Official Rules for the Pennsylvania Football Confederacy Fantasy Football League (Revision 1.10, Nov 2000) HISTORY Revision Date Reason 1.0 (F) 1/94 Started keeping track of this 1.1 (G) 6/94 Inserted SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT section 1.2 (H) 7/94 Corrected tied bids in DRAFTING Included 2pt conversions in SCORING Corrected one wild card team in GAMES Corrected DISABLED LIST for 'two weeks' 1.3 (I) 12/94 Added clarification for long-term contracts on when an 'ltc' player can be cut. 1.4 (J) 2/95 Allowed option-year contract players to be cut during the regular season. 1.5 (K) 8/95 Corrected the available bid in DRAFT. 3*1.2=$4 1.6 (L) 7/96 Reigning PFC Champ can't win a draft tie. #1 seed cannot play wild-card team in 1st round if in the same division. 1.7 (M) 9/96 Added Section XV. Tiebreakers 1.8 (N) 7/97 Disabled list is now only OUT or DOUBTFUL. Lineups still due on Friday for Thursday games. Clarified that 'z' players can be cut during season. 1.9 7/00 Converted to decimal revision. Reformatted paragraphs. Entered rules changes prior to 1999 season: - Supp. draftees are 'z' contracts - Can't IR if acquired eligible for IR - Team has lowest priority re-acquiring waived player 1.10 11/00 After final week of transactions, playoff teams may only activate players of Disabled List. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. OBJECT II. TEAMS III. ROSTER IV. POSITION ELIGIBILITY V. OFFICIAL GAME ROSTER VI. GAMES VII. SCORING VIII. DRAFTING IX. SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT X. FREE AGENTS XI. TRADES XII. DISABLED LIST XIII. THE OPTION YEAR AND GUARANTEED LONG-TERM CONTRACTS XIV. ROSTER PROTECTION XV. TIEBREAKERS I. OBJECT To create a roster of 20 National Football League players of whom ten of these players will be designated as the "Game Roster" for a weekend game. Teams are scheduled to play other fantasy teams each week. Wins, losses, and ties are accumulated through the season for each team. Each team will accumulate enough wins to enter the season ending playoffs. In the playoffs, each team will try to win their respective game rather than being eliminated week to week trying to gain entry into the Fantasy Bowl. The winner of the Fantasy Bowl will be PFC Champions. II. TEAMS A total of 12 teams are to be distributed among three divisions, these teams are composed of 20 National Football League players. III. ROSTER Each team's roster shall consist of: 2 Quarterbacks 4 Running Backs 4 Wide Receivers 2 Tight Ends 2 Kickers 2 Defensive-Sacks Teams 2 Defensive-Turnovers Teams 2 Defensive-Yards Teams Each of these 20 players shall be assigned a salary either through drafting or free agency, and the total of these salaries shall not exceed $225 before the first week of the season. IV. POSITION ELIGIBILITY A player may only be selected for a position at which he is listed in an NFL team roster, as determined by a preseason football guide or web site. That player's position will be denoted while in the draft. A defense must have its position specified; a team name/defensive position combo is considered a "player", and will be referred to as such. V. OFFICIAL GAME ROSTER Of these 20 players on a team's roster, 10 shall be designated as the Game Roster. The Game Roster consists of: 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1K, 1 D-S, 1 D-T, and 1 D-Y. The rest of the players are considered the "bench" or inactive roster. The game roster shall be designated before the start of the first game of the season. In the event it is not, the commissioner may designate a game roster at his discretion. Players on the inactive roster may be exchanged with those on the game roster at no cost, after the last game (Monday) of a weekend, and before the first game of the next weekend (Thursday). Starting rosters are due into the commissioner's office by 3pm Eastern on Friday, or at appointed special deadlines, so that there is enough time to distribute the rosters to everyone before they go home for the weekend. In the event that the week's games begin on a Thursday, then the starting roster are still due on Friday at 3pm Eastern, but if an owner wishes to start a player(s) in that Thursday night game, he must notify the commish AND the opposing owner of the intention of starting those player(s) before the start of that Thursday night game. On Thanksgiving, of which the deadline is 3pm Eastern on Wednesday. If an owner does not turn in a roster by the deadline, the previous week's roster shall be used. If this happens to be Week 1 and an owner does not have a lineup, then the first drafted players at each position shall be the designated lineup. VI. GAMES Teams play 14 games, 7 home games and 7 away games. Teams will play each team in their division twice, and one game vs. the other teams in the league. The schedule is based off a scheduling matrix which gives the better teams from the prior season a more difficult schedule. At the end of this schedule, the best team in each division, as determined by best record, and by NFL tiebreakers if needed, will engage in a playoff, along with the best non-division winner, the wild-card team. The #1 team will play at home vs. the wild-card team, and the #2 team will play at home vs. the #3 team. If the top seed and the wild-card team reside in the same division, then the #1 team will host the #3 team, and the #2 team will host the wild-card team. Winners of these games play the championship at a neutral site. Teams are scheduled to play other fantasy teams each week. The teams accumulate points based on the performance of players on the game roster in the