The year 2003 will be the fifth year of the Fantasy Football Keeper League. Here are the rules. There may be a few changes, so read them carefully.

RIGHTS AS A FRANCHISE OWNER(Back to Top)

As a Franchise Owner, you have many rights. Here are a few of them:

PLAYERS

By drafting a player, you are entitled to the rights of that player until you give them up via Dropping or Trading. These rights transfer to each season, so you do not lose the rights at the end of each season. For example, if you draft Terrell Davis, you have his rights forever unless you trade him or drop him.

It is your choice whether or not to pay your players. If you do pay them, be prepared for agents to call you in the middle of the night asking for contract extensions and voidable years. You may also give your players perks such as waterbeds in their hotel rooms, prostitutes (male or female), nightly buffets, or AFL Season Tickets. Please document all perks given to your players in an E-mail to the Commissioner so that he can verify that you have not broken any of the Players Union/FFKL Agreement rules.

SELLING YOUR FRANCHISE

You have the right to sell your Franchise. A Franchise may not be sold during the Regular Season. This is the process for selling a Franchise. First, you must notify the other owners via E-mail that you wish to sell your Franchise. Next, you may interview potential owners. After you have decided on a potential new owner, that owner must be presented to the other owners for approval. In order to approve a new owner, seven out of nine owners must approve it. Finally, all documents will be transferred to the new owner. If you are looking at selling your franchise, here are some good questions to ask the potential owner:

1. Will you be renaming the Franchise? To what?
2. Will you be moving the Franchise? To where? If not, will you be improving the stadium and the facilities?
3. Do you approve of Instant Replay?
4. How would you improve the game of football?
5. Is Arena Football more fun to watch than the NFL? Would you be willing to enter an Arena Fantasy Football League?
6. How do you feel about the WNFL? Would there be a market in your city for a team?
7. Have you used drugs such as marijuana or steroids in the last 6 months? Why or why not? Do you approve of players using drugs to enhance their performance?
8. What kind of perks will you be giving your players, i.e. nightly buffets, weight room, prostitutes, cars, etc.?
9. Would you be willing to taunt other teams via E-mail if it helped your chances of making the playoffs?

THE TEAM(Back to Top)

NEW - A maximum of 20 players may be on the Active Roster at any given time. A maximum of 3 players may be on Injured Reserve at any given time. There is no minimum number of players required. Here is a little more detail regarding the different units.

THE ACTIVE ROSTER

The Active Roster consists of those players ready to play in any given week. Starting Line-ups must come from the Active Roster. The Active Roster can consist of any number of players from each of the positions. There is no requirement except each team must have at least one Coach on the Active Roster at all times. If a Coach becomes injured and is unable to start a given week, another Coach must be picked up to replace him. If a Coach has a bye week, the team can forgo starting a Coach that week.

INJURED RESERVE

Injured Reserve is limited to those players who are kept out of games due to injuries. A player may be placed on Injured Reserve at any time. A player must be removed from the Injured Reserve the week after he has come back, whether this is one week or eight weeks. Players are not allowed to be on Injured Reserve during the offseason. Defenses are not allowed on Injured Reserve.

HONORARY ROSTER

Each team will have an honorary roster of players on the team that have retired for various reasons. The Honorary roster will not count against the active roster, and players can be pulled from the Honorary roster by the team and placed onto the active roster. Only the Commissioner Dictator for Life can place players on the Honorary roster. For example, it is highly likely that if the Bam Morris Division Champion Ledbetter Leeches keep Robert Smith on their roster, the Commissioner will place him on the Honorary Roster. Coaches cannot be placed on the Honorary Roster until after Death.

THE DRAFT(Back to Top)

The yearly draft will take place on July 27, 2003 at 7:00pm Central Time.. The draft order will be from last year's final standings, last place to first place for every round. The draft will be a four round draft. By the Wednesday before the first game of the regular season, the teams must be cut down to the appropriate numbers, i.e. 20 players on the Active Roster and 3 on the Injured Reserve (if applicable).

LINEUPS(Back to Top)

Starting Line-Ups consist of 9 players of the following quantities:

1 QB
1 DEFENSE
1 COACH
1 KICKER

NEW - and any one of the following combinations traditionally used in the NFL:

2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE
2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE
2 RB, 3 WR
1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE
1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE
1 RB, 4 WR

Line-ups are due to the Commissioner a minimum of one hour before the first game starts for the week. All Line-ups must be sent on E-Mail. No Line-ups will be accepted over the phone. This is to avoid any confusion on who is starting for the week and who is not.

In past seasons, a number of lineups were submitted with illegal players. An illegal player is either a player currently on the Practice Squad or Injured Reserve, or is a player that does not fit into the generally allowed Lineup, i.e. a 3rd Running Back. In these cases, the illegal player will not be started and no replacement will be made. If the Commissioner receives the E-mail in time, he will E-mail the owner to give that owner a chance to correct his lineup. The follow-up E-mail is due a minimum of one hour before the first game of the week. There will be no exceptions to this rule.

TRANSACTIONS(Back to Top)

Transactions include picking up and dropping players, making trades, and placing someone on the Injured Reserve. All transactions must take place between Tuesday morning and Saturday morning. The only exception to this rule is for Thursday games. Then all transactions are due by Thursday morning.

