2024 Rules

1. League Structure

a. Divisions: The league is divided into three 4-team divisions: East, Central, and West Divisions.

b. Owner Assignments: Division assignments are based on the draft order. East Division -- #1, #4, #7, #10. Central Division -- #2, #5, #8, #11. West Division -- #3, #6, #9, #12.

(1) East Division: Slam Dunk (1), Garfunks (4), Steel Curtain (7) and Rednecks (10).

(2) Central Division: Banana Peelers (2), Bandits (5), BillieJax (8) and Breeze (11).

(3) West Division: Deer Slayers (3), Evictors (6), Dominators (9) and TD Club (12).

c. Division Standings: Standings within each division will be determined by the following order: (1) Overall win-loss percentage, (2) Division win-loss percentage, (3) Head-to-Head competition, (4) Total points scored.

2. League Schedule

a. Game Schedule: The SFFL regular season schedule will consist of 14 games played through the first 14 weeks of the NFL season. Our playoffs will be during NFL Weeks 15-17. We do not play during the NFL Week 18.

(1) Double-Header Games: The 2023 season will NOT include any double-header games.

(2) Division Games: There will be six games played against teams within the same division, playing each opponent twice times.

(3) Inter-Division Games: There will be eight games played against teams within the other two divisions, playing the eight opponents once.

b. Scheduled Game: An SFFL scheduled game begins at the kick-off of the first NFL game each week. Sometimes this will be Thursday and sometimes this will be Sunday. An SFFL scheduled game is over at the end of the last NFL game each week. Usually this is Monday night’s NFL.

c. Season: A complete SFFL season begins each year with the Spring Owners' Meeting ebruary and ends in December, with the Week 17 Championship Round. The "off-season" will run from the Spring Owners' Meeting until Draft day. The "regular season" will start on Draft Day and end with the Week 17 Championship Round.

d. Owner’s Meeting: In the Spring of each year, owners will meet to pull the next season's drat order, discuss proposed rules changes, and lessons learned from the previous season.

(1) Any proposed rule changes during the owners' meeting requires majority vote of those in attendance.

(2) Owners not able to attend the meeting may submit topics for discussion to the commissioner. The owner's concern will be discussed by attendees, and if a rule vote is determined necessary a vote will be conducted. However, an absentee vote does not count.

e. Downtime: There is no activity between the Week 17 Championship Round and the Spring Owners' Meeting. The "off season" is a time minimal to no league activity.

(1) Off Season: This is the time used by the commissioner to update the SFFL web site with statistics, upcoming season's game schedule, draft board and revised rules (if applicable). Therefore, the only activity is beginning draft preparations by the owners.

(2) August: Keeper Players (if applicable) are announced on July 31st and draft day normally takes place in late August. Therefore there is no activity to provide time for final draft preparation.

3. Playoff Structure

All teams will be in a two-tier playoff system to determine the teams' odds for the next season’s lottery draft. Playoffs will be during NFL Weeks 15-17. If necessary to determine a tie breaker in a playoff game, starting players will be scored according to "partial points" (see paragraph 13). If a tie still exists, all players from bench will be counted, utilizing partial points where applicable.

a. Tier I – Smokin Bowl: This is the road to the championship. Everyone wants to belong to Tier I, but only six teams will participate.

(1) Tier I Teams: Tier I consists of the three division winners and three wild card teams. The wild card teams will be determined using the highest winning percentage from the remaining nine teams; with ties determined by (1) head-to-head competition and (2) total fantasy points. The top three spots are awarded the wild card.

(2) Tier I Seeds: Once these six teams are determined, they will be seeded in order as 1-6 by the following order: (1) highest winning percentage (2) head-to-head competition (3) total fantasy points.

b. Tier II- Toilet Bowl: After the six teams in Tier I are determined, the remaining six teams will be seeded as 7-12. The teams will be seeded by the following order: (1) highest winning percentage (2) head-to-head competition (3) total fantasy points.

c. Playoff Rounds: Round 1 played during Week 15. Round 2 played during Week 16. Round 3 played during Week 17 .

4. Drafting Process

a. Draft Type: We use the NBA style “Lottery Draft” to determine the draft order for a serpentine draft. Team names are placed in a bowl and drawn to determine the order. The first team drawn is awarded the first pick and on down the line (in order) until all positions are filled.

