RULES

The following rules will govern the Yarmouth Fantasy Football League (YFFL) and have been compiled by the office of the commissioner. A winter meeting will be conducted each year after the season to review these rules and make any necessary changes. Only team owners are allowed to vote on rule changes. If a problem should arise that is not covered by this set of rules, it will be the responsibility of the commissioner to mediate and resolve the issue. On any issues involving the commissioner directly or in the event of the commissioner's absence, the deputy commissioner will serve as acting commissioner.

DRAFT

The league will conduct a draft before the start of each NFL regular season. Any non-rostered NFL player is eligible to be selected. Players still in college will not be eligible. The draft will generally last 4 rounds, but will continue until each team reaches the roster limit of 16 players and states that they are finished drafting. Draft picks may be exchanged by teams as part of a trade.

Draft Order

The first draft pick in each round will be awarded to the winner of the previous year's Stupor Bowl Tournament. The tournament will take place during Weeks 14-16 and consist of the six teams with the worst record (with Points For serving as a tiebreaker). The two teams with the worst records will receive a first round bye.

Selections 2 - 10 will be determined by reverse order of wins during the previous year. The tiebreaker will be reverse points scored.

Selections 11 and 12 will be awarded to the losers of the previous year's two first round playoff games, with the order being determined by reverse order of wins during the previous year. The tiebreaker will be reverse points scored.

Selections 13 and 14 will be awarded to the losers of the previous year's two conference championship games, with the order being determined by reverse order of wins during the previous year. The tiebreaker will be reverse points scored.

Selection 15 will be the loser of the previous year's Super Bowl.

Selection 16 will be the defending Super Bowl champion.

SCHEDULE

The regular season will consist of 13 games, with each team playing 1 per week. The following 3 weeks will be reserved for playoffs, with the final week of the NFL season not being used. The schedule will be compiled by the deputy commissioner. Each team will play their divisional opponents twice, with the remaining games being filled in based on last year's standing.

ROSTERS
Off Season Cuts

One week before the scheduled start of the draft, rosters will be reduced to 12 players. Extra players (above the limit of 12) may be kept if those kept players were traded for in exchange for draft picks in that year's draft during the offseason. There are no regulations on how the roster breaks up positionally.

Regular Season Rosters

After the draft, a hard cap of 16 players will be set for rosters during the season. If a team finds itself with more than 16 players on their roster at a given point in the season, the owner will be required to release players or place place players on Injured Reserve to reach that established limit. Alternatively, if a team falls below the limit of 16 at any point during the season, the owner will have the opportunity to add players "free of charge" to their team in order to reach the cap of 16. In other words, these moves will not count towards their limit of 3 roster moves during the season. However, these additions will still be governed by the established waiver wire system.

TRANSACTIONS

After the draft, teams will be eligible to make an unlimited amount of transactions until the start of the season. If multiple teams attempt to claim the same player, the tiebreaker will be determined by original draft order.

Weekly Waiver Wire

After Week 1 of the regular season, teams will be eligible to make roster transactions. A transaction is defined as claiming a free agent while releasing a player from the team's current roster. Transactions can be sent to the commissioner beginning from the conclusion of the previous week's games until 12:00 PM EST on Thursday. If multiple teams attempt to claim the same player on a given week, the tiebreaker will be determined by that week's claim order. Claim order is determined by transaction count, followed by reverse points scored totals. The last week to make transactions will be the final week of the regular season.

Waiver wire transactions made during the week will not be visible as they arrive to the commissioner. Instead, they will be posted Thursday afternoon after all claims have been processed. The commissioner will continue to notify owners if another team with a higher claim priority puts in a request for a player they had previously submitted a claim for. This clause is unofficially deemed the "Jermaine Wiggins Clause".

Injured Reserve

Each team will have three injured reserve (IR) spots available. Any player is eligible for this spot. While on IR, the player is ineligible for insertion into a starting lineup. Upon placing a player on IR, the team is eligible to sign a free agent to take that player's place.

After 3 weeks, a player on IR may be moved back to the active roster. When this occurs, another player on the active roster must be released or placed on IR if the active roster is greater than 16 players. These move can occur anytime during the season, including the playoffs.

IR is available after Week 1's games and players may be initially placed on IR thru the end of the regular season.

Trades

Trades can occur at any time during the season before Week 11. At that point, no trading can occur until after the completion of the Super Bowl. Trades involving teams of the same owner will not be accepted. A player cannot be traded back to the same team during the same year (also known as the "Michael Vick Amendment"). The commissioner reserves the right to review any trade and take any action he deems necessary.

Positive Tests for COVID-19

If a player tests positive for COVID-19 and is placed on the NFL's exempt list, the owner / GM will have the option to move him to a COVID-19 spot and replace him with another player. There is no limit to the number of COVID-19 spots but each move will be governed by the established waiver wire system*. When the player returns from the NFL's exempt list, that player MUST either be reactivated or dropped immediately. These moves can be made at any point during the season (including playoffs).

