2013 NFL 2 LEAGUE RULES

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

The Season
The season will consist of 13 weeks of regular season play beginning Thursday Sept. 5^th, 2013. 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. There are no league games week 17. 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. Any TD scored while the defense/special teams is not on the field does not count in the points against the defense/special teams. This is also includes the PAT or 2pt conversion as a result of the TD scored while the defense/special teams was not on the field.

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 becomes OFFICIAL unless an official scoring change was made by the NFL.

The Teams/Rosters
The teams will consist of 10 players, distributed as follows:
(1) QB    (2) RB    (3) WR    (1) Optional (Any position)    (1) TE    (1) K    (1) Team Defense        

Starting in 2010 the optional position is now open to any player or defense. It is each owner's responsibility to track the bye weeks of their players. If teams have a non RB/WR in the optional position, and they can't field a complete lineup at RB/WR because of bye weeks, teams must add a RB/WR at optional or go a player short for the week. 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 positions to be a Franchise Player. Franchise RB & WR must be from your active roster, IR players are not eligible. All QB/TE/K's will be considered Franchise Players. Only one(1) QB or K may be selected from each NFL team. 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 (The injury must be a substantial injury, not a missed a few plays and went back in type of scenario. If a franchise player finishes the game more significant injury news like missed practice must be verified) or a franchise player is listed on the official NFL Friday injury report as questionable or worse, all RB or WR from the same NFL team not already on an active roster will be ineligible to be picked up by another team. If multiple teams have an injured franchise RB/WR from the same NFL team priority is determined by which team drafted/acquired the injured franchise player first. 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 when the new injury report is released. 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 team can submit a lineup from their existing players, no transactions are allowed except for in the following two situations:
1) 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.
2) 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. There must be verifiable information that the benching or reduced role is taking place.

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, bye week sub claims, 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. If teams have a QB, TE or K in the optional position, they must declare if they want that optional player as the sub or the NFL team back up as the sub. Teams will not have use of 2 subs at the QB, TE or K position, only the one they designate. Teams must declare a specific player as the back up TE on their roster each week. The sub TE must be from the same NFL team as the starting TE. In the event that 2 teams have starting TE's from the same NFL, they must choose another available TE from that NFL team's roster. If there is only 1 additional TE available both teams may list the same TE as their sub, but only one team can use that player if necessary. The team lower in the standings would get the sub TE first if they both would need to use it. If there is no additional available TE on that NFL team, there will be no sub listed. These 2 teams can add a TE at the optional position to offset this issue if so desired. 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 or K meets the DNP criteria, the backup NFL QB or K will be used. The NFL backup QB or K will be the QB that starts the game for that NFL team or the first K to attempt a FG or PAT. 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. You can not use a QB, K, TE or DEF in the optional position as a sub for a RB or WR. 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, optional player is a QB, K or DEF or subs are also DNP, then the a DNP (0 Pts) will be taken by the starter. If a kicker is cut by their NFL team and still started, no sub will be used as they did not meet the use of a sub qualification.

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    (1) Optional (RB or WR)    (1) 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 $200,   a minimum of $100 is due Tuesday after the first week is completed (first free agent transaction day). The remaining balance of will be due no later than October 1, 2013. 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 or arrangements have been made with the Commish.

*Entry Fee Breakdown:    $3200 Entry Fees Collected

-$200 Commish Fee
-$60 Website
-$20 Trophy/Trophy Engraving
-$50 Draft Room
-$1925 Playoff Team Breakdown (8 Teams)
-$100 Division Winners (4 Teams)
-$525 Side-Pot Winners
-$320 Scrub Bowls *(Scrub Bowl I for 8 non-playoff teams, Scrub Bowl II for teams eliminated from playoffs after each round)

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@gmail.com. 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. 10th 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 or players not active (players on IR or free agents) may be claimed as free agents, but they can not be placed on the IR until they have played a game and gone one full week not on the injury report.

All free agent acquisitions are on a daily basis. There is NO TRANSACTIONS  permitted on Sunday after lineups are submitted at 11am 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. There is a limit of 5 free agent acquisitions per year at the QB, TE, K and DEF positions. A free agent move is charged when a free agent QB, TE, K or DEF is added, whether it is at the actual position or at the optional position. Transactions to replace a player going on the IR, do not count towards the 5 transactions limit. If a team picks up a free agent and IR's a player, and then keeps the free agent acquired and releases the IR player when he is healthy, it does count as a free agent move. Teams will be charged a free agent move if it is a QB, TE or K, as well will go to the bottom of the priority list for any player dropped in this scenario. Changing from one QB to another QB on the same NFL team does not count as a free agent move.

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. Priority for IR moves at the draft or prior to week 1 will be determined in order of the players picked. The highest picked players will have first priority. The initial priority list will be set on Tuesday Sept. 10th 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 making a IR move will be charged a priority move, with one exception. The exception is if a team places a player on the IR and claims a player from the same NFL team, they will not be charged a move. 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 if they were not charged at the time of the original transaction. 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. Trading of your priority position during the season is permitted. The priority list will appear on the transaction page on the website and updated regularly.

When teams make a claim to replace either a QB, TE, K or DEF that is on a bye week, they will not be dropped to the #16 spot on the priority list, as this is a mandatory transaction to maintain a complete roster. If there is multiple claims of a player/unit in an attempt to replace a bye week player/unit, the priority list will not be used. The reverse order of the standings will be used to determine priority for bye week replacement claims. Teams retain no rights to a bye week pickup once the week is completed. Bye week subs must be an eligible free agent player to be claimed. Players on waivers are not eligible for bye week claims. The back up QB on an existing roster (backup QB is not listed, but protected) may not be claimed as a bye week sub.

Teams making a permanent transaction will have priority over teams making a bye week move only. Bye week player/unit claims will be processed on Saturday after the 9pm transaction deadline has passed. Teams may use a Thursday player as a bye week sub, claims must be submitted prior to kickoff of the Thurssday game. Teams may make a Thursday player a secondary choice as a bye week sub (i.e 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc choice), but teams that make the same player a first choice will get the player on Thursday as we will not hold up bye week claims. 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 Saturday 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". Players will remain on waivers for 2 days, and then be available to be claimed. For example, a player dropped on Wednesday can be claimed on Friday at the 9pm deadline. Players dropped on Friday can be claimed by 9am Sunday, prior to the Sunday 11am lineup deadline. Players dropped on Saturday will be available Tuesday at 9pm. Waivers will clear at 6pm on Thursday, not 9pm, due to the Thursday night game every week. 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.

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 unless it involves an IR activation.

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 a player is injured prior to the release of the Friday NFL Injury Report and can be verified by a news article, you can also place him on the injury list. The news article must confirm an injury and not just missed practice. 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 team must release a player from their roster by the Sunday 11am roster deadline that week. If no move is made by Sunday 11am, the original free agent claimed will be the player dropped. The player that is dropped in this scenario would become a free agent the following Tuesday and not have to pass through waivers. If the free agent claimed is kept and another player is dropped from the roster the team will be charged a free agent move and dropped on the priority list. If a player is no longer on the Friday NFL Injury report or listed as probable, the player must be activated by the Sunday 11am lineup deadline or they will be released.  If a player is upgraded or added to active roster on Saturday or Sunday a team is not required to activate that player. 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 Minnesota's 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 or officially inactive for a game (after inactives for a game are released) for any reason 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.