(1) The results of the previous season’s playoff rounds determine how many times each team is placed in the bowl for the lottery drawing that is conducted for the upcoming season. There are a total of 78 chances in the existing 12-team league. Once your team is drawn, it is not counted again if redrawn.

1st place finish ... in bowl 1 time.

2nd place finish ... in bowl 11 times.

3rd place finish ... in bowl 9 times.

4th place finish ...in bowl 5 times.

5th place finish ... in bowl 7 times.

6th place finish ... in bowl 3 times.

7th place finish ... in bowl 12 times.

8th place finish ... in bowl 6 times.

9th place finish ... in bowl 10 times.

10th place finish ... in bowl 4 times.

11th place finish ... in bowl 8 times.

12th place finish ... in bowl 2 times.

(2) The upcoming season’s draft order will be drawn during the Spring Owners' Meeting that followed the previous season.

b. Drafting Roster: Owners must draft eight defensive players and the rest of your roster must be filled with offensive players (14) for a total of 22 players.

c. Draft Trades: Trading draft picks is not allowed at any time.

5. Draft Day

Draft Day is scheduled for Saturday August 23rd @ 8:00am. It will be held at Pineville City Hall located at 910 Main Street in Pineville.

a. Drafting Rounds: The draft will consist of 22-rounds to fill the 22-man roster. Regardless of the draft size, the number of rounds must be even. This way the first and last picks both get to draft the same number of times as #1 in a round.

b. Draft Day Transactions:

(1) Immediately after the draft you can begin to make transactions. Trades on draft day are still subject to be reviewed by the Trade Committee.

(2) If transaction limits are in place, owners are allowed one free transaction on draft day (and draft day only.) This includes a transaction for free agent pickup or a trade. The deadline for draft day transactions is Midnight.

c. Time Limit: Each team owner will have three minutes on the clock to determine selection when it is their turn.

(1) Once the draft pick has been announced, the selection is final for that round. So be careful not to inadvertently name the wrong player.

(2) If no player name is announced within the time allotted then the pick for that round is forfeited and the owner will have to fill that spot from the free agent pool when the entire draft is complete. Picking up a free agent, in this case, will not cost a transaction penalty (if applicable).

d. Draft Day Attendance: Attendance on draft day is not required for league participation, but is highly recommended. If an owner cannot attend the draft or know they will be late, you need to turn your picks into the commissioner before draft day.

(1) The preferred option for owners not able to attend the draft is to rank players for each position and then indicate which position is desired for each round. The commissioner will select next available player from the submitted list for that position each round. When ranking players by position, make sure you have enough of them listed to cover everyone's roster. For example, we have 12 teams so you will want to rank at least 24 QBs.

(2) It is not acceptable to participate in the draft via conference call, or through text messaging. This is simply too much trouble for those who do attend, very distracting and slows down the draft process tremendously.

(3) If owner(s), not attending draft, do not provide their desired picks, the draft attendees will select players for them. There is absolutely no guarantee you will get the best available player, because we will not utilize a standard, but try to come to a consensus on team need. In fact, you will most likely not like your team. However, the commissioner will attempt to ensure your picks are reasonable for each round.

6. Rosters

Your active roster can contain no more than 22 players at anytime. You may choose to have less than 22. The number of players at each position is left up to the owner’s discretion except you cannot maintain more than 14 offensive players or 8 defensive players.

a. Active Roster Makeup: The offensive players are defined as: quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and placekicker. The defensive players are defined as: defensive lineman, linebacker, defensive back, edge rusher (optional) and defense/special teams.

(1) If there is a doubt as to which position a player is assigned on your roster (ie, RB vs WR or LB vs DL), the determining authority will be the actual NFL team roster according to that team’s website or at nfl.com. If the two sources are different, the owner has the option to choose which roster spot will be used.

(2) Once a position is chosen, the owner cannot change it unless both sources match.

b. Active Players: This is your starting lineup each week. Only they can earn you points.

c. Reserve Players: These are the players on your roster that are not starting. They do not earn you points unless there is a tie in the playoff rounds.

d. Inactive Reserve (IR): In addition to your active roster, there will be two (2) IR spots.

(1) Eligibility: Not just any player can be placed on the IR list. There are eligibility criteria that must be met.

(a) Any player on the team's injury report who is inactivated, prior to kickoff, for the upcoming game.

(b) Any player on suspension for any length of time, for any reason.

(d) Any player who is in "transition" between NFL teams as a result of being cut.

(e) Any player who is on his NFL team’s injured reserve list.

