2008 NFL LEAGUE RULES

All questions, disputes and interpretations of these rules subject to commissioner’s rulings.
All commissioner rulings will be final.

Rules Committees
There are two rules committees to handle all rule issues. First, there is an in-season rules committee. This will consist of the Commish and 1 owner from each of the four divisions. Members will be selected at the draft prior to each season, and will potentially change each year. The in-season committee will handle any in-season rule issues that arise. If any member of the rules committee is directly involved (i.e. their game or team is specifically affected, not just a general issue) they will be be replaced on the issue. A replacement owner from the same division or at large for the Commish will be selected on that issue only. Members will carefully evaluate any issue and render a timely decision to the league. Second, there will be an off-season committee. This will consist of the Commish and 4 owners. Members will be selected at the end of each season. The off-season committee will solicit rule change proposals from the league. The committee will review all proposals and evaluate worthiness of the proposals. Once the rule change proposals have been reviewed, they will put together the rule change vote to the league. They will provide as much clarification of the issues, both for and against.

The Season
The season will consist of 13 weeks of regular season play beginning Thursday Sept. 4^th, 2008. The participants in the playoffs will be the 4 division winners along with 4 wild card teams from any division for a total of 8 teams that will participate in post season play. There will be 3 rounds of playoffs to determine the league champion. Week 17 will be Scrub Bowls only. The weekly team point totals will be ranked 1-16, with the top 8 receiving a bonus win, and the bottom 8 receiving a bonus loss. In the event of a tie for the 8^th and final spot in the top 8, both teams will receive the bonus win.

The Scoring
The scoring system is accessed by clicking here or through the main page of this website. This scoring system will be used to determine the winner in each game played. Results for the week will be posted by the Commish by Tuesday of each week. Each owner will be responsible for confirming the scores of not only his team, but also for his opponents team by 9pm Wednesday. Owners are encouraged to send scores in as early as possible, this will help in identifying any potential errors. Teams not confirming scores by Wednesday at 9pm will receive a mulligan on the first offense and $10 fine for all subsequent offenses. In the event of a discrepancy in the scores, the commissioner will verify the scores through the official stat service website, NFL.com and the decision will be final. (If a score discrepancy occurs from the results posted on the internet, the Commish will review multiple websites to determine the most consistent and accurate score) During the regular season, a game that ends in a tie will result in each team winning 1 point. In the playoffs the higher seeded team will win a tie game based on their higher seed.

When looking at the QB stats for yardage thrown, look at the individual player stats, not the team net yards passing. Net yards includes yards loss by sacks. We will however use net yards for player rushing totals. An offensive fumble recovery for a TD, regardless of who fumbles it, is worth 6 points for the player that recovered it. If a player has a fumble lost, and it occurs during a special teams play, it does not count against the players stats as a -1 penalty.

If any owner notices a discrepancy in something that was updated on the website, they will have one week in which to notify the league of the problem. This applies to scores of games, scores of players, game results or side pot issues. After a period of one week, the updated results become OFFICIAL unless an official scoring change was made by the NFL.

The Teams/Rosters
The teams will consist of 12 players, distributed as follows:
(2) QB    (2) RB    (3) WR/TE    (1) Optional (RB, WR or TE)    (2) K    (2) Team Defense        

Starting in 2008 teams will select 2 QB, K and DEF. Bye week subs will no longer be used. A specific player will be drafted at the QB and K position. When a QB or K is drafted from a NFL team, no additional QB or K can be drafted from that NFL team. During the season the same rule applies, only one QB or K from a NFL team is allowed on the active rosters. It is each owner's responsibility to track the bye weeks of their QB, K and DEF at the draft. If a team has the same bye week for both players at any of these 3 positions after the draft they will take a zero on the bye week unless a trade is made. For example, a team drafts Ind and NE at Def. They are both on a bye week 4. They must make a trade for a Def not on a bye week 4 or they will take a zero at DEF in week 4. Team defenses may be taken any time during the draft. Team defenses will be treated as any other individual player on a roster, and eligible for the High Player Score Game sidepot. If a player is considered a H-Back, we will use him as a TE. If there is any questions in regards to a players position eligibility, please contact the Commish.

