2010 Constitution
Preamble
The commissioner hereby sets down these rules in writing to eliminate controversy and to establish consistency in this league now entering its ninth year of operation. All players shall abide by the guidelines in the spirit of fair play and healthy competition.
Section I: League Format
12 teams separated into 3 divisions. The divisions and team nominating order will be chosen at random one week before the auction draft. The auction draft will take place before the NFL season begins. Teams will play head to head for a 13 week season, with the playoffs taking place in NFL weeks 14-15-16. Six teams will make the playoffs and be seeded by their final records. See Playoffs in Section X for the format. Aside from being ranked by head to head records, teams will also be ranked by overall points. Much of the prize money is given to the top three in points. See Prizes in Section III.
Section II: Fees and Prizes:
The entry fee for each team will be $55 with $5 per team going toward the service that will be used to track data. As this is now a keeper league, in order to keep the integrity of the league from year to year, each team will be required to pay for two years in advance for a total of $105. Before the beginning of each year, dues for one year will be due keeping each team paid up for that year and the next.
If someone decides that they want to leave the league, they have to let the commish know ASAP to give him ample time to find a replacement. If an acceptable replacement can be found in time who is willing to take on the full financial burden of the existing team, the original team owner will receive a full refund. If the initial owner screwed up his team bad enough that no one else is interested in it for full price, a new owner’s financial burden will be subsidized by the original owner’s forward payments in order to keep the league going. The commish promises to make a good faith effort to get the new owner to pay as much as possible of the fees to the departing owner will get as much of his money back as possible. The departing owner will not lose more than 50% of the money that they have paid forward. There are no additional fees for trades or free agent acquisitions. All money is due on draft day. The payoffs will break down like this:
Overall Winner $180
Overall 2nd: $ 80
Overall 3rd: $ 40
Superbowl Winner: $130
Superbowl Loser: $ 50
Survivor Winner: $ 80
Survivor Loser: $ 30
Toiletbowl Winner: $ 10
Overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will go to the teams with the highest total points through week #16.
Superbowl winner and runner-up will be decided in the playoffs.
In the Survivor Competition, the team with the lowest score each week is eliminated. (This is totally separate from the overall points competition and the playoffs, even if you get kicked off in the first week you are still in for overall points and playoffs prizes) The competition will begin with the first team being kicked out after the week 3 games. (Based only on the team scores in week 3) The final 2 teams left will face off in week 13. I think its a good prelude to the playoffs which will start the week after on week 14. If two or more teams tie for the lowest score, the scores from the previous week will be used as the deciding factor, with lowest score still being eliminated. If somehow they were also tied in the previous week, we will keep going back until we have a lower score.
Toiletbowl winner will be decided in the Toiletbowl playoffs that will start off with the 6 teams that did not make the Superbowl playoffs. The Toiletbowl playoffs will be setup just like the real playoffs but with the remaining six teams.
Section III: Auction Draft
All managers must be present at the auction draft. The Draft will be in the Auction format for 2010. All teams will start the Initial League Auction with $200 to build their respective roster. In subsequent years all teams will start the Auction with $200 minus the combined salaries for all Contracted Players and plus or minus any $$ traded for or away.
All Teams must have 18 players at the conclusion of the Auction.
The following players are eligible for the Auction: Any player currently listed on an NFL teams rosters or who appeared on an NFL team roster the previous season.
The team bidding first opens with a salary bid of at least $1 for any eligible player and the bidding proceeds at minimum increments of $1 until only one bidder is left. That team acquires the nominated player for the final bid amount. The process is repeated, with successive owners nominating players to be bid on, until every team has acquired a squad of 18 players and can field a starting lineup.
No team may make a bid for a player it cannot afford. For example, a team with $3 left and two openings on its roster is limited to a maximum bid of $2 for one player. (Leaving $1 for the other unfilled roster spot.)
The salary of a player acquired in the auction is his final bid amount. The salary of a player added from the free agent pool or waivers is $5.
Section IV: Rosters & Keepers:
Each manager will be given 18 roster spots for draft day. 18 is the maximum number of players any roster can have at any one time (including injured players). There is no specification on the number of players at any particular position. You can have as many or as few as desired. The salary of a player acquired in the auction is his auction price. The salary of a player acquired through the Free Agent process is $5. Starting lineup is 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 Defense.
From season to season, each team may retain up to 3 players. The names of the players being retained must be submitted to the Commissioner each year by midnight exactly one week before the next auction. No trades may take place from the time the protected rosters are due until the auction. If a player is significantly injured between keeper declaration and the start of the auction, it will be up to the Appeals Committee to allow the player to be removed or possibly replaced.
If a player is kept, his salary will be raised by $5 each year. Trades do not affect the salary of a player. The trade deadline (See Section VIII) will also be the last date that you will be able to keep players added to your roster. In other words, players added to your roster after the trade deadline cannot be kept for the next year.
Section V: Points
Offensive Points:
Touchdown 6
PAT 1
FG (39 or less) 3
FG (40-49) 4
FG (50+) 5
2-Pt. conversion 2
25 yards passing 1
10 yards Rushing 1
10 yards Receiving 1
Reception 1
Interception thrown -3
Defensive Points:
Touchdown 6
Interception 2
Fumble recovery 2
Safety 2
Sack 1
0 Points Allowed 6
2 - 6 Points Allowed 4
7 - 13 Points Allowed 2
14 - 20 Points Allowed 1
21 -27 Points Allowed 0
28 - 34 Points Allowed -1
35+ Points Allowed -3
Points are gained (or lost) in tenths of a point.
