. jimmy graham plays almost whole game and then goes down and you'd get a zero, but the 2 scenerios to me are not even close but getting the same result.

 

[Deamon]

This may be a common and not a unique rule, but the league I joined this year does Derby Style Draft positions and I'm going to switch my own league to that next year. Whoever draws #1 gets first pick of what draft spot they want, then #2 gets second choice, etc. Leaves everyone usually fairly happy with their draft spot and not blaming draft spot on their record.

 

[ponchsox]

One of my leagues' rules is not so special, we only are allowed 8 waiver moves all season. I just used my last move to pick up Keenen Allen.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

Whoever draws #1 gets first pick of what draft spot they want, then #2 gets second choice, etc. Leaves everyone usually fairly happy with their draft spot and not blaming draft spot on their record.

Do Banzai draft (with Derby style) and nobody will ever again complain about position.

 

[Second Sight]

Someone on these boards that I ran into play in a league with a "Super Flex" position that allows the higher seeded playoff team (and maybe the "home" team in the regular season, not sure) to select a Super Flex player. That player is not counted towards your week unless he outscores the starter.

So, if you start Calvin and you Super Flex DJAX and Calvin scores 20 and DJax scores 10, then nothing changes. But if Calvin puts up a dud or gets hurt or is a late minute scratch and DJAX blows up, then DJAX's points do get included.

It was explained to me as a way to reward higher seeded teams and toss out some of the luck factor that happens at the end of the season when players are sat, etc. It looks like it would reward the deeper teams also. I thought it was a good rule.§

 

[pantherclub]

not really a rule just how we set the league up

there is an initial $500 entry fee and then we bid on the draft pics starting at $200. So for instance this year the #1 pick went for $350 so that owner had to pay $850

This is an awesome way to get the pot very large

 

[amnesiac]

5 or 6 different leagal formations

home team picks the formation for that weeks game.

it's cool, but you have to have a deadline to post the formation for the week.

 

[amnesiac]

as an aside, we added a wildcat formation a few years back.

it's really screwed over the Peyton Manning owner, he's 2-4.

this setup really forces you to have players at every position.

 

[buddahj]

In one of my locals, we just implimented a rule that the winner of the Toilet Bowl gets their choice of draft spots. Everyone else is random.

We've also been throwing around the idea of a "mulligan rule". Basically, you get one mulligan during the season (including playoffs) that would allow you to swap out a starter for a higher scoring bench player.

 

[VA703]

that derby draft sounds interesting.. I wonder at what pick people start taking later round picks

 

[Khy]

Love this thread idea because a friend of mine wants to dabble in dynasty next year and we are going to start a new league. We want it to be unique but not over do it. I have heard someone mention it before, and we are going to borrow the rule but the home team will get an "advantage" by starting 2 players at the flex spot and the best score gets the nod.

I really really like this idea... what software supports it though?

 

[CA_7]

Actually got this from a FBG poster many many years ago and it can add $50-100 to our total payout

The Rae Carruth Award:
It's really not an award but rather a $10 fine to any team that has a player on their roster or Team Defense get arrested, charged, convicted, sued or imprisoned during the season. Imprisoned is defined by, but not limited to; having a mug shot taken, handcuffed and brought to a local law enforcement office or spending an evening in the jail. OJ amendment: Carruth fines are not reversed in the event charges are dropped or the player if found innocent. The event directly related to the charges, conviction, etc.must have taken place after the draft for that respective season. There is no limit to the number of awards handed out in a season.

 

[biju]

In one of my older leagues we have a number of bizarre rules. The games end up being in the 160-210 range because of it.

- Two matchups on the odd weeks starting week 3 and ending on week 13 so each team ends up playing 19 games instead of 13.

- Points associated with use for RBs and QBs. For each 5 carries/completions you receive two points..

- WRs are PPR and get a point for every 7 yards

- TEs are PPR and get a point for every 5 yards (this has worked well until the recent explosion of TEs--we may need to change this one soon)

- It's a keeper league. You can keep 3 players as long as they weren't drafted in the first four rounds and they cannot be kept for more than 3 years in a row. To "keep" a player you must draft him in the following year two rounds ahead of when he was last drafted. (WW pickups automatically start in round 12.) This means you really are trying your best to get the real "value" players that are off the radar. Doing your homework in this one is essential for success.

Some ideas I've always wanted to try:

- A league where you are trying to pick the "worst" players and the idea is to lose your game. Your players automatically score 20 points until they get real yardage so you can't simply draft people who don't play. You're looking for the guys that get only a few carries a game, or a single catch. Not only do I think it would be fun but a decent way to watch the "bottom of the barrel" for the other leagues I'm in. The fun in this one is to make the starting lineup pretty big (1 QB, 4 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs--no K or DST).

- A rule you can enact once (or a certain number of times) a season where you officially "scheme away" an opposing player and they get their final total cut in half. I'm not certain how you could do this though and be fair if the commish is an owner.