Teams must declare 1 player at the RB & WR/TE positions to be a Franchise Player. Franchise RB & WR/TE must be from your active roster, IR players are not eligible. Teams will have the rights to all available backups of that player in case of injury. If a franchise player is hurt on Sunday with a injury status that can be verified or a franchise player is listed on the official NFL Friday injury report as questionable or worse, all RB, WR or TE from the same NFL team, same position, not already on an active roster will be ineligible to be picked up by another team until Saturday at 9pm of that week. When looking at the WR/TE position, WR and TE positions are separate in regards to franchise rights. For example, you have TE Gates SD and he is questionable. The franchise rights cover all SD TE's only. You do not have rights to the SD WR's. If the injured franchise player is listed as doubtful or out, teams must exercise their right to a backup by Saturday 9pm, or the backups will become available to the league. Teams are not required to exercise their right to a backup if the franchise player is listed as questionable, and will retain rights to the backups until the player is no longer listed as questionable. In the event of a franchise player being added to the injury report or downgraded to questionable or worse on Friday or Saturday, the team with that franchise player will retain rights to the backups until the following Friday. If a team places an injured franchise player on the IR and replaces them with a player other than a backup from the same NFL team, they forfeit their rights to all backups from the same NFL team. If a player is benched, you do not have rights to his backups. Franchise players may be changed each week at the 11am Sunday lineup deadline. The only exception will be if a team's franchise player is placed on the IR during the week, the team may declare a new franchise player at that point. If no new franchise player is declared when making the transaction, the team must wait until the next lineup deadline to make the change. Once playoffs start franchise players can not be changed. Scrub bowl teams do still retain franchise rights during the playoffs/scrub bowls.

Rosters are frozen once they are submitted for the first week of post season play and scrub bowls. If a franchise RB or WR is listed as questionable in the playoffs, teams may replace the franchise RB or WR with a player from the same NFL team, at the same position. Any player listed as out or doubtful may be replaced with a player from any NFL team. In the event that a team can not submit a full starting lineup due to a benching, whether it is a full benching or a greatly reduced role (i.e. RB is expected to play first two series only), teams will be allowed to make a change. If a team can submit a lineup from their existing players, no transactions are allowed.

The Draft
The draft will consist of 10 rounds of 16 picks with teams picking in reverse order in even numbered rounds. Example: If you have the first pick in the first round, you will have the 32^nd overall pick in the 2^nd round. Draft position will be determined by lottery and will be posted on the website. You are permitted to make trades of your draft positions.

Line-ups
Lineup changes are due to the league by 11:00 AM MTN Sunday. Absolutely no late changes will be allowed once the 11am deadline has passed. The "default lineup" for teams each week will be the previous week's lineup. (The only exception to this rule is week #1, when a full lineup is required to be submitted) If no legal changes are made to a lineup by the Sunday deadline, the previous weeks lineup, sub priority and franchise players will be used. If there is a Thursday or Saturday game, teams will have until kick-off of that game to make any lineup changes with players/units involved in the Thursday or Saturday game. This includes starting or benching a player, designating sub priority or franchise player designation. The rest of the teams lineup changes may still be submitted by the Sunday morning deadline. Under no circumstance will the Commish "assume" any lineup changes or sub priority designation when no proper changes are submitted.

Teams must also prioritize their back up RB/WR with a #1 and #2 designation. Teams must also prioritize their back up QB priority with a #1 and #2 designation. Teams must chose whether the #2 QB on their roster or the NFL back up QB to the starting QB is their first choice as sub. Teams must submit a new backup priority when roster or lineup changes have been made involving the sub players from the previous week's lineup. If the two subs remain the same in a lineup, backup priority will remain the same if no changes are submitted. In the event that a player is not listed on the official NFL injury report or is listed as probable or questionable and does not play, regardless of reason, you may use a backup. The player must be inactive for the game or dressed but DNP. If the starter plays a single down no sub will be used. This can be verified through the NFL.com website and the gamebook for that NFL game. Teams do not get a sub if they started a player who was on a bye week. If the starting QB meets the DNP criteria, the priority sub QB will be used. The NFL backup to the starter will be the QB that starts the game for that NFL team. Only points accumulated by that player will be used. If the player to be replaced is a RB or WR, you will be allowed to use your backup based upon the #1 or #2 designation. If a team is forced to use a backup in place of an injured starter, they must still maintain a legal lineup. If a WR gets hurt, and their #1 priority sub is a RB, but they already have 2 RB's started, they must go to the #2 priority as teams can not have 3 RB's started under any circumstance. If there is no subs available due to bye weeks or subs are also DNP, then the a DNP (0 Pts) will be taken by the starter. If a named kicker is a late scratch and does not play, the #2 named kicker on a team's roster will be used. If both named kickers do not play, the first player to attempt a FG or PAT for the NFL team the starter is on will be used as the sub. If the #2 kicker happens to be on a bye week, then the first player to attempt a FG or PAT for the NFL team the starter is on will be used as the sub.

NFL.com will be used to determine injury status, but due to possibility of inconsistency on that website it is will also be allowed to use other websites to determine injury status if NFL.com has not been updated. Other websites may also be used to determine injury status, but any discrepancies will be resolved by NFL.com or Commish decision based upon available information.

