|
VERB FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The league consists of 12 teams and 3 divisions. The length of the season is 14 regular season weeks and 3 playoff weeks. The first week of the season is the same as the NFLs opening week (Sept 4, 2003).
Money for the league comes from 4 sources:
1. Franchise fee-The cost for each team is $35.
2. Trades cost each player involved $1 for each trade
3. Waiver Wire/IR-Waives cost $1
4. League fines-The league fines team owners in some cases (see Fines)
Here is how the money is paid out:
- $40 for the statistics information
- $40 for the printer paper and ink and trophy
- $10 for each division winner
- The Remainder is split between the Super Bowl winner (75%) and the Super Bowl loser (25%) *All money that is collected during the season from waives, trades, and fines is added to the pot at the end of the year.
The league is run by myself acting as commissioner. I also have a 3-person committee that helps with resolving any issues that come up during the season. All 3 committee members were in this league during the last three years. The software program I use to calculate the scores for each team is called SMARTS. SMARTS is the most used fantasy football software program in the USA. SMARTS has a drafter, keeps track of money, publishes reports, and pretty much does it all.
THE DRAFTS
The league has two drafts each season, a Rookie draft and the regular Player draft. Players drafted as rookies are the only players eligible to be named franchise players. The exact dates and locations for the drafts will be determined after the leagues are set. The drafting order for the Rookie draft is determined by the previous years final regular season record, with the worst team drafting first. Like the NFL, expansion teams automatically receive the first picks of the Rookie draft. The regular Player draft order will be determined by placing each teams logo in a hat and drawing them out to determine the order. The first team drawn out of the hat will draft 12th and so on until the last team is left. This team is the lottery winner and will have the 1st pick in the draft. The drafting order is a typical snake order which means the team that picks last in one round has the first pick in the next round and the order is reversed back and forth until the draft ends. All of the NFL players except franchise players are put into the draft and are available to be chosen.
Each teams completed roster (franchise players and regular players) will contain 17 selections, broken down as follows:
- 3 Quarterbacks
- 4 Running Backs
- 4 Wide Receivers
- 2 Tight Ends
- 2 Kickers
- 2 Defensive teams/Special Teams
THE ROOKIE DRAFT
The season begins with the Rookie Draft. Players drafted as rookies are the only players eligible to be franchise players. All NFL rookies (whether from college, the Arena League, etc) are available to be drafted. The rookie draft takes place before the regular draft and is held before preseason so that owners can evaluate their players and trade with other teams. Once the drafting order is determined, selections will follow the same snake order as the regular draft. The drafted players become franchise players and are placed on the drafting teams rosters. Once the rookie draft is finished, all undrafted rookies are placed in the regular draft pool and are available for the regular draft.
When a team drafts a rookie, they have the rights to that player and the player becomes a franchise player. If the team chooses not to keep the player, the player goes into the regular draft and is drafted along with the other players.
If a team chooses not to keep a franchise player at any time then the player becomes a free agent and no team has rights to the player from that point on.
Each team must name four franchise players to their active roster prior to the regular draft. If a team has fewer than four franchise players, then the team must name the amount of franchise players it has. Teams can not, at any time, have more than five franchise players on its active roster. When the rookie draft is conducted, the number of draft picks the team has depends on how the team manages its draft picks. Each team is given two picks each season but may have more or less depending on trades and other transactions the team may have made in the past.
A team can choose to not resign a player at any time. If I drafted Tim Couch this year and decided that I think he may never turn out to be all that great, I can release him back to the free agent draft pool and use the slot to start rebuilding again. On the other hand, if I dont want him anymore but another owner thinks he will be a great player soon, I can trade Couch for another franchise player, draft pick position, etc. In that situation, the person who traded me for Tim Couch could still use him as a franchise player. Otherwise, he will be returned to the draft and will be available for drafting each season.
PROTECTED PLAYER
Protected players were carried over from the 2000-2003 seasons. At this time, all protected players are considered as franchise players and count towards the limit of five franchise players that may be on the active roster and eight players that may be on the practice squad.
THE PRACTICE SQUAD
Each team has a practice squad that is in addition to its regular 17-man roster. The purpose of the practice squad is for teams to be able to draft franchise players and then to keep them long enough to develop them. Regular players can not be added to the practice squad and a team can still not have more than five franchise players on its active roster at any given time, meaning that all other franchise players must be on the practice squad and are not eligible for starting each week until they are called up and another franchise player is moved from the team or to the practice squad.