Example: 59 yards rushing = 5.9 points
Negative yardage totals will lead to negative points.
Example: -11 rushing yards = -1 point
Section VI: Playoffs
Teams will make and be ranked in the playoffs by the following system:
1. The three division winners will make the playoffs and be ranked by record and tiebreakers below.
2. The top three teams of all twelve in scoring will next make the playoffs and be ranked by scoring.
(If any of top 3 are also division winners, no further spots will be awarded past #3 for scoring)
3. Any remaining spots will go to the best records regardless of division ranked by record and tiebreakers below.
The teams will be seeded 1 through 6 and the bracket will be set like so:
First Week (Week 14)
Byes: First Place and Second Place
P1: Third Place vs. Sixth Place
P2: Fourth Place vs. Fifth Place
Second Week (Week 15)
P5: First Place vs. Winner P2
P6: Second Place vs. Winner P1
Third Week (Week 16)
Championship: Winner P5 vs. Winner P6
The teams will be seeded 1-6 based on record. See Tie Breakers in section VII.
Section VII: Playoff Tie Breakers
If two or more players finish with the same overall record, the following system will be used to break the tie:
1. Total Season Points
2. Head to Head Record
In the event that a playoff game ends in a tie, the deadlock will be broken using the following system:
1. Most Bench Points
2. Most Touchdowns Scored
NOTES:
When breaking a tie in a playoff game, the only statistics used will be from that specific game.
Section VIII: Trades
Trades are open to any team and any number of players. Players and draft dollars are the only items that may be traded. Players may not be traded in lieu of any other commodities.
Trades involving players and/or Auction Dollars are permitted under the following stipulation:
Traded Auction Dollars can only be used/applied to the NEXT year’s auction.
Permitted:
• Team 1 trades Peyton Manning to Team 2 for $20 2011 Auction Dollars on October 5th 2010.
Not Permitted:
• Team 1 trades Manning to Team 2 for $10 2012 & $10 2011 Auction Dollars on October 5th 2010.
Any trades involving Auction Dollars can be handled through the League Website. Simply select the players involved in the trade and include a message in the trade listing the Auction Dollars involved.
The trade deadline is kickoff of the first game on week 11. No trades can be made between the deadline and the end of the NFL Regular season. Trading will again be permitted after the Regular season has ended until two weeks prior to the next seasons’ draft. The trade deadline will also be the last date that you will be able to keep players added to your roster. In other words, players added to your roster after the trade deadline cannot be kept for the next year.
If any Owner feels that a trade which has occurred within the league is going to be detrimental to the league they can appeal the trade to the Appeals Committee. An Appeal E-mail must be sent by the Appealing Owner to each Committee member within 24 hours of the trade being processed by the website. If an Appeal E-mail is not received by the above deadline the trade is upheld.
Appeals Committee:
• The Appeals Committee will be made up of two league members as voted by the returning league members at the draft and the commissioner. There will also be two alternate Committee members for when an Appeals Committee member(s) is/are involved in the disputed trade. The Appeals Committee, when called upon to review a trade, will have 24 hours to examine the written appeal submitted and render a verdict. A majority vote of 2-1 will determine the outcome of the appeal.
Appeals Committee Members:
• At the draft the returning league members will submit their top 4 candidates, numbered 1 thru 4, for the Appeals Committee. Each list will be awarded points on a 4 to 1 scale (candidate # 1 gets 4 points, candidate # 2 gets 3 points, etc…). The two league owners who receive the most points are appointed to the Appeals Committee. The next two highest point totals will become the Appeals Committee alternates.
Section IX: Free Agents
Unowned players who have cleared waivers are free agents and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Claimed players are immediately added to your bench. The salary of a player added from the free agent pool or waivers is $5, if kept, it will go to $10 in the following year.
You can drop players without replacing them, but you can only pick up players without dropping anyone if you have less than the maximum number of players on your roster. You will never be allowed to exceed your league's roster limit.
If you drop a player from your roster, he will immediately be placed on waivers. You will then not be allowed to reclaim the player until after the two-day waiver period expires.
After the draft, all unselected players will be placed on waivers, with those left unclaimed then being treated as free agents. These players will be available from after the draft through the end of the regular season. The free agent pool will then be off limits until the following auction.
Section X: Waivers
All players dropped from a team's roster are immediately placed on waivers. During this two-day waiver period anyone in the league can claim the player.
If more than one coach claims the same player, the team that is highest on the Waiver Priority List is given the rights to the player. The priority list is initially set based on the reverse of the draft order. However, each time you add a waived player to your roster, you are pushed to the back of the list.
If you place a claim on more than one waived player at a time, each pending transaction will appear on your Team Page along with its current position in your waiver order. All new claims are appended to the end of the list, but you can alter this priority by viewing each pending claim and changing its priority in the box provided.
Section XI: Toilet Bowl
The toilet bowl will be used to put all of the non-playoff teams in competition for a consolation prize. The six non-playoff teams will be ranked 1 to 6 by overall record and will play a 3-week bracket tourney mirroring the real playoffs. See playoff format in sections VI and VII.