(f) If a player is hurt during his game, because of time sensitivity, the owner may immediately place that player on IR without having to wait for the next team injury report. However, if the injury initially cannot be verified by a reputable written source, the transaction is reversed (This may affect subsequent transactions as well by other teams.) If it is later determined the player is not eligible for IR by the commissioner (ie team injury report), the removal policy is in place.

(g) Players in "retirement" status are not eligible to be picked up and placed on IR.

(h) Any player on the team's active roster, but is inactive for any reason such as a self-proclaimed sabbatical.

(i) Any player listed as "out" on the team's injury report.

(2) Transaction Cost: Making a roster move as a result of placing/removing a player to/from the IR may or may not cost a transaction.

(a) If a transaction limit is in place, it does not cost a transaction to place/remove a player to/from the IR.

(b) If a transaction limit is in place, one transaction will be charged for a free agent pickup to fill a roster spot vacated by moving a player to IR. However, the owner is not required to fill a roster spot vacated by moving a player to IR.

(c) As long as you have a spot available on IR, you can pick up an eligible waiver wire/free agent player and immediately place on IR without first going to the active roster. However, doing so will cost you a transaction (if limits are in place). Remember if a player is already on your active roster, it does not cost a transaction to move him to IR.

(3) Removal: Players must be removed from the IR list by the deadline if it is discovered they are no longer deemed eligible. Any team owner can notify commissioner of an infraction.

(a) If a player is actually injured while on IR for a reason other than an injury (ie suspension, etc), that player does not have to be removed from IR immediately following activation. The owner can choose to wait until the team's weekly injury report to see if the player remains eligible for IR based on the injury status. The removal policy is then in place if it is determined the player is not eligible for IR.

(b) Once it is determined by the commissioner (using any reputable NFL/Fantasy Football source) that a player is no longer eligible to be listed on IR, the commissioner will notify the owner and the owner has until Midnight on the Tuesday following the player’s game to remove him from IR. If the owner fails to do so, the player will automatically be cut from the roster.

(c) If an NFL team activates a player between their game and the Tuesday Midnight deadline, the owner has until the deadline to remove the player from IR. If an NFL team activates a player after our Tuesday Midnight deadline and before the team's next game, the owner has until kickoff to remove the player from IR.

(d) If the deadline has passed before the commissioner is aware of an infraction, then the commissioner may remove the player from the owner’s roster without notification. Therefore, it is the owner’s responsibility to keep up with his own players on his own IR.

(e) Players may be removed from your IR and cut directly from the IR list. They are not required to first be on the active roster before a cut is made.

7. Franchise/Keeper Players

a. Franchise Players: We will not be using Franchise Players for the 2023 season. However , if/when in use, players drafted within the first two rounds of the draft will be designated as Franchise Players. Franchise Players are ineligible for trade or release at any time during the season, unless they are out for the season due to injury or any other reason.

b. Keeper Players: It is understood that we will automatically have Keeper Players each year, unless there is a turnover of three or more owners; 2024 is a year Keeper Players is in use. If/when in use, these are players protected on your roster from season-to-season to guarantee they are on your roster at the start of the next season. When used we will have no more than two Keeper Players named to enter the draft with. However, owners may choose to name only one Keeper Player or have none. They can be any position the owner chooses.

(1) Deadline: The yearly deadline for owners to announce the Keeper Players’ from their roster is July 31st at midnight. Therefore, teams have until the deadline to make any Keeper changes. All remaining players will be returned to the draft pool for the upcoming season.

(2) Notification: Owners must use SFFL Trash Talk to announce their Keeper Players. If owners are not able to post to Trash Talk, they can request anyone else to post for them. However, it is ultimately the owners’ responsibility to ensure Keeper Players are posted prior to the deadline.

(3) Restrictions: The maximum number of years that any player can consecutively be named as a "Keeper" is one. Keeper Players must be chosen from the owners’ roster as of Week 17 of the NFL season. Once the regular season starts, there are no restrictions. Keeper Players are eligible for trade or release just like any other player. If a Keeper Player ends up on a different team at the end of the season, the "Keeper" status is carried over and therefore, that player is not eligible to be a "Keeper" on the new team.

(4) Replacement: There are a few situations in which an owner may replace a Keeper Player before the draft begins: (1) injured, (2) suspended, (3) retires, (4) holding out (5) inactive for any reason or (5) new team. The replacement player must be announced prior to the start of draft and must come from the owner's roster as of Week 17 of the NFL season. The original Keeper Player will be returned to the draft pool.