PICKUPS/DROPS

All pickups and drops of players will be done in a systematic method. All pickups are done on E-Mail to GustavAn@altavista.com. Pickup order is in order of receiving E-mail on a daily basis, and then only one player is picked up at a time until everyone has gone. For example, three teams send in pickups on Tuesday, all wish to pick up two players. Each team will pick up one player before a team can pick up a second player. The official pickup time will be 10:00pm CT. This will be done on a daily basis beginning with Tuesday night and ending with Saturday night (or Thursday evening as mentioned above). Results will be sent out immediately. It is important to note that all pickups must be listed in order of importance, and a player may not be available that was requested. Players can be picked before all 14 regular season games.

Players may be picked up in the Preseason. Transactions in the Preseason are done every Monday morning in the order received, one player per team at a time. During the Preseason, there is a limit of 50 players on a roster. Please note that the Rosters must be cut to the appropriate maximums by the Wednesday preceding the first regular season game.

Players may also be picked before the three playoff games with the following three conditions: the team must be in the playoffs, the player cannot have played for any team during the regular season, and only one player can be picked up during the week. Players are not picked up after the Fantasy Championship Game or before the Preseason Draft.

TRADES

All trades are subject to approval by the Commissioner. Both teams involved in the trade must E-mail the Commissioner at GustavAn@altavista.com before the trade is official. If the Commissioner feels that a trade is very unfair, it will be brought before the other owners and voted upon. This is done only in very drastic circumstances, and most likely will not be used. Trades may take place between teams up until the first game of Week 11; after that, no trades may take place until after the League Championship

INJURED RESERVE

A player may be placed on or removed from the Injured Reserve during the regular transaction period. These transactions must be placed on E-Mail.

SCORING(Back to Top)

Scoring is done differently than in most leagues, using combinations of scoring, distance, and yardage, as well as unit performances such as in the case of the Defensive Unit. Here is a breakdown by position.

QUARTERBACKS/RUNNING BACKS/WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
1 point for every 15 yards passing
1 point for every 10 yards rushing
1 point for every 10 yards receiving
2 points for passing for a two-point conversion
2 points for rushing for a two-point conversion
2 points for receiving for a two-point conversion
4 points for passing for a touchdown of 39 yards or less
6 points for passing for a touchdown of 40 yards or more
6 points for rushing for a touchdown of 39 yards or less
6 points for receiving for a touchdown of 39 yards or less
9 points for rushing for a touchdown of 40 yards or more
9 points for receiving for a touchdown of 40 yards or more
-2 points for throwing an interception

KICKERS
1 point for every extra point
3 points for a field goal of 49 yards or less
5 points for a field goal of 50 yards or more

DEFENSE
1 point for allowing 80-99 rushing yards by the opponent
1 point for allowing 200-249 passing yards by the opponent
1 point for an interception
1 point for a sack
2 points for a safety
4 points for allowing 79 rushing yards or less by the opponent
4 points for allowing 199 passing yards or less by the opponent
5 points for causing a shutout by the other team
6 points for returning an interception for a touchdown
6 points for returning a fumble for a touchdown
6 points for returning a punt for a touchdown
6 points for returning a kickoff for a touchdown

COACH
5 points for a win
10 points for a win after losing by the end of the third quarter
-5 points for a loss
-10 points for a loss after winning by the end of the third quarter

In the Fantasy Football Keeper League, we will have no tie games. In the case of a tie game, the home team is the winner by default.

RULE CHANGES

Rule Changes may be made at any time. Please keep an open mind when it comes to rules. Suggestions are accepted at all times, but may not be implemented.

PLAYOFFS(Back to Top)

Six teams will make the playoffs on a yearly basis. Week Fourteen is the first round of the playoffs. Division Winners will have a bye for the first week of the playoffs. The winners will go on to the second week of the playoffs, Week Fifteen. to play the Division champions. Week Sixteen is the Championship Game. There is no 3rd place Game. Here are the Playoff seeds:

1st Seed: Top Division Winner
2nd Seed: Next Best Division Winner
NEW - 3rd Seed: Next Best Division Winner
4th Seed: Best Non Division Winner
5th Seed: Next Best Non Division Winner
6th Seed: Next Best Non Division Winner

Here are the tiebreakers for Division Winners with the same record, or for determining a Division Winner between teams with the same record.

1. Head to Head Record
2. Division Record
3. Points Scored
4. Home Record
5. Number of players on the Honorary Roster

Here are the tiebreakers for the Non-Division Winners with the same record:

1. Head to Head Record
2. Points Scored
3. Division Record
4. Home Record
5. Number of players on the Honorary Roster

DISPUTES(Back to Top)

Although this is a fairly extensive set of rules, there will always be something that is not covered within these guidelines. In these instances, the Commissioner will gather all of the necessary facts, discuss the matter, and get the opinion of at least two owners not involved in the dispute, and then make a ruling. This ruling is final and will be included in the next publishing of the rules. This ruling will also be sent to all of the owners with an official statement stating the decision and the reasons behind that decision.

In regards to disputes with players, the League does not condone any owners locking out players just because they want more money. If you are paying your players to perform well, then that is your loss.