Constitution
League Structure
1 A league administrator(s) will be appointed for each season and their duties will include overseeing a scoring rota amongst members, maintenance of rosters, administration of free agency and distribution of information.
2 All disputes within the league wherever possible shall be resolved by a league wide vote with each team having a single vote.
2a Where disputes are time sensitive and it would not be practical to poll the entire league, the administrator has the option to poll up to three
neutral owners in relation to the dispute with a majority providing the final decision
3. No team will be eligible to complete in the league until the annual league fees have been paid, these are to be collected at the time of the annual draft and are to cover the league administration costs.
4. Should an owner resign from the league during the season the following options are available for the league to vote upon
4a Ownership of the team can be transferred to another individual
4b The team's players are subject to a dispensation draft
Rosters
5. The standard active roster consists of four quarterbacks, five running backs, six wide receivers, two tight ends, two kickers and two defences. These are maximum figures and therefore there is no requirement that rosters are full in order to field an eligible lineup. During pre-season the maximum roster size is a total of 32 roster spots
6. Each team has 4 Injured Reserved (IR) roster spaces. From 2022, the FFL has reverted back to the old IR rules, thus removing rules 6a and 6b. Any player placed on an IR spot, cannot be re-activated for the rest of the season and must also have been placed on IR by their respective NFL team as evidenced on the NFL transaction report, available at NFL.com/transactions. A player on IR can be released via the waiver process at any time. They can also be traded in line with Rule 32.
7. Each team has one additional available roster space for a player on Development, which is reserved for players eligible for selection in that season's NFL draft. The Development roster spot is available for the first 9 weeks of the season. At any point within the 9 weeks, a player on the Development roster can be activated to the main roster or replaced by another Development eligible player.
7a. At any point up until the given players are involved in that week's game, taking into account the kick-off deadlines in Rule 14, a transaction can be completed involving Development roster spot eligible players currently on a team's roster. This change must be submitted via email to the league administrator and on the forum before the roster submission deadline.
7b. After the conclusion of week 9, all players who still occupy the Development roster spot will be automatically released through the waiver system.
8. The last day of February is the deadline for each team to submit a list of five protected players. No franchise can protect more than two players at any one position. All players that have not been protected will be released into the following season's draft pool, which in addition will consist of the NFL players not on a FFL roster and all players who have entered the NFL through that particular season's annual NFL player allocation draft or as an undrafted free agent.
9. The draft order is predicated on the end of season standings. The eight teams that failed to make the playoffs will be placed in order of the win-loss record with the 1st overall pick going to the team with the best record not to make the playoffs. The playoff teams will be placed in the following order in the draft: Winner - 12th pick, 2nd place - 11th pick, loser of the 3rd v 4th playoff - 10th pick, winner of 3rd v 5th playoff - 9th pick.
10. Should any further expansion of the league occur, amendments to rules 8 & 9 may be required and the mechanisms for expansion and player allocation will be agreed through league wide voting.
11. An individuals players position is determined through their position designation on NFL.com at the start of the season.
12. Any required changes to a roster such as a players NFL team can be logged via email to the league administrator who will then process the detailed changes
Starting Line-ups
13. Each week, a franchise owner, or a proxy should the individual owner be unavailable for a given week, must name a starting line-up that includes the following: one quarterback, three running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defence.
13a. If no starting line-up is submitted the previous weeks line up will be automatically used, with the exception of week one where no starters will be allocated.
13b. Any player selected as a starter in the previous week, who plays in a game prior to Sunday 1pm EST and where a line-up has not been set or adjusted, will automatically be listed as a starter for that week.
14. The deadline for including players in a starting line-up is the kick-off of each player's game.
15. Notification of starting lineups must be made via the website. If an owner is unable to access the website for any reason notification can be made via email or phone to the league administrator.
15a. In the event of an NFL game being postponed/abandoned without being completed within the designated FFL scoring week (e.g. hurricane/covid or something like the Demar Hamlin incident) the stats on NFL.com at the time will be used for scoring and the result will be declared.
Scoring
16. The scoring for a starting player is detailed on the FFL website under 'Scoring System'.
16a. Scoring will be undertaken in turn by every member in the league volunteering to do one week each, as available and within reason. Also each year, three members will score an extra week to cover the remaining three weeks of the 15 game regular season, using a revised rota confirmed at the 2023 Draft. Scoring for the playoff weeks will be done on a voluntary basis.