BASIC RULES
Each week of the regular season, each team will play a head-to-head game with someone else in the league. Each team will have a starting line-up of 1 Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 2 Wide Receivers, 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker, and 1 Defensive/Special Team. Each starting position receives points based on their performance in the game (see scoring rules). The team with the most points wins the game. At the end of the regular season, 6 teams make the playoffs. Tiebreakers are the same as the NFL. The order of the tiebreaker is percentage points, head-to-head results, division record, and total points for the season. Just like the NFL, the 2 division winners have a first round bye and the 3rd ranked team hosts the 6th team while the 4th team hosts the 5th. The 1st ranked team then hosts the lowest remaining ranked team the next week and the 2nd ranked team hosts the other team. These 2 winners then play the Super Bowl in the final game. The home teams (the teams with the better record of the two teams playing) win any tie games.
STARTING LINEUPS
Starting lineups are due no later than one hour prior to the kickoff of the first game of the week. The online website is used by owners to submit lineups and to view opponent's starters, scores, and other information.
E-mail address: Vffl99@hotmail.com
TRADES
During the season, teams are allowed to trade their players to other teams. The cost is $1 per trade per player for every team involved (Ex: A trade that has one player going from one team to another will cost each team $1 for the player they trade). There are a few rules to trading.
1. Trades can be for players of the same position (kickers for kickers, receivers for receivers) or can mix and match in anyway you choose as long as your roster has at least 1 QB, 2 RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1KR, and 1D/ST slot filled at all times.
2. A trade can not involve a player who is on a bye week.
3. The commissioner may block trades that create an unfair advantage.
4. The trade is not final until all teams involved in the trade have contacted the commissioner.
THE WAIVER WIRE
A team may waive a player that they are not happy with. In order to be fair to all owners, the commissioner accepts claiming players who have been waived or are free agents as follows. The waiver wire will open after the last game of each week (Right after the Monday Night game) and closes on Thursday at 6pm. The commissioner then accepts the requests. In the event that more than one team wants to claim the same player, the commissioner uses a tie breaker system. The team with the worst record gets the first option and on up and the team with the leagues best record has the last option. The tiebreaker for teams with identical win/loss records is to give the team that has scored fewer points during the year the first option. I will post a list each week with the previous weeks results showing which transactions have taken place for that week so each owner will be aware of players as they come available. If a team waives a player on Thursday, that player can be picked up by another team and started in that week. Each waive costs $1 and the money is added to the pot for the end of the year.
INJURED RESERVE
A team may place a player on injured reserve. A player is considered injured when there is a 50% chance or less that he will play in the next game. The SMARTS program will tell you what status a player is in at any time and is usually the same as what the USA Today reports. A player that is placed on IR is still the property of the team who placed him there and can be returned to the team by dropping any other player on the teams roster. Players are not automatically placed on IR, it is the responsibility of the owner. When a player becomes healthy, he is automatically removed from IR and returned to the team roster. If a team places a player on IR and does not contact the commissioner to adjust the team roster when the player becomes healthy, the commissioner will automatically drop the player that was claimed to replace the injured player. IR moves also cost $1. If there is any disagreement with what status a player is in, the SMARTS program is the official source. This happens rarely because the NFL teams are required by rule to report injuries of their players because of gambling purposes.
LEAGUE FINES
At times, it is necessary to fine teams that do not follow league rules. Each owner is responsible to start a team each week that they believe has the best chance of winning the current weeks game. When an owner does not call in a line up or calls in a line up that includes players who are injured or are on a bye week, it gives their opponent an unfair advantage. It also hurts every other team in the league because there is a very small margin that separates the teams that play in the playoffs for the championship and those that dont at the end of the season. Because of this, the following rules apply:
1. There is a fine when an owner does not turn in their starting lineup before the deadline (the rule kicks in when a person does this repeatedly).
2. There is a $1 fine when an owner starts a player who is on a bye week or is injured (there are a few exceptions to this rule).
Exceptions to rule 2:
1. Owners are not fined if they have no players on their roster that they can start to fill the starting lineup (Ex. Cant start a RB because only one is healthy).
2. Owners are not fined if the SMARTS program does not list a person as injured and it turns out that they are. In these cases, the NFL has to issue a fine to the NFL team because this is a violation of NFL league rules.
INACTIVE TEAMS
In the best interest of the league, a team that becomes inactive will be taken over by the league. A team becomes inactive after two weeks of no activity/contact from the owner. Beginning on the third week of inactivity, the Commissioner will appoint at least two assistants to manage the team. The team will then be managed as all other teams are. Transactions involving money will be waived, within reason. Any money won by the team will be spent in a way voted on by team owners.
