Ultimate Fantasy Football League Rules

Keeper League Rules

UFFL Constitution: (modified 12/07/99)

1. UFFL is a first year keeper league with an auction style draft. Each player will become the owner, manager, and coach of their own professional football team. Owners must have an e-mail account and should be online at least 30 minutes/week. The league will consist of 12 teams in three divisions. The format is a keeper league with head-to-head competition and a playoff format.

2. Draft: An auction style draft will be conducted on Sunday August 20th at 3 pm EST. The auction will be held in an AOL chat room. Owners who do not have AOL can sign up for one month free. The alternate chat room for the auction will be the league chat room which can be accessed from the home page. Any combination of positions is allowed. Owners must not go over the $200 salary cap during the draft. Each owner will draft 15 players and pickup two more players during the first two periods of free agency during the preseason for a total of 17 players on each teams roster prior to the start of the season. Specific auction rules can be found at the draft page.

3. Wins/Losses: Each week you will play another team head to head according to the fantasy schedule The team with the highest score wins. Your team score will be determined by adding up your players' points and your defensive team's points using the scoring system. In case of a tie, the game ends in a tie (see scoring system).

NOTE: It is important that you check the NFL schedule before turning in your lineup to avoid starting a player on a team which has a bye that week.

4. Playoffs:The regular season is 13 games and begins on week 1 of the NFL season. Six teams (3 division winners and 3 wild card teams) will qualify for the playoffs. The wild card game will be played during week 14. The wild card winner (team with the most points) will play the division winner with the best record and the other two division winners will play each other during week 15. The winners will play for the League Championship during week 16. The losers of week 15 will also play each other during week 16 for 3rd place. During the wildcard game the #1 seeded team will receive 10 points and the 2nd seeded team will receive 5 points. For each game during the semifinals to be played in week 15, the higher seeded team will have home field advantage and receive an additional ten points. There is no home field advantage for the championship game and the 3rd place game to be played in week 16. The seeding for all playoff games is based on record first and total points scored in case of a tie.

4A. Cream of the Crap Tournament:The four teams with the worst record will play during weeks 15 and 16 in the Cream of the Crap Tournament. The team with the best record will play the team with the worst record and the other two teams will play each other during week 15. The losers will advance to the Toilet Bowl and play each other during week 16. The loser of the Toilet Bowl will have to change his screen name to UFFLLoser@... for the following season if he/she chooses to return. Homefield advantage (5 pts) still applies for all Cream of the Crap games.

5. Keeper Rules: Owners will keep three or four players from their previous year's roster. Each player kept will receive a 10% raise and this salary will count against the team's salary cap, reducing the amount of money owners have to bid on during the draft (to begin in 2001). If a player is not drafted and kept, he will cost 5% of the salary cap. The deadline for announcing the your keeper players is August 17th beginning in the year 2001. Until that date, you are free to trade any of the 17 players that were on your roster last year for another team's players. After the 17th, the other remaining players on your roster will be considered released and you will no longer be able to trade them. You may, however, still trade any of your keeper players.

A player may not be kept by one owner for any longer than three consecutive years without being released, traded, or allowed to go back into the common draft pool. A player acquired in midseason will be credited as playing a full year for that owner. A player acquired in preseason will be considered on their first year with his/her new owner.

6. Transactions/Salary Cap: Transactions consist of Free Agent Signings, Trades, and IR Moves. They are instrumental to the success of your team. It is very important that you remain active and up to date on all information regarding your players.

Free Agent Signings: Free agency signings will be conducted every week concluding TBD. All free agent transaction will be sent via e-mail. Note: You cannot pick up a player who is on the injury report and listed as questionable or worse. Once that player is dropped, there is a waiting period of one week before he can picked be picked up by another team, including yours.

Preseason Free Agency: Free agency will begin two weeks prior to the start of the NFL season. Owners have two free agent transactions during the preseason, one for each week. If you discover there is a player that wasn't drafted and you want him on your team, you can pick up that player by dropping an existing player from your roster. The position of the player dropped need not be the same as the player added. A drawing will be made to determine FA order beforehand and posted at the web site. The order for the 2nd F.A. period will be reverse order of the 1st one.

Season Free Agency: During the season owners may make up to two free agent transactions per week. One during the first free agency period and one during the second free agency period. The first free agent period will be conducted from Tuesday (12:01 AM EST) to Wednesday (11:59 PM EST) and will be Free Agent Bidding. Each owner will receive $100 in funny money to use during the first FA period during the regular season. The bids must be sent to the Commish during the above time period. Bids are final once they are sent and can only be sent once. They must also be in whole dollar amounts, i.e., $4. If two owners requests the same player, the player will go to the owner who made the highest bid. If owners requests the same player and the bids are the same, the free agent will go to the team with the least amount of points scored. It is wise to send more than one bid during this period. Once an owner spends his $100, he will no longer be able to participate in the first period FA period. The Commish will not open any bids until Wednesday (11:59 PM EST) and will also send his bid to the Asst Commish who will not open it until the deadline as well. During the second free agency period the team with the lowest amount of points, regardless of record, will get #1 priority and so on. No free agent bidding during this period. Again, it is recommended that you send in more than one transaction especially if you have low priority. The second free agency period will be conducted from Thursday (12:01 PM EST) to Friday (11:59 PM EST). Team rosters, transactions page, and the free agent list will be updated after each free agency period.