Starting line ups will consist of :
(1) QB    (1) RB    (2) WR/TE    (1) Optional (RB, WR or TE)    (1) K    (1) Team Defense 

Only points scored by these players will be tabulated into the game results

Fees
There will be an entry fee of $330, a minimum of $200 is due by Tuesday after the first week is completed (first free agent transaction day). The remaining balance of will be due no later than October 1, 2008. In the event that the entry fee is not paid by either date your team will be restricted from making any transactions until the entry fee is paid.

*Entry Fee Breakdown:    $5280 Entry Fees Collected

-$200 Commish Fee
-$60 Website/Server
-$20 Trophy/Trophy Engraving
-$50 Draft Room
-$25 Draft Boards
-$20 Draft Monitor
-$320 Post-Season Pool
-$320 Scrub Bowls *(Scrub Bowl I for 8 non-playoff teams, Scrub Bowl II for teams eliminated from playoffs after each round)
-$3150 Playoff Team Breakdown (8 Teams)
-$280 Division Winners (4 Teams)
-$835 Side-Pot Winners

There will not be any charges for transactions during the year. This should help owners in keeping the best team on the field during the entire season, especially when the playoff spots may be in jeopardy.

Prize Money
The total of all eligible fees collected will be returned to the league in the form of prize money. All Eight (8) of the playoff teams that qualify for the post season will share in the prize money. The league prize fund breakdown is available on the league website. All sidepots will conclude at the end of the regular season. Players will only accrue points towards position sidepots for a team when the player is on their roster. The one exception is if a player is traded and teams agree to transfer the rights to the player sidepot. Teams can also agree to retain sidepot rights in a trade of a player.

Weekly Points Pool
The top 3 teams scores each week will receive the following prize:     1^st $15         2^nd $10       3^rd $5
The bottom 3 teams will have to pay the following amounts:     16^th $15    15^th $10       14^th $5
This will be a running total throughout the year and will be available on the website. Payoffs will be at the following years draft. Any winnings or losses from the prior year, would be the responsibility of the owner that incurred them. If a team chooses not to come back to the league the following year, they would receive any winnings they may have won, as well as must pay any losses they may have had. If a team does not pay off any losses, they would not be permitted to participate in ANY UAL Fantasy League until their debt is settled.

Post Season Play
Each Division Winner and 4 wild card teams from any division qualify for the playoffs.  In Round One the teams will be seeded 1-8, with the 4 division winners ranked 1-4 and 4 wildcard teams ranked 5-8. Seed 1 will play seed 8, seed 2 will play seed 7 and so on. In Round Two, the teams will be re-ranked 1-4, with seed 1 playing seed 4, and seed 2 playing seed 3. In Round Three, the two remaining teams will play for the league championship. When determining seeding in each round or final order of finish, a wildcard team can never be ranked higher then a divisional winner, regardless of the teams final record. The "home-field advantage" will apply during the playoffs ONLY, with the higher seeded team receiving the advantage.

Tie Breakers
If at any time during the season a tie occurs with respect to records, the league will use the same formula through out:
1) total team points (wins + top 8 finishes)
2) winning percentage ((wins + 1/2 point for ties)/games played)
3) head to head
4) record within division (*only in the event of a tie between two teams in the same division)
5) most points scored
6) most points scored against
7) coin flip

Transactions
****All transactions should be e-mailed to the commissioner at ualcommish@comcast.net. If necessary, transactions may be called in to the commissioner at 303-868-7039.****

Free Agents
There will be no transactions after the draft, unless there is an injury or a reason a player may not play until after week #1 is complete. The first transaction day will be Tuesday night Sept. 9th at 9pm after week one is complete. After this point, any players that were not drafted are considered free agents. Any team may acquire a free agent at any time during the year, provided they release a player to keep their rosters legal. Players listed as questionable or worse on the current injury report may be claimed as free agents, but they can not be placed on the IR until they have gone one full week not on the injury report or probable. Changing from one QB to another QB, or one K to another K on the same NFL team does not count as a free agent move.

All free agent acquisitions are on a daily basis. There is NO TRANSACTIONS  permitted on Sunday or Monday of each week. This will allow for all teams to review the weekend stats, and also allow the most current standings to be used in case of multiple claims of a player. The cut off time for free agent moves is 9:00 PM each day. On weeks were there is a Thursday game transactions (including waiver claims) will be processed at 6pm on Thursday ONLY.

In the event of a Thursday or Saturday game, any players involved in that early game, whether they are started or not, can not be released for a new player during that same week. (i.e. player started on Thursday, and then dropped on Friday for a new player). Once the early game is played, those players are locked out until the next transaction period on Tuesday, the same way players involved in the regular Sunday games are.