NFL games that weekend. the team with the higher score is given a win; similarly losses and ties are also credited for lower or equal scores. It is suggested that team owners shall calculate their teams' points for the week to verify the scores against the league's statistician results. The league statistician will compile the results of each game using the stats from the past weekend's games using the league scoring rules (see SCORING). The final score of the game of "Team A at Team B" is determined as: Final Score of Team A: Team A offense - Team B defense Final Score of Team B: Team B offense - Team A defense + 3 points. Wins, losses, and ties will be distributed according to the scores above. VII. SCORING Players on the game roster accrue points as follows: 25 yds passing--------1 pt Throwing TD pass------1 pt 10 yds rushing--------1 pt Rushing TD------------2 pts Rushing 2pt Conv------1 pt 10 yds receiving------1 pt 8 yds receiving------1 pt (tight ends only) Receiving TD----------2 pts Receiving 2pt Conv----1 pt FG from 0-25 yds------1 pt FG from 26-40 yds-----2 pts FG from >40 yds-------3 pts PAT made--------------1 pt Yardage is rounded down to the nearest plateau, i.e., 18 yds rushing is one point. From this total, the opposing fantasy team's defensive score is subtracted. The defenses scores: Defense-Sacks: Sack--------2 pts Defense-TO's: Turnover----2 pts TD off TO---2 pts Defense-Yards: 2 pts for every 50 yds or fraction thereof under 400 yds the defense allows the opposing defense. (351-400=2pts, 301-350=4pts, 251-300=6pts, etc.) An offensive player may score in more than one category, and scores for all of his contributions, i.e. a RB may score 1 pt for throwing a TD pass. A player cannot receive negative points for any category, i.e., -7 yards rushing is not -1 point for that player, but just 0 points. Additionally, the "home team" will have a "Home Field Advantage" of 3 pts. VIII. DRAFTING Teams will, through a series of sealed-bid drafts, acquire players for whom they have bid the highest salary, while remaining under the salary cap. 6 NFL defenses will be drafted to fill three defensive slots; the same NFL team may be used to fill all slots, or 3 different teams may be used, but each 'position', i.e. sacks, turnovers, and yds. allowed, is not interchangeable, i.e. if the 49ers are drafted for $20 for sacks, the team will only count for sacks, and may not be switched to interceptions at any time; the 49ers, or any other team, would have to be drafted at intercep- tions in a separate bid. Hereafter, a defense selected to fill a given slot is considered an individual player, and will be called a player. Unique lists of players will be distributed to owners, one for each round of the draft. Each list will contain players at each of the various positions. Owners will bid a dollar amount next to each player they wish to acquire, and mail the list complete with bids to the commissioner by that round's deadline. Here is an example of a draft list: 1. Steve Young San Francisco QB 2. Scott Mitchell Miami QB 3. John Elway Denver QB 4. Bernie Kosar Cleveland QB 5. Mark Higgs Miami RB 6. John Stephens Green Bay RB 7. Rodney Hampton N.Y. Giants RB 8. Amp Lee San Francisco RB 9. Michael Haynes Atlanta WR 10. Bill Brooks Buffalo WR 11. Michael Irvin Dallas WR 12. Curtis Duncan Houston WR 13. Eric Green Pittsburgh TE 14. Clarence Kay Denver TE 15. Gary Anderson Pittsburgh K 16. Roger Ruzek Philadelphia K 17. Chicago Bears D-S 18. Indianapolis Colts D-S 19. Cincinnati Bengals D-T 20. Los Angeles Raiders D-T 21. Phoenix Cardinals D-Y 22. Detroit Lions D-Y This is just an example list, and more names will be on for each category, but on this list, if you want to bid for a player, place a dollar amount, minimum $1 for any player, at the end of the line of that "player". Do this for each "player" you wish to bid on, there's no max or min, but there is an available salary cap you have to abide by (see next paragraph). Then email the completed list to the commissioner by the deadline, and once all lists are received, the results will be posted. In the first round, teams will be allowed to bid on players up to a total of $225. Thereafter, teams will be allowed to bid on players up to 120% of their available salary (1.2*(225-x)). Owners must be on at least one player for each position where there is one open roster spot. If an owner has filled all roster spots in a position, he then is not allowed to be on a player in that position for each round of the draft for which that position is full. For example, in the first round, naturally, all owners must bid on at least one player in each of the seven different positions (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, D-S, D-T, D-Y). If an owner though, received two D-Y's in the first round, and kept them, he cannot bid on a D-Y for the rest of the draft. 