UFFA Rules and Regulations

Here are the up to date Rules and Regulations for the UFFA. These are as of July of 2005. I've tried to make them more organized by separating key points. I recommend looking them all over. If you have any suggestions as to some situations that MAY arise, let me know. I’ll make a rule to be discussed about that situation.

I. Overview

-The 2005 season will be the U.F.F.A.’s fifth season in existence.

-This is a keeper league. By that I mean at the end of the season we will all designate players to keep during the off-season. The keepers will have to be named by July 15th. These players will begin next season on the same roster.

-This league will have 12 teams competing head-to-head in a 13-game regular season. That will be followed by a 3 week post season. Remember the more the owners in a fantasy football league are involved, the better the league will be. Because of the fact that this is a keeper league, it’ll be just as much your league as mine. So if you have any questions or suggestions as far as rule changes and so forth, please feel free to ask.

-Remember the first rule of fantasy football: HAVE FUN!!



II. Draft Day

-The 2005 draft is scheduled for Sunday, August 28th at 1 p.m. at Tom Losch’s house. In subsequent years, it will ALWAYS be the second Sunday before the NFL’s opening Sunday. Please be sure to make arrangements to be there.

-If you can NOT be there for some reason, you will be responsible of making sure a representative is present.

-To make the draft go quickly, be sure to bring along 1 or 2 magazines with a cheat sheet as well as a couple of pens or pencils.

-All owners will have 5 keepers already on their rosters and will draft for twelve rounds to fill out their rosters.

-Please be aware of your players’ bye weeks. For example, you don’t want both of your quarterbacks to have the same off week otherwise you’ll have to drop a player to pick up a QB for that week.

-The order of the draft is determined by reverse order of finish in the previous season. The draft will be of the 1-12, 1-12, etc. variety.

-Teams will have two minutes to draft in the first six rounds and three minutes each round after that. There will be a break between the sixth and seventh rounds.

-Any owner who leaves the draft early will be subject to penalties that will be at the discretion of the other owners and commissioner.

III. Entry Fee/Payout

-There will be a $55 entry fee for the league as well as a $3.50 charge for the software. The payout will be as follows:

1st-60%
2nd-25%
3rd-15%

-Transactions fees are $.50 per player on a pick-up or drop, and $2.00 for the first player in a trade and $1.00 for each additional player in the same trade.

-Any trophy charges will be added with owner approval.

IV. Starting Lineups

-Starting lineups will consist of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 D/ST and are due one hour before the first game of the NFL week regardless of whether or not you have a player in the first game(s).

-On weeks with Thursday games, lineups may be altered after the initial game (not during) provided you turned in a lineup and your player was not in the Thursday game.

-Owners may change their lineup up until the time of the game in which the player is going to play in. Example: RB1 doesn't play until Sunday night while your backup RB plays on Monday night. If RB1 gets hurt or is a late scratch on Sunday night, an owner may call/e-mail the Commissioner and replace him with his backup RB WHO HASN'T PLAYED YET. This option is only available IF an owner has turned in a starting lineup before the games of the week have begun.

-E-mails, phone calls and lineup submissions through your team page are the only accepted forms of lineup submission. Leave a message if you get no answer by phone.

-If no lineup is entered, the previous week’s lineup will be used.

V. Transactions

-During the preseason, transactions may begin on the Tuesday following the draft at noon. Every team is entitled to add players after the draft.

-The maximum roster size from five days before the NFL’s opening game will be 19 (keepers, draft picks, free agent signings) until the postseason when it will be 20 (supplemental addition for postseason teams; post season addition will not be allowed to be retained as a keeper).

-For the Tuesday following the draft from noon to 10 p.m. the team with the worst record during the previous season will have the rights to a guy if he is picked up by two different teams. After that, it will be first come first serve. A team with more than 19 players following the draft—due to trades, etc.—will have until five days before the NFL’s opening game at noon to cut their roster down to 19.

-ANY player released before the season starts will not be eligible to be picked up by another team until following the first week.

-During the regular season weeks, there will be no transactions allowed until Tuesday morning at 2:00 a.m. by e-mail and Tuesday at noon by phone.

-Between 2 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 p.m., the team with the worst record will have rights in the event that two or more teams claim the same player.

-On weeks with Thursday games, the waiver wire period will end at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

-After 10:00 p.m. Wednesday (Tuesday on weeks with Thursday games) it will be first come, first serve.

-Aside from weeks with Thursday games there will be no transactions allowed after 10:00 p.m. on Friday.

-On those other weeks, the deadline is 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

-Players who are dropped in a given week will not be eligible to be picked up until the following week.

-No drops or adds for the purpose of improving one's roster will be allowed once keepers are named.

-Clarification of transaction submissions for waiver wire: Two types of lists will be accepted. Drop a, b, c; add d, e, and f. And drop a, add d; drop b, add e; drop c add f. First list: Players will be dropped in order that they are received. Second list: Players will be dropped only if player you are picking up is available.

THE FOLLOWING HAVE TO DO WITH TRADES IN PARTICULAR:
-If a trade is completed, it may be nullified with the agreement of BOTH owners up until an hour of THE FIRST GAME OF THAT GIVEN WEEK.

-There is an annual trading deadline. This deadline will be Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. following week nine. Following week eleven, there will be a transaction deadline of 10:00 p.m. Friday.