In the event that more than one team wishes to acquire the same free agent during the same period, priority will be determined on a rotating priority basis. The initial priority list will be set on Tuesday Sept. 9th based upon the reverse order of the standings from week #1. Once that initial priority list is set, when a free agent claim for a player/unit is made, the team that has made a claim and received a player/unit will drop to the #16 spot on the priority list. Teams will only drop to the bottom of the priority list on free agent acquisitions. Teams making a IR move will keep their spot in the priority list. If a team makes an IR move and then keeps the free agent claimed when the IR player is healthy, the team is charged a free agent move. The priority list and the transaction log will be adjusted accordingly at the time the original IR player is released and the free agent kept. Priority is determined by which team is higher on the priority list. The priority list will not be reset at any point during the year, just continuing throughout the year. The priority list will appear on the transaction page on the website and updated regularly.

After week #13, all playoff teams will get priority over scrub bowl teams on free agent or waiver claims. The priority list will still be used, but split into two; one for playoff teams and one for scrub bowl teams. The playoff priority list seeding will carryover from the end of the regular season, it is not reset. Scrub Bowl team's claims will be processed on Saturday at 9pm after playoff team moves are processed, in the date order received, and then by priority list if necessary. Scrub Bowl teams do still retain their rights to the back up of an injured franchise player during the playoffs. They must exercise those rights by Friday as during the regular season.
 
If a team wishes to place a bid on more than one free agent or waiver wire player during any given claim period, the owner must rank the players in an order of preference. The league will then award the players in a draft like manner, with the highest ranked bidding team on the priority list getting their first choice of players then the next highest ranked team getting their choice, and so on.

Waiver Wire
When a player is released by a team he will be considered "on waivers". The cutoff day for a player to appear on that week's waiver wire is Wednesday. Players dropped on Thursday will appear on the following week's waiver wire. All players on waivers for the week will be processed at 9pm Friday. Players claimed from waivers on Friday will be eligible for line-ups that Sunday. The same rule for multiple claims applies for the waiver wire as for free agents. If a player goes unclaimed during the waiver period he will then be classified as a free agent. During a week that has Thursday games on the schedule, waivers will clear on Thursday at kickoff of the first game of the day. During a week with Thursday games players dropped on Tuesday will clear waivers Thursday. Players dropped Wednesday or later that week will clear waivers the following week.

When you acquire a player through free agency or waivers, you MUST retain him on your roster for that week's scheduled game. The only exceptions are in the following injury situations, 1) A player is acquired and then injured; 2) A player is activated off the IR and the team must drop a player; 3) A player is acquired for a player put on the IR. The injured player is activated for the weekend game, any player acquired that week may be dropped. A player may be claimed and then traded during the same week, but the traded player must remain on their new teams roster for the remainder of the week once the roster is balanced.

Injury List
There will be an unlimited injury list. As long as a player is listed as questionable, doubtful or out, that player can be placed on the injury list. Players listed as probable are not eligible for the IR. If you see a player get severely hurt, or it says he is injured in print, you can also place him on the injury list. If the Friday injury report comes out and the player placed on the IR based upon available info is not listed as questionable or worse, the transaction will be reversed. If a player is no longer on the NFL Injury report or listed as probable by the Sunday lineup deadline, the player must be activated or will be released. If a player is on a bye week and there is qualified injury news they may be placed on the IR during their bye week. For example, during the Jets bye week Brett Favre undergoes knee surgery and news says he is out 4-6 weeks, he may be placed on the IR during the bye week. Players already on the IR and on a bye week may be left on the IR as their is no official injury report to require activation. If a QB, TE or Kicker is on the IR and the active roster player at that position plays in a Thursday game, they may be left on the IR since there is no official injury report until Friday.  

If a player is cut by their NFL team, they are eligible for the IR. If the player resurfaces on another NFL team, teams will still retain the rights to that player. Players that are suspended are eligible for the IR.

Trades
The trading deadline will be 11:00 AM on Sunday of week #9. Trades are permitted at anytime until the trading deadline. Owners must have a complete and balanced line up at the conclusion of a trade. In the event of a "2 for 1" trade, owners must release and/or acquire free agents to fill any roster voids.

Fines
Fines will be issued for not reporting scores on time or for an incomplete lineup. An incomplete lineup occurs when a player on a bye week is started, or a player listed as out is started. A mulligan will be issued for the first offense and a $10 fine for all subsequent offenses. There will be a running total of fines listed on the standings page on the website. These fines will be deducted from any winnings a team may have, or must be paid prior to the draft if a team has no winnings. These fines will go to draft food, meeting room cost or will be added to the prize fund if necessary.

Draft Day Tidbits
During the course of the draft, if a team attempts to draft a player that has already been drafted by another team, they will get to choose a different player. The Commish reserves the right to issue a warning to teams that repeatedly make this mistake and enforce necessary penalties if it continues.