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 since the minimum salary is $1, even though his available bid salary is ($3*1.2) $3 for that round. Players will be awarded to the highest bidder. In the case of a tie, the player will go to the team with poorest record from the end of last season with the reigning PFC Champion not having the ability to win a tiebreaker. The commissioner will distribute the rankings of teams from worst to best from last season's records prior to the beginning of the draft. The higher ranked team will win the tiebreaker in the case of equal bids. After a given round of drafting, rosters must be trimmed such that the total of the team's salaries, including $1 for each empty roster spot, must not exceed $225, and the number of players at each position does not exceed the number given under the TEAMS rule. Players may be released at any time up until the last round of the draft for a full refund of their salary. Released players have no salary, they may be redrafted, and the commissioner will place the released players in a later draft list. Owners cannot release more than 25% of their team salary during one round of cuts. Trading may occur during the draft with no restrictions to fulfulling roster requirements. This is allowed to help teams to fit their team salary under the salary cap and to help trim rosters to the stay under the maximum amount of players at any position. IX. SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT Every owner should have a complete roster after the regular draft. Should an owner not have a complete roster, he shall complete his team roster through the supplemental draft. In the supplemental draft, an owner submits a draft list linked to a salary for each open roster spot. At the end of the final round of the regular draft, teams naturally can make trades or cuts to bring down your roster to its final form. Teams also CAN make cuts on players they do not want, and get someone else in the supplemental round, but beware of this rule: Any player that is dropped after the final round of the regular draft cannot be redrafted by that same team in the supplemental draft. This is so that owners don't drop players hoping to redraft them at a lower salary in the supplemental draft. This is the eligibility of players for the supplemental draft: Any NFL player not on a PFC Roster is eligible to be on a team's supplemental draft list. Each owner will have $X under the salary cap with Y players to fill out the team roster. For each position open, owners will make wish list, in order of preference for best to worst. At the top of each list, owners will designate a salary amount for each open position. The sum of each "salary list" for all Y positions MUST be $X, the amount of money you have left under the salary cap. For instance, you have 4 positions open (RB, RB, K, D-T) and your team salary is $211 giving you $14 to play with. You will have to make four lists, like so: RB#1 ($7) RB#2 ($3) K ($2) D-T ($2) 1. T.Henke 1, K.Griffey 1. N.Ryan 1. Rangers 2. D.Winfield 2. M.Stanley 2. R.Johnson 2. Phillies 3. D.Mattingly 3. D.Daulton 3. H.Picardo 3. Astros (etc)... NOTICE ALL THE LISTS ADD UP TO $14. Now players will be assigned to owners, by highest bid first, then highest preference if a tie with bids, beyond that it goes to our tiebreaking process. Above, this owner had two RB spots open, and he's putting the players he wants for $7 in that list, and the RB's he wants for $3 in the other list. He CANNOT put the same player in both lists. Also, put enough players to make sure you get one. If you don't put enough names, the commish will assign one to fill the roster spot. The purpose of this round is not to get cheap talent, but to fill your rosters, so you will use every available dollar under the salary cap to complete your rosters. So, should you have $25 left for one position, then your one list will be for a player worth $25. Each player drafted in the supplemental round will be given an option-year contract, i.e. the player is given a 'z' contract. X. FREE AGENTS A player not under a contract (an 'a' or a 'b') or in the final year of his contract (a 'z') may, at any time, be dropped from the payroll, and returned to the pool of free agents, for a full refund of his salary (see THE OPTION YEAR AND GUARANTEED LONG-TERM CONTRACTS). For the first week that he spends as a free agent, the player may be acquired for his old salary. After 1 full week in the pool, he is entitled to the standard free agent salary, i.e. Montana $42 is released during the season. For the first week he may be signed as a free agent for $42; after 1 week he may be signed for $15. Any player that has not been drafted, or has been released, is a free agent. A free agent who is not currently eligible for the PFC's disabled list is eligible to be signed by any team. Free agent signing will proceed from worst team to best, and ordered according to the NFL tiebreaking rules (SECTION XV) among teams with equal records with one transaction being done for each team at one time. So if the last place team in the league wishes to have two transactions, his first transaction will be filled first, then the rest of the league's first transaction, then the last place team's second transaction will be filled, and so forth. So owners should place priority in multiple transactions, and should list more than one replacement for a player should another team receive the free agent before he does. Of special exception, a team which waives a player gets lowest priority in attempting to re-acquire the player in the following week's transactions. Free agent signings due to an injured reserve request have priority over normal player waive/sign free agent transactions. This means that all injured reserve transactions will be filled first according to record, then the normal free agent transactions will follow. XI. TRADES Players may be traded for other players at any time up until the tenth week of the season, at which point trading is not allowed until after the championship. The trade must be equal as far as roster requirements goes, that is, the same positions of player(s) must be traded from both teams in order to have a full roster. This means that if one team wants to trade away a running back and a kicker, the other team must return the same type of players. A trade is not official until