 

[buddhacwru]

Wow, interesting stuff.

One league has Pick 6 being -6 points. Tame compared to everyone else.

I am leaning towards next year having a buy in each year where 1/2 of it goes the winner and the other 1/2 goes to the bank. The bank proceeds are paid out only when someone wins the league two years in a row. The league then dissolves. This could be a big pot in a few years!

 

[kardplayer]

I've mentioned in other threads, but my favorite "special" rule in my leagues is conditional lineup requests. If you have a guy who is a GTD and plays in a late game, you can submit a "conditional lineup request", which basically says "If player X plays, I start him, and if he doesn't, I start his backup". This way, if your star plays on Monday night and is a GTD, you're not at a disadvantage against someone else whose star plays on Thursday and is a GTD.

I would like to try to find a way to do something like this for injuries but haven't been able to come up with great solution yet.

The rule I use has always worked well. We have a message board, and teams can submit a conditional lineup request on the message board. The conditional request must clearly name a starter and designated backup. As soon as one of the two players plays- either starter OR backup- both players lock for the week. If the named starter does not play a single snap, the owner gets the backup's score. If the named starter plays so much as one snap, the owner is stuck with the starter's score. I used to require all owners to submit links to a game book that listed the starter as inactive, but NFL.com has made it nearly impossible to find game books anymore, so now I accept 3rd party reports of the weekly inactive list, and I also have a PFF subscription so I can verify snap counts.

My leagues have the same rule. I suggest using nfl.com/inactives as your official source though - much simpler (and official).

It's a big help too now that there are Thursday night games every week.

 

[Johnny Blood]

I used to require all owners to submit links to a game book that listed the starter as inactive, but NFL.com has made it nearly impossible to find game books anymore, so now I accept 3rd party reports of the weekly inactive list, and I also have a PFF subscription so I can verify snap counts.

Interesting rule.

You can see the official NFL inactives list here: http://nfl.com/inactives

That is a very useful website for people who have rules regarding inactives.

Gamebooks are still readily available. You have to go to the NFL.com scoreboard, find the game, go into the game center, click on 'game info', and then there will be a download link for the gamebook.

 

[Bud]

I like performance payouts that keep losing teams interested. Top QB, RB, WR split transaction pot fees. Top weekly scoring team gets a piece of the pie as well. In one league we have home team flex call out for visiting team during regular season. I'm not very fond of giving teams advantages in the playoffs. It's fun and games during the regular season but when the money is on the line I think you should get to play your best roster. I like the idea of Derby style draft and would think about trying it next year.

 

[Dippa]

My league gives extra points for a lot of things, but my favorite is interception return yards for Team Defense. We give 1 point per 10 yards on an interception return.

It's pretty cool when your D gets a pick and you're rooting for them to pick up as many extra yards as possible. A pick-6 can be huge, as you get points for the pick, yards, and TD.

 

[Wrigley]

We pay high scorer each week, in addition we pay out for each win(you pay when you lose)

 

[BringItOn]

Salary cap league, starting week 2, all free agents decline in salary by $1. Also, each team gets 2 "instant pickup" Free Agents, whereby they bypass the normal waiver wire process.

 

[Dondante]

We have a survivor-style IDP player. Sacks are worth 5 points.

 

[PainTrain]

Some ideas I've always wanted to try:- A league where you are trying to pick the "worst" players and the idea is to lose your game. Your players automatically score 20 points until they get real yardage so you can't simply draft people who don't play. You're looking for the guys that get only a few carries a game, or a single catch. Not only do I think it would be fun but a decent way to watch the "bottom of the barrel" for the other leagues I'm in. The fun in this one is to make the starting lineup pretty big (1 QB, 4 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs--no K or DST).

- A rule you can enact once (or a certain number of times) a season where you officially "scheme away" an opposing player and they get their final total cut in half. I'm not certain how you could do this though and be fair if the commish is an owner.

I think a "worst" player league would be an interesting way to evaluate players, but I don't think the league could get enough active owners. You'd probably need to find a scoring system that is opportunity minus production, and give points for turning it over. So passing and rushing attempts would score points and yardage would reduce their point totals. Problem is there isn't a good way to do this for receivers. All receptions are good plays, and even if you could do targets, those are still indicators of gettign separation and creating opportunity. If you could score drops you'd be in business. Would be interested to see the ranking, but hard to get excited about that league. It would probably need to be a side pot for a real league.

For scheming against a specific player, maybe consider having a roster spot for an IDP that can only contain a player lining up opposite the player you want to contain, or another player on the same team at the same position that may get garbage time. That would of course get tricky in situations where a team has two viable options at the same position. Demaryius Thomas and Welker for example could scheme each other, and who's to say which guy gets to use the scheme spot for the start?

 

[Varmint]

QB

-1 for int

-5 for int ret for TD