Thus, as at season 2023, this provisional order is:
Year 1 - 2023 - 1 Adam, 2 Tim & 3 John
Year 2 - 2024 - 4 Zac, 5 Rich & 6 Simon A
Year 3 - 2025 - 7 Joe, 8 Gary & 9 Simon B
Year 4 - 2026 - 10 Martin + (2 from the start of the list again) etc
As at June 2023, this list excludes Clive (based on website work) and Lee (as he'll be scoring 2 weeks anyway with Joe studying in the USA)
If anyone were to leave the FFL, then the list could be amended accordingly.
17. Bonus Points - The bonus points will be awarded for Passing, Rushing and Receiving. All players on the active roster will contribute to their team's yardage from scrimmage totals. The team with the highest yardage in a category will be awarded 12 bonus points; the team with the second most yardage will be awarded 11 bonus points and so on.
18. In the playoffs, this bonus points system is adjusted. In Week 1 of the playoffs, the bonus points are awarded on a 10-7-4-1 basis across the four teams and in Week 2, the head-to-head matchups are scored on a 5-0 basis in each yardage category.
19. The official statistics used for scoring will be from NFL.com, although members may use any website to score from, if easier. However, any final adjudication will defer to NFL.com.
20. Should any scoring alterations be made by the NFL prior to the deadline for the following week's waiver claims, the scoring from the week in question - and results - will be altered as required.
21. There are some scoring anomalies that are not clearly accounted for under the scoring system
21a. An offensive fumble recovery for a TD scores double point for the player
21b. Punt and Kick returns score a TD for defence as well as the player concerned
21c. A lateral is scored as a passing touchdown
League Schedule
22. The regular season comprises of 15 games taking place over the first 15 weeks of the NFL regular season. Each team plays each other once a season and a system is in place ensuring that each team plays every other team in an ordered way to make up the schedule. Weeks 10 and 13 are designated as 'Rivalry Weeks' and teams that are deemed as 'rivals' will play each other with the aggregate score of these games being used to determine that season's rivalry winners, with the appropriate trophies being awarded at the next draft..
23. The post season consists of the top four teams in the regular season who qualify for a playoff berth. Thus in Week 16, the 1st place team plays the 4th place team and the 2nd placed team plays the 3rd placed team. In Week 17, the two winning teams from Week 16 will play each other for the FFL Title, with the losers playing each other for 3rd and 4th place.
Tie Breakers
24. Should any game be tied on total points the team that wins 2 out of the 3 bonus point categories will be awarded the win
25. All tie breakers will be settled using the following methodology
a. Head- to-head records
b Conference Record
c. Points scored
d. Total yards gained
e. winner randomly picked by the site
26. If more than two teams are ties the head-to-head records will only apply if one team has swept all meeting with the other two or more teams. Once the first place winner of a tie has been confirmed the remaining tied teams begin the tie breaker process from the start as detailed in rule 25.
Waivers
27. Until 12.00 midnight on the Wednesday of each week of the season, a team may submit a list of players they wish to acquire and replace via the Free Agency Waiver Wire. Waiver Wire requests can be submitted via the 'Free Agency' tab on the website. It is each individual's responsibility to ensure that a request has been submitted; this can be confirmed by going back into the Free Agency tab and if your text is still there, the submission has been saved. You can also tick a box to have your request e-mailed to yourself. Also, it is possible to contact the administrator who can also confirm if the waiver wire claim has been received. No claims received after the deadline will be processed.
28. Players will be allocated to teams depending upon their place in the Free Agency order. During each round, once a team is awarded a player, they drop to the bottom of the waiver order for the following round of free agency selections.
29. All roster signings will be allocated to the rosters and posted on the forum together with the updated free agency waiver list for the following weeks
30. Once Free Agency has been processed, the only transactions possible are trades and the activation of a player from the Development roster spot and the release of a relevant player to make room on the active roster.
31. Places in the wavier wire order can not be traded
Trading
32. No trading of players and/or draft picks maybe be made after the deadline for week 9 until the culmination of the FFL Bowl
33. Until the Week 9 deadline, a trade of any number of players and/or draft picks may be made between two or more franchises. Following a trade, all of the teams involved must have a roster in line with Rule 5, be that through the trade or use of the Free Agency system.
34. No trades will be permitted that include "player to be named later", "future considerations" etc. However deals can have conditional requirements that are dependent on a given players performance.
35. Details of all trades including conditional picks must be submitted via the FFL website "trades" tab and be announced on the FFL forum.
36. Any player traded during a season cannot be re-acquired by the original franchise until the day of the following free agent/rookie draft.
37. A player who has already played during a particular week cannot be traded until after that week's matches have been concluded and the new week started.
1 A league administrator(s) will be appointed for each season and their duties will include overseeing a scoring rota amongst members, maintenance of rosters, administration of free agency and distribution of information.
2 All disputes within the league wherever possible shall be resolved by a league wide vote with each team having a single vote.
2a Where disputes are time sensitive and it would not be practical to poll the entire league, the administrator has the option to poll up to three
neutral owners in relation to the dispute with a majority providing the final decision
3. No team will be eligible to complete in the league until the annual league fees have been paid, these are to be collected at the time of the annual draft and are to cover the league administration costs.
4. Should an owner resign from the league during the season the following options are available for the league to vote upon
4a Ownership of the team can be transferred to another individual
4b The team's players are subject to a dispensation draft
Rosters
5. The standard active roster consists of four quarterbacks, five running backs, six wide receivers, two tight ends, two kickers and two defences. These are maximum figures and therefore there is no requirement that rosters are full in order to field an eligible lineup. During pre-season the maximum roster size is a total of 32 roster spots
6. Each team has 4 Injured Reserved (IR) roster spaces. From 2022, the FFL has reverted back to the old IR rules, thus removing rules 6a and 6b. Any player placed on an IR spot, cannot be re-activated for the rest of the season and must also have been placed on IR by their respective NFL team as evidenced on the NFL transaction report, available at NFL.com/transactions. A player on IR can be released via the waiver process at any time. They can also be traded in line with Rule 32.
7. Each team has one additional available roster space for a player on Development, which is reserved for players eligible for selection in that season's NFL draft. The Development roster spot is available for the first 9 weeks of the season. At any point within the 9 weeks, a player on the Development roster can be activated to the main roster or replaced by another Development eligible player.
7a. At any point up until the given players are involved in that week's game, taking into account the kick-off deadlines in Rule 14, a transaction can be completed involving Development roster spot eligible players currently on a team's roster. This change must be submitted via email to the league administrator and on the forum before the roster submission deadline.
7b. After the conclusion of week 9, all players who still occupy the Development roster spot will be automatically released through the waiver system.
8. The last day of February is the deadline for each team to submit a list of five protected players. No franchise can protect more than two players at any one position. All players that have not been protected will be released into the following season's draft pool, which in addition will consist of the NFL players not on a FFL roster and all players who have entered the NFL through that particular season's annual NFL player allocation draft or as an undrafted free agent.
9. The draft order is predicated on the end of season standings. The eight teams that failed to make the playoffs will be placed in order of the win-loss record with the 1st overall pick going to the team with the best record not to make the playoffs. The playoff teams will be placed in the following order in the draft: Winner - 12th pick, 2nd place - 11th pick, loser of the 3rd v 4th playoff - 10th pick, winner of 3rd v 5th playoff - 9th pick.
10. Should any further expansion of the league occur, amendments to rules 8 & 9 may be required and the mechanisms for expansion and player allocation will be agreed through league wide voting.
11. An individuals players position is determined through their position designation on NFL.com at the start of the season.
12. Any required changes to a roster such as a players NFL team can be logged via email to the league administrator who will then process the detailed changes
Starting Line-ups
13. Each week, a franchise owner, or a proxy should the individual owner be unavailable for a given week, must name a starting line-up that includes the following: one quarterback, three running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defence.
13a. If no starting line-up is submitted the previous weeks line up will be automatically used, with the exception of week one where no starters will be allocated.
13b. Any player selected as a starter in the previous week, who plays in a game prior to Sunday 1pm EST and where a line-up has not been set or adjusted, will automatically be listed as a starter for that week.
14. The deadline for including players in a starting line-up is the kick-off of each player's game.
15. Notification of starting lineups must be made via the website. If an owner is unable to access the website for any reason notification can be made via email or phone to the league administrator.
15a. In the event of an NFL game being postponed/abandoned without being completed within the designated FFL scoring week (e.g. hurricane/covid or something like the Demar Hamlin incident) the stats on NFL.com at the time will be used for scoring and the result will be declared.
Scoring
16. The scoring for a starting player is detailed on the FFL website under 'Scoring System'.
16a. Scoring will be undertaken in turn by every member in the league volunteering to do one week each, as available and within reason. Also each year, three members will score an extra week to cover the remaining three weeks of the 15 game regular season, using a revised rota confirmed at the 2023 Draft. Scoring for the playoff weeks will be done on a voluntary basis.