the commissioner has two acknowledgements of the trade at the same time. This is so, just in case one owners changes his mind real quick. A trade can be nullified if a majority of the owners believe it to be an obviously lopsided deal, and the commissioner agrees due to "best interests of fantasy football". Trades must be received in the commissioner's office before the transaction deadline to take effect for the next weekend's games and included with the weekly results and transactions. Trading may resuming after the championship game with no restrictions to fulfulling roster requirements. After two years of these rules being in effect, which coincides with the beginning of long-term contracts, the following rule will also be in effect. ANTI-DUMPING RULE: Players in their last year of a guaranteed contract, players in their option year, and players with a salary of $25 or more are considered "asterisk" players. These players may be traded only under the following condition: A team may trade asterisk players to another team provided that for each asterisk player traded, one is received in the same deal. A team may trade one asterisk player to another team without another coming in return, but may make only ONE such trade in the course of a season. Between the end of the season and Roster Freeze Day before the following season's draft, asterisk players may be traded without restrictions. XII. DISABLED LIST Each team will have an disabled list to place players who are inactive in the NFL due to injury, inactivity, or roster cuts. A PFC team can have a maximum of three players on their disabled list at any one time. The following rules determine eligibility to place players on the disabled list: - A player who is on any of the NFL's Injured Reserve lists or is listed as 'out' on the NFL injury report for the upcoming week's games.. - A player who did not play in the previous week's games and is either listed as 'questionable' or 'doubtful' for the following week's games. - A player who did not play in the previous two (2) weeks, and is believed to be injured, unable to play this coming week, and cannot be confirmed due to the injury list not being available on time. Commissioner must agree here. Players which were drafted or acquired through free agency eligible for the disabled list will not be allowed to be placed on the disabled list until he first becomes non-eligible. A suspended or cut player is not eligible for the disabled list. A player who is holding out for some reason such as contract negiotiations also is not eligible for the disabled list. Once a player is active in the NFL, the player must be activated before he plays a game, or that player is returned to the pool of free agents. The owner has two weeks to activate him from the disabled list or he will be released, unless he has more than one year remaining on his contract (see THE OPTION YEAR AND GUARANTEED LONG-TERM CONTRACTS), of which then the latest acquired player at that position will be waived. Disabled list requests must be received in the commissioner's office before the transaction deadline (typically 3pm Thursday) to take effect for the next weekend's games and included with the weekly results and transactions. After the final week's transactions, playoff teams are only allowed to activate players off the Disabled List. XIII. THE OPTION YEAR AND GUARANTEED LONG-TERM CONTRACTS A player who has been under contract at the same salary during two consecutive seasons and whose service has been uninterrupted (has not been waived by a PFC team) must, prior to the freezing of rosters in his third season, take one of the following options: 1. He is released. The player returns to the free agent pool and becomes available at the next auction draft. 2. He is signed at the same salary as his option year. The player then must be released back into the free agent pool at the end of that season and becomes available at the next auction draft. 3. He is signed to a guaranteed long-term contract. The player's salary in each year covered by the contract shall be the sume of his current contract plus $5 for each additional year beyond this upcoming option year. The maximum length of a contract is 4 years. This rule is intended to prevent blue-chippers, low-priced rookies who blossom into superstars, and undervalued players from being tied up for the duration of their careers by the teams who originally drafted them. It guarantees periodic transfusions of topflight talent for Draft Day and provides rebuilding teams something to rebuild with. And it makes for some interesting decisions at roster-freeze time two years down the pike. Here's how it works. Let's say you drafted Terry Allen of the Minnesota Vikings for $8 in 1992, a fair price then for an unproven talent who wasn't even a regular. It's now the summer of 1994 and Allen has blossomed into a 1000-yard running back, and he's entering his option year. You assess your needs, predict his potential, cross your fingers against injury and sign him to a 3-year guaranteed contract. Allen's salary zooms to $18, ($8 + $5 + $5) but he's yours through the 1996 season. If he continues to blossom, you've got a bargain. In determining a player's status, a "season" is understood to be a full season or any fraction thereof. Thus, a player called up from the free agent pool in the middle of the 1992 season and subsequently retained at the same salary without being released in 1993 (even though he may have been traded), enters his option year in 1994 and must be released, signed at the same salary for an option year, or signed to a long-term contract. A team may sign a player to only one long-term contract. There is no option year at the end of a guaranteed long-term contract; thus, the player must be released into the free agent pool at the end of the contract. The team may reacquire him through the next auction draft. As an example, at the end of this year (1992), Terry Allen will have completed his second and final year of his initial 2-year term at a salary of $8. At this point, his PFC owner has the following choices: 1. Release him Allen becomes available at next year's auction draft. 