-There will be a fee assessed (see above) for in season trades.

-A trade must be completed in the week it was proposed. In other words, when a trade is made, both teams must receive their players/draft picks before the next week of action.

-Off-season trades will not be subject to any fees. Between the NFL's Super Bowl night and March 1st of every year, owners may use their complete inseason rosters to work on deals with other owners. Trading will then stop between March 1st and June 14th. Between June 15th and July 14th, teams can continue trading with their entire previous season's roster. After keepers are named on July 15th of that year, only keepers and draft picks may be traded.

VI. Regular Season

-There will be a 13-game regular season beginning on the NFL’s opening day.

-Teams will play division opponents twice and all other opponents except for one once.

-The 3 division winners and next 3 teams with the best records regardless of division will qualify for the playoffs.

-Every attempt will be made so the worst team during the previous season will not play the Magoo Bowl champion, etc.

VII. Post Season

-First of all, all post season teams will be allowed to expand their rosters by one by Friday of the first post season week.

-If a team does not add a player during that first week, it may not do so thereafter.

-Teams will be seeded by record. Top 3 seeds must be division winners. The first 2 seeds will have bye weeks. The #3 seed will face the #6 seed and the #4 will take on the #5 seed in Week 14. In Week 15, the #1 seed will play the team with the worst record that is still alive and the #2 seed will face the other team. The 2 surviving teams will face off in week 16 in the Magoo Bowl. The 2 losing teams of week 15 will play in a 3rd place game, also in week 16.

VIII. Post Season Activities

-On week 17, the Adler Classic will be held. This is an all-star game.

-The top starting lineup for each division will make it as well as one backup for each position. That includes the 3 WR and 2 RB. They get one backup overall. It is merely for fun.

-If for NFL post season, a player is rested, a substitute will be named.

-Post season awards, some of which will be voted on by the UFFA owners, will be handed out approximately 2 weeks after the all-star game.

-A post season meeting will be held on the Sunday of Week 17.

IX. Keeper League Rules

-All teams will be required to designate exactly 5 players of any position to be carried over to the 2004 season.

-The deadline for designation is July 15th every season. After that the keepers are LOCKED regardless of any situation.

-If a kept player unexpectedly retires from the NFL, the owner will have the OPTION of replacing him with a player from his previous season's roster. This is only in the event of UNEXPECTED RETIREMENT. Otherwise, owners assume all risk. -There is no limit as to how many seasons a player can remain on your roster.

X. Injured Reserve

-Players may be put on I.R. ONLY if they are listed as OUT on the NFL injury report.

-A player must be picked up immediately after placing the other player on I.R. There is no maximum of players on I.R.

-If a player returns and the owner does not remove him from I.R., the player that was added to replace him will be automatically dropped.

-All injured reserve transactions at the beginning of the week will be subject to waiver wire rules for the 2003 season.

XI. Tie Breakers

-In regular season games, in the event of a tie, the team with the most D/ST points will be awarded 3 points and the win. The game ends in a tie if D/ST points are equal.

-For post season games, if D/ST points are equal, the QB will be the tie breaker. If it is still a tie, the #1 RB will be used, then the #1 WR, and finally the kicker. If there is STILL a tie, a coin will be flipped. Winner will be awarded 3 points and the victory.

-Postseason standings: W-L record, head to head, most points scored, then most points scored against.

-For division standings the order is W-L record, head-to-head record, division record, points scored and then most points against. Most points against is used to determine the strength of the schedule. Therefore, if you have more points against you, you faced a tougher schedule. That means you will be above the other team in the standings.

-For waiver wire transactions, the order is W-L record, fewest points scored, then least points against, then head to head. The team with fewer points scored will get priority on the waiver wire.

-Draft order is similar to postseason standings. The top six picks will be the nonplayoff teams of the previous season. The last two picks, however, will be the winner and loser of the Magoo Bowl with the winner getting pick #12.

XII. Key Dates for the 2005 season

07/15/05-Keepers must be designated

08/28/05-Draft Day

09/08/05-Season 3 kicks off

11/09/05-Trading deadline

11/23/05-Transaction deadline

12/25-26/05-Magoo Bowl V

01/01-02/06-Fifth Annual Adler Classic

XIII. Divisions

-Division presidents will be called upon to help the commissioner in any decision that is disputed. The 3 presidents and commissioner must come to a unanimous decision in order for a move to happen. This includes unfair trades and any perceived rule violations.

-The Halas division president is Sam Grana (he will also serve as Treasurer), the Landry division president is Brian Rupnick, and the Lombardi division president is Tom Losch. The commissioner is Marco Santana. Chris Porsch will serve as Assistant Commissioner and will help during the Draft Day proceedings.

-Every division will remain the same indefinitely. This encourages rivalries, some of which have already formed.

XIV. Scoring

-If a punter/holder throws a TD, this will not count as a special teams play. As soon as the punter/holder drops back, it is considered an offensive play with the punter/holder now being considered the QB in that play.

-The same scoring system will be used year in and year out. These will be changed as necessary or as voted upon by the league.

-If there is a play in which two turnovers happen and a TD is scored (the Keenan McCardell rule), the offensive player scoring the TD will be awarded 7 points for an Offensive Fumble Recovery TD, to remain consistent with D/ST scoring. The D/ST will not we awarded any points.