Thus, as at season 2023, this provisional order is:
Year 1 - 2023 - 1 Adam, 2 Tim & 3 John
Year 2 - 2024 - 4 Zac, 5 Rich & 6 Simon A
Year 3 - 2025 - 7 Joe, 8 Gary & 9 Simon B
Year 4 - 2026 - 10 Martin + (2 from the start of the list again) etc
As at June 2023, this list excludes Clive (based on website work) and Lee (as he'll be scoring 2 weeks anyway with Joe studying in the USA)
If anyone were to leave the FFL, then the list could be amended accordingly.
17. Bonus Points - The bonus points will be awarded for Passing, Rushing and Receiving. All players on the active roster will contribute to their team's yardage from scrimmage totals. The team with the highest yardage in a category will be awarded 12 bonus points; the team with the second most yardage will be awarded 11 bonus points and so on.
18. In the playoffs, this bonus points system is adjusted. In Week 1 of the playoffs, the bonus points are awarded on a 10-7-4-1 basis across the four teams and in Week 2, the head-to-head matchups are scored on a 5-0 basis in each yardage category.
19. The official statistics used for scoring will be from NFL.com, although members may use any website to score from, if easier. However, any final adjudication will defer to NFL.com.
20. Should any scoring alterations be made by the NFL prior to the deadline for the following week's waiver claims, the scoring from the week in question - and results - will be altered as required.
21. There are some scoring anomalies that are not clearly accounted for under the scoring system
21a. An offensive fumble recovery for a TD scores double point for the player
21b. Punt and Kick returns score a TD for defence as well as the player concerned
21c. A lateral is scored as a passing touchdown
League Schedule
22. The regular season comprises of 15 games taking place over the first 15 weeks of the NFL regular season. Each team plays each other once a season and a system is in place ensuring that each team plays every other team in an ordered way to make up the schedule. Weeks 10 and 13 are designated as 'Rivalry Weeks' and teams that are deemed as 'rivals' will play each other with the aggregate score of these games being used to determine that season's rivalry winners, with the appropriate trophies being awarded at the next draft..
23. The post season consists of the top four teams in the regular season who qualify for a playoff berth. Thus in Week 16, the 1st place team plays the 4th place team and the 2nd placed team plays the 3rd placed team. In Week 17, the two winning teams from Week 16 will play each other for the FFL Title, with the losers playing each other for 3rd and 4th place.
Tie Breakers
24. Should any game be tied on total points the team that wins 2 out of the 3 bonus point categories will be awarded the win
25. All tie breakers will be settled using the following methodology
a. Head- to-head records
b Conference Record
c. Points scored
d. Total yards gained
e. winner randomly picked by the site
26. If more than two teams are ties the head-to-head records will only apply if one team has swept all meeting with the other two or more teams. Once the first place winner of a tie has been confirmed the remaining tied teams begin the tie breaker process from the start as detailed in rule 25.
Waivers
27. Until 12.00 midnight on the Wednesday of each week of the season, a team may submit a list of players they wish to acquire and replace via the Free Agency Waiver Wire. Waiver Wire requests can be submitted via the 'Free Agency' tab on the website. It is each individual's responsibility to ensure that a request has been submitted; this can be confirmed by going back into the Free Agency tab and if your text is still there, the submission has been saved. You can also tick a box to have your request e-mailed to yourself. Also, it is possible to contact the administrator who can also confirm if the waiver wire claim has been received. No claims received after the deadline will be processed.
28. Players will be allocated to teams depending upon their place in the Free Agency order. During each round, once a team is awarded a player, they drop to the bottom of the waiver order for the following round of free agency selections.
29. All roster signings will be allocated to the rosters and posted on the forum together with the updated free agency waiver list for the following weeks
30. Once Free Agency has been processed, the only transactions possible are trades and the activation of a player from the Development roster spot and the release of a relevant player to make room on the active roster.
31. Places in the wavier wire order can not be traded
Trading
32. No trading of players and/or draft picks maybe be made after the deadline for week 9 until the culmination of the FFL Bowl
33. Until the Week 9 deadline, a trade of any number of players and/or draft picks may be made between two or more franchises. Following a trade, all of the teams involved must have a roster in line with Rule 5, be that through the trade or use of the Free Agency system.
34. No trades will be permitted that include "player to be named later", "future considerations" etc. However deals can have conditional requirements that are dependent on a given players performance.
35. Details of all trades including conditional picks must be submitted via the FFL website "trades" tab and be announced on the FFL forum.
36. Any player traded during a season cannot be re-acquired by the original franchise until the day of the following free agent/rookie draft.
37. A player who has already played during a particular week cannot be traded until after that week's matches have been concluded and the new week started.
Scoring Rota
Points Calculator
Free Agency Order
Draft Order
Rosters PDF
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