Trades: The trade deadline is TBD. In addition, any teams that are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs will not be allowed to trade during the season. Trading will resume following the Championship Game. Trades are made on a one-to-one basis, i.e., equal # of players are involved in the trade. Trades must be sent to the Commish via e-mail by both owners before it is forwarded to the league in an e-mail. Owners may challenge a trade by e-mailing the commish. The trade will then be sent to the Executice Committee (EC) for a decision. The Executive Committee consists of four owners, one from each of the four UFFL leagues The members are Kevin McBride (UFFL), Carlton Redd (UFFL II), Ron Chancey (UFFL III), and Ken Daube (UFFL IV). Only three EC members will vote on each issue, with the EC member in the league where the problem exists not receiving a vote. In other words, the EC members from UFFL II, III and IV will decide all EC issues in UFF. The Commish also reserves the right to immediately veto any trade deemed lopsided and against the competitiveness of the league. Owners have three challenge per year and the Executive Committee will handle challenges for all four leagues. Their decision is final.

Injured Reserve (IR): After the draft each owner will designate four players as "franchise players". During the season, if a "franchise player gets injured and is "out" for the regular season (placed on IR by his NFL team), he may be placed on injured reserve and his backup can be picked up without dropping the "franchise player". If you trade or drop the "franchise player" his backup must be dropped. The backup player cannot be dropped or traded. The IR request must be made during the first free agency period. The backup will not be elgible to be picked up by other teams until the second free agency period. Teams may have up to two players on IR at any time. Note: Injured reserve is only for players who are injured and not for suspensions due to drugs, arrests, ..., holdouts, retirements, etc.

7. Starting lineups must be turned into the Commissioner, e-mail or by phone, NLT 12:01 AM EST, Sunday prior to that weeks games. If there is a game on Thursday night, the rosters are due NLT 12:01 AM EST on Thursday. Provided a lineup has been turned in by the deadline, changes can be made up until noon EST Sunday (one hour before kickoff). Any changes to your lineup (after they have been posted) must be e-mailed to your opponent as well as the commissioner. If an owner misses the deadline, his lineup from the previous week will be used or two weeks prior if the run -n- shoot or wish bone was used the previous week. The only substitutions that can be made are for players who are on a bye or no longer on the team. If an owner fails to submit a starting lineup for week 1, they will forfeit all rights to their team and I will find a replacement. No entry fees will be refunded. If an owner fails to submit a starting lineup for three weeks in a row (unless commissioner is notified beforehand), the team and entry fee will be forfeited. Teams will be allowed one late starting lineup provided it is turned in one hour before the kickoff of the first game.

You have a choice between three different styles of offense...Pro Set, Wish Bone, & Run -n- Shoot:

8. Starting lineups from all teams will be available at the web site on Sunday morning. I recommend calculating your score and your opponents in case the software makes an error. All of the reports will be downloaded using software from First Place Sports on Tuesday. These reports include weekly results, league standings, transactions, weekly top players, season league leaders, team rosters and other relevant information.

9. The Commissioner is responsible for recording starting lineups, overseeing transactions, approving trades, and for maintenance of the league reports at the web site. I will also forward all challenges/discrepancies, to include challenging of trades, questions concerning the rules, and recommended changes to the rules to the Executive Committee. The commissioner has vetoing power but will only use such power in extreme cases, i.e. life threatening. A fair and impartial decision is guaranteed.

10. Mark Edgar (UFFL) has been appointed as the Assistant Commissioner. He will assume the duties of the commissioner if need be. He will handle any questions concerning the rules and make recommendations to the commissioner on improving the league or changing rules. The Commish will also send all free agent bids/requests to the Asst. Commish. The bid will not be opened until the first period free agency deadline as previously discussed.

11. Trash talk is permitted and welcomed but any threatening language or sustained complaining towards the commissioner or anyone else in the league will not be tolerated. Any such acts can result in expulsion from the league. Problems will occur and I will do my best to minimize them and take corrective action if necessary. If an owner feels it is necessay to barrage the league with complaints, then it is in their best interest to find a different league. A refund of the entry fee will be determined by the league and any refund will affect the prize money.

12. Entry Fee: The entry fee is $50.00 per team and due by August 1, 2000.

Mail checks to:

David Torreano
4090 Hodges Blvd Apt 1509 (subject to change)
Jacksonville, FL 32224

13. Prizes: