2019 NFL LEAGUE RULES
All questions, disputes and
interpretations of these rules subject to commissioner’s rulings.
All commissioner rulings
will be final.
Commish:
Jeff Snyder 303-868-7039
Changes
for the 2019 Season in RED
The Season
The season will consist of 13 weeks
of regular season play beginning Thursday Sept. 5th, 2019.
The participants in
the playoffs will be the 3 division winners along with 3 wild card teams from
any division for a total of 6 teams. 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 1-14, with
the top 7 receiving a bonus win. In the event of a tie for the 7th and final spot in the
top 7, 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. 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 become 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 from any position to be a Franchise Player. Franchise players must be from your active roster, IR players are not eligible. 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 players from the same position as injured franchise player 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/TE 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 player is listed as questionable in the playoffs, teams may
replace the franchise player with a player from the same NFL team, at the same
position.
2) Any player listed as out or doubtful or inactive for a game for any reason 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.
Playoff teams on a bye in round one still have their roster frozen once playoffs begin, same as other playoff teams. Playoff bye teams do not have to activate players off the IR if they are not on injury report in round one, but will in round two if required.
The Draft
The draft will consist of 10 rounds of
14 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 28th overall pick in the 2nd 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. Teams have no permanent rights to the sub TE, a sub TE may be claimed as a free agent at any time. 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 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 listed as doubtful or out on the official NFL injury report, or started a player 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 $330 due on draft day. All teams must pay their entry fee by draft day. In the event that the entry fee is not paid by
draft day
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: $4620 Entry Fees Collected
-$200 Commish Fee
-$60 Website/Server
-$20 Trophy Engraving
-$280 Post-Season Pool
-$280 Scrub Bowls *(Scrub Bowl I for 8 non-playoff teams, Scrub Bowl II for
teams eliminated from playoffs after each round)
-$2750 Playoff Team Breakdown (6 Teams)
-$225 Division Winners (3 Teams)
-$805 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 Six (6) 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: 1st $15 2nd $10 3rd
$5
The bottom 3 teams will have to pay the following amounts: 14th $15
13th $10 12th $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 3 wild card teams
from any division qualify for the playoffs. In Round One the top 2 seed
division winners will receive a bye. The #3 division winner will play the #3
wildcard, and the #2 and #3 wilcards will play.
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/ties(1/2 point) + top 7 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
*Note: In the event of a 3-way tie
for a position spot, tie breaker #3 head to head is only used if a team won
against both of the other two teams. If the three teams all went 1-1 against the
other two teams, tie breaker #3 is not used.
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. 11th 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. Teams can not drop a
player and wait to pick a player up at a later date, entire move must be
completed at one time. Players listed as
questionable or worse on the most recent available 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, RB, 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. If a TE is hurt, teams do not automatically get the sub TE. Teams must submit a move to claim the sub TE, and that sub TE is also available to be claimed by any team in the league. (only exception is if the TE is a franchise player, then franchise rules apply)
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 plays 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. One exception to this rule: if a team has a player on the IR and an active player who plays Thursday. Teams may designate the Thursday player to be dropped if the IR player is not on the Friday injury report or due to be activated off the NFL IR. The Thursday player must be listed as a sub, if they are started on Thursday they can not be dropped under any circumstance. If the IR player is not on the Friday injury report, the move will be processed Friday, dropping the Thursday player, activating the IR player. If the player is activated off the NFL IR anytime before Sunday, the Thursday player is dropped. This move is automatic, and can not be changed once declared. If the IR player is listed as questionable or worse on Friday, the Thursday player remains on the team, and another active player will have to be dropped if the team wants to activate the IR player despite being listed on the Friday injury report.
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. 11th 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 two exceptions. First exception is if a team makes an IR move for a QB, TE or K. If a team only has one QB, TE or K on their roster and the player is listed as doubtful or out, they will not be charged a priority move. If a team has multiple QB, TE or K on their roster (i.e. has a QB, TE or K in the optional spot) they would be charged a priority move. Second 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, dropping the IR player when healthy, the team is then 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. The league will process one free agent claim for each team in a draft like manner, and then reset the priority list before processing a second claim for any team. If a team makes an IR move and retains their priority spot, they do not get a immediate second free agent claim before any other team has got their first, they must wait until every team has had one claim processed. 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. 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 (team point totals only, not playoff seeds) 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 Thursday 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. Active playoff teams have priority over
eliminated playoff teams. Scrub Bowl and eliminated playoff team's claims will be
processed on Saturday at 9pm after active 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.
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. 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.
For players in the Thursday game, the
official injury report is released on Wednesday. All injury related rules still
apply to the Thursday game players. This includes activating or keeping a player
on the IR based on official injury report status, as well as use of a sub if
required. 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.