* If a player tests positive after the normal waiver wire deadline (Thursday at 12:00 EST) the owner / GM can replace him with a free agent on a first come - first serve basis.

LINEUPS

Lineups will be comprised of 8 players from a team's roster. A player must be inserted into a team's lineup before the beginning of the player's scheduled NFL contest that week to be eligible to receive points. Once the NFL game has started, a player involved in that contest cannot be moved to a different lineup slot, removed from the lineup, or inserted into a lineup.

Lineup Formation

The following lineup formations will be allowed:

Players Positions
1 QB
1 RB
1 RB or WR
2 WR
1 TE
1 K
1 UT (RB, WR or TE)
SCORING

Only players in a team's starting lineup will contribute points toward the team's score. The following point values will be assigned to each player's performance:

PASSING
Category Pts
300-399 yds 4 pts
400+ yds 1 pt
TD 6 pts
2 Pt Conv 2 pts
RUSHING / RECEIVING
Category Pts
every 50 yds combined 2 pts
TD 6 pts
2 Pt Conv 2 pts
KICKING
Category Pts
XP 1 pt
FG 3 pts
STANDINGS
Wins & Losses

The total points scored among each team's starting lineup will be calculated and compared against each team's opponent for the given week. The team scoring more points will be credited with a win while the other team will receive a loss. If the totals of both teams are equal, each team will receive a tie.

Conferences & Divisions

The league will be divided into 2 conferences, with each conference having 2 divisions.

The East division of the American Conference will consist of the Asian Orangutangs, the Cuban Refugees, the Hoochie Llamas and Bear Poop.

The West division of the American Conference will consist of Ludke's Merry Men, the Burger Buddies, the Apple Eaters, and the Market Thugs.

The East division of the National Conference will consist of the High 5'n White Guys, the Snapdragons, the Big Boys, and the Fightin' Mallards.

The West division of the National Conference will consist of the Chunky Chickens, the Ucornn Huskers, the Mexican Humping Beans and the Memphis Brothers.

PLAYOFFS
Super Bowl Playoffs

Each division winner will receive a playoff berth, as well as 1 Wild Card winner from each conference. The Wild Card winner will be determined as the team with the best record in the conference that is not already a division winner. In the event of a divisional or Wild Card tie, total points scored will be the tiebreaker.

The team with the best overall record will also receive a bye into the second round of the playoffs. In the event of a tie, total points scored will be used as the tiebreaker.

The other division winner and the Wild Card winner from each conference will play each other in the first round of the playoffs, with the winner advancing to meet the team receiving a bye from their conference. The winners of the conference championship games will meet in the Super Bowl to crown a champion for the season.

Stupor Bowl Playoffs

The six teams with the worst records (with "points for" as a tiebreaker) will compete in the Stupor Bowl playoffs during Weeks 14-16. The two worst teams will receive a first round bye. The winner of the Stupor Bowl Playoffs will receive the first pick in each round of the next year's draft. The tournament will have no bearing on draft slots 2-6; those will continue to be given according to record.

Pro Bowl

The leading scorers at each position from both conferences will meet in the Pro Bowl during the week of the Super Bowl. The commissioner will assemble both lineups based on overall points scored and using the same lineup conventions used during the regular season and playoffs. In the event that an injured player has been selected to the Pro Bowl, the commissioner will select a healthy player to replace him. Both players will receive credit for their Pro Bowl selections and thus be reflected on their player page on YFFL.com.

Tiebreakers

If a playoff game happens to end in a tie, the following tiebreakers will be used in this order:

  1. Total TDs (Starters)
  2. Combined QB and K points (Starters)
  3. Total TDs (Bench)
AWARDS

The following regular season awards will be voted on by the owners and general managers during the playoffs and announced during the week of the Super Bowl. The commissioner will assemble the list of nominees for each award and then ask the owners to list their top 3 choices in each category. A 1st place vote will receive 3 pts, a 2nd place vote will receive 2 pts and finally, a 3rd place vote will receive 1 pt. The nominee with the most points will receive the award. "Campaigning" by an owner for certain candidates will be allowed during the nominating process.

Most Valuable Player

This achivement will be awarded to the player who was most valuable to his team during the regular season.

Rookie of the Year

The first year player that was most impressive will receive this award. Only NFL rookies will be eligible for the YFFL Rookie of the Year award.

Macor Misa

The player that came "out of nowhere" to have an impact on the regular season. This award is named in honor of the mysterious player who appeared on the Apple Eaters roster one season.

Owner of the Year

The owner who guided their teams to the best regular season accomplishments will be awarded with this title.