THE TOILET BOWL
The six teams that do not qualify for the playoffs are placed into the T.O.I.L.E.T. (Too often I lacked enough touchdowns) Bowl. These teams are ranked in the same order as the playoff teams and play out the post season in the same way. The winner of the Toilet Bowl receives 50% off the franchise fee the following year. A team participating in Toilet Bowl is disqualified if they do not turn in their starting lineup prior to the deadline. When this occurs, the team that was playing against the disqualified team automatically wins the game.
MISCELLANEOUS
The SMARTS software will determine all calculations on who gets points for what and is the final source when there are disagreements. The information used for the stats comes from the NFLs reports and they will send out another report if there are any corrections to report. When picking your team name, please do not pick a team name that is a real NFL team. Each team will have a logo. If you do not have one or dont want to make one, I will have one for you when you come to the draft. If you have an idea of what you want it to look like but do not have a PC, let me know and I will make it the way you want it.
As far as scoring goes, there are a few more rules that apply but they hardly ever come up. Any player that scores out of their normal position will receive points as the normal position would. An example of what I am talking about is when a QB scores a rushing touchdown. The bonus points are the same for the QB as they would be for a running back. So, if Kordell Stewart runs a 35-yard touchdown, he receives 6 points for the touchdown plus 2 points bonus because of the 35 yards he rushed. The same rules apply to receivers if they rush or throw a TD or running backs if they throw or receive a TD. Also, running backs receive 6 points for 100 yd receiving games just like receivers would. When teams try Two-Point conversions, the players who throw, run, or receive the ball on good conversions will receive two points. During the playoffs only, the team that is considered to be home (the higher seed) will receive three home field advantage points. There are no HFA points for the championship game.
Scoring Rules
| QUARTERBACKS |
POINTS |
| 275 yards passing |
6 |
| (every 25 yds after) |
2 |
| Thrown TD |
6 |
| Rush or Rec TD |
6 |
| lost fumbles |
-1 |
| Interception |
-1 |
| sacked |
-1 |
- Quarterbacks receive bonus points for the length of their TD throws/runs. If the TD is:
| less than 20 yds |
1 bonus point |
| 21-40 yds |
2 |
| 41-74 yds |
3 |
| 75+ yds |
4 |
| RUNNING BACKS |
POINTS |
| 100 yards rushing |
6 |
| (every 25 yds after) |
2 |
| Thrown TD |
6 |
| Rush or Rec TD |
6 |
| lost fumbles |
-1 |
- Running backs receive bonus points for the length of their TDs. If the TD is:
| less than 20 yds |
1 bonus point |
| 21-40 yds |
2 |
| 41-74 yds |
3 |
| 75+ yds |
4 |
| WIDE RECEIVERS |
POINTS |
| 100 yards receiving |
6 |
| (every 25 yds after) |
2 |
| Thrown TD |
6 |
| Rush or Rec TD |
6 |
| lost fumbles |
-1 |
- Wide Receivers receive bonus points for the length of their TDs. If the TD is:
| less than 20 yds |
1 bonus point |
| 21-40 yds |
2 |
| 41-74 yds |
3 |
| 75+ yds |
4 |
| TIGHT ENDS |
POINTS |
| 65 yards receiving |
6 |
| (every 25 yds after) |
2 |
| Thrown TD |
6 |
| Rush or Rec TD |
6 |
| lost fumbles |
-1 |
- Tight Ends receive bonus points for the length of their TD throws/runs. If the TD is:
| less than 20 yds |
2 bonus points |
| 21-40 yds |
3 |
| 41-74 yds |
4 |
| 75+ yds |
5 |
| KICKERS |
POINTS |
| Field Goals |
3 |
| PAT |
1 |
- Kickers receive bonus points for the length of their field goals. If the FG is:
| 20-35 yds |
1 bonus point |
| 36-50 yds |
2 |
| 50 yds+ |
3 |
| DEFENSIVE/SPECIAL TEAMS |
POINTS |
| sack |
2 |
| INT |
1 |
| Fumble Recovery |
1 |
| Safety |
2 |
| Block FG |
1 |
| Block punt |
1 |
| Block PAT |
1 |
| Stop 2-point conversion |
2 |
| Shut out |
6 |
| TD |
6 |
- Special Teams receive bonus points for the total combined punt and kickoff yardage for a game:
| 1-49 yds |
1 bonus point |
| 50-74 yds |
2 |
| 75-99 yds |
3 |
| 100-149 yds |
4 |
| 150-199 yds |
5 |
| 200-249 yds |
6 |
| Every 25 yds after |
1 |
|