2. Exercise his option Allen's salary remains at $8 in 1993 (8z), but he is released at the end of 1993. 3. Sign to a 2-yr contract Allen's salary is $13 for 1993 (13y) and 1994 (13z), and is then released. 4. Sign to a 3-yr contract Allen's salary is $18 for 1993 (18x), 1994 (18y), and 1995 (18z), and is then released. 5. Sign to a 4-yr contract Allen's salary is $23 for 1993 (23w), 1994 (23x), 1995 (23y), and 1996 (23z), and is then released. Option-year and long-term contracts are entirely transferable, both in rights and obligations; the trade of a player in no way affects his contract status. A PFC owner may only release a player who is under a long-term contract if the player is cut/waived/released from his NFL team during the PFC season beginning at the deadline of Pre-Draft Roster Cuts, ending with the final week of transactions in the PFC, during each week's transaction deadline, i.e. if a player is unsigned at the time of a transaction deadline, then he is eligible to be released. If a player was released by his NFL on Monday, but was claimed by another NFL on Wednesday, he would not be eligible to be released. A player who has more than one year remaining on his contract, i.e. 'w', 'x', 'y', who has been placed on the disabled list, cannot be waived under the two-week reactivation rule. A player not under a long-term contract must be waived and the disabled-list player is then reinstated. Failure to give notice of a guaranteed long-term contract for a player in his option year will result in his being continued for one season at his prior year's salary and then released back into the draft pool for the following season. XIV. ROSTER PROTECTION For the first two seasons that these rules are adhered to, each team must retain, from one season to the next, no fewer than five (5) players, but no more than 10 players on its roster. After the first three seasons, the minimum requirement is eliminated, and the maximum retained. The minimum is removed because, after three seasons, an owner might find it impossible to retain a specific minimum because too many players had played out their option. Each team is allowed to cut a one player who is under a long-term contract along with the other cuts. The names of the players being retained for the next season must be recorded by mid-July. If long-term contracts are due as well, they must be recorded at that same time. The cumulative salaries of protected player are deducted from a team's $225 salary cap, and the balance is available to that team for the upcoming draft to complete its 20-man roster. XV. TIEBREAKERS The following tiebreakers will be used in deciding ties at the end of the regular season in determining playoff teams, and breaking ties during the weekly transactions. DIVISION TIES If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical best won-lost-tied percentage, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined. The same steps are used to determine the sites of postseason games. Two Clubs 1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs). 2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division. 3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, if applicable. 4. Best net points in division games. 5. Best net points in all games. 6. Strength of schedule. 7. Coin toss. Three or More Clubs 1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs). 2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division. 3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games. 4. Best net points in division games. 5. Best net points in all games. 6. Strength of schedule. 7. Coin toss. NOTE: If one team wins mutiple-team tiebreaker to advance to playoff round, remaining teams revert to step 1 of applicable two-club format, i.e., either in division tiebreaker or Wild Card tiebreaker. If two teams in a mutiple-team tie possess superior marks in a tiebreaking step, this pair of teams advance to the top of the applicable two-club format to break the tie. One team advances to playoff round, while other returns to originial group an step 1 of applicable tiebreaker. WILD CARD TIES If necessary to break ties to determine the Wild Card club, the following steps will be taken: 1. If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply division tie-breaker. 2. If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps. Two Clubs 1. Head-to-head, if applicable. 2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of three. 3. Best net points in all games. 4. Strength of schedule. 5. Coin toss. Three or More Clubs 1. Apply division tiebreaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to a step 2. 2. Head-to-head sweep (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others, or if one club has lost to each of the others). 3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of three. 4. Best net points in all games. 5. Strength of schedule. 6. Coin toss, or other n-clubs random selector. NOTE: If two clubs remain tied after a third or other clubs are eliminated, the tie-breaker reverts to Step 1 of the appliacble two-club format.