(5) Drafting with Keeper Players: After naming their Keeper Player(s), the owner will forfeit the pick for the round those players were drafted the previous year…regardless of who drafted that player. For example, let’s say an owner names his Keepers as RB-Jamaal Charles and QB-Andrew Luck to carry over from his roster. The previous year Charles was a 2nd round pick and Luck was a 4th round pick. The owner’s 2nd round pick for the current draft will be Charles and owner’s 4th round pick will be Luck.

(a) If the owner names an undrafted player as Keeper, then it is the round 22 pick that is forfeited. If an owner names two Keeper Players that were undrafted, then the owner forfeits his picks for the last two rounds.

(b) Owners cannot name two Keeper Players that were drafted in the same round of the previous year’s draft, because the owner only has one draft pick per round.

(6) Penalty: If an owner fails to announce Keeper Players before the deadline, they lose the opportunity to do so and must return their entire roster to the draft pool. The owner can still participate in the upcoming draft as normal.

(7) Owner Turnover: If there are three or more new owners for an upcoming season, Keeper Players will not be used and all players from everyone’s roster will be returned to the draft pool. However, if there is a turnover of only two owners, we will flip a coin to determine team inheritance.

8. Transaction Basics

Roster moves are considered a transaction. This includes trades, waiver wire claims, and free agent pick ups. Transactions can be made at any time (except during a freeze). When posted to "Trash Talk" a transaction is considered a final decision by participating owner(s) and cannot be reversed unless a pending trade is disapproved by the Trade Committee.

a. Notification: When announcing transactions, Trash Talk is the only "official" notification for team owners. Once posted, the transaction is considered final, unless it is pending for a trade.

(1) Commissioner will not accept phone calls, texts or email requests as the "final" notification. If you wish to make a transaction, but do not have access to Trash Talk, you may contact any league owner (including commissioner) to request assistance with posting to Trash Talk as soon as possible. However, it matters not when you make a request. What only matters, is when the transaction is posted to Trash Talk.

(2) The Transaction Web Page is used by the commissioner to record a history of transactions made for record keeping only.

b. Roster Freeze: All owners must enter the playoff rounds with their existing roster as of Week #14. Therefore, rosters are frozen at the kickoff of Round 1 games on Thursday night’s NFL game, for Week #15. At this time no transactions are allowed until the next year’s draft.

(1) Roster Freeze is waived during the playoffs if an owner has at least two players in a position on their active roster for which he finds him/herself with no eligible player to place in the starting lineup. That owner may make a transaction to fill the starting lineup (if there is no transaction limit in place.) However, if an owner carries only one Kicker (for example) into the playoffs and that Kicker gets hurt...the roster freeze will remain in place.

(2) If an owner chooses to not start an eligible player for a Thursday or Saturday game and then later is in position not able to complete a lineup on Sunday for some reason as a result, the Roster Freeze will not be waived.

(3) If a transaction limit is in place, the owner must have an available transaction to waive the roster freeze in order to complete the starting lineup. However, if no transaction is available, owners will not be allowed one.

c. Transaction Limit: There is no transaction limit in place for the 2024 season. However, when in use, each player you pick up as a result of a transaction will count as one. This does not apply to players you release.

9. Trading Players

A transaction made between two or more team owners is considered a trade. Any number of players and owners can be involved in a trade. Owners can trade offense-defense, offense-offense, or defense-defense. Once you pick up a player in a trade you must keep him on your roster through the end of that player’s next game.

a. Trade Committee: A Trade Committee has been established to oversee trades to help ensure equity. The committee is made up of five owners. Three permanent members of the Trade Committee are the founders: Stephen Coody, David Rutherford, and Chris Workman. The other two members of the committee will be selected from the remaining owners each year during the annual owners meeting. For the 2025 season the two selected were Kenneth Coody and Chris Johnson.

b. Pending Trades: All trades will be placed in pending status for 24-hours following the date/time stamp it is posted to Trash Talk by either owner involved. This provides opportunity for review by all league owners. After the 24-hours, trade is considered “official” if not challenged. You cannot start any player involved in a trade while a trade is in pending status. Therefore, owners should consider the 24-hour pending time when initiating a trade near the start of the players’ scheduled game.

c. Challenging a Trade: Trades will be placed in pending status to allow opportunity for league owners to challenge a trade they feel is unfair. Owners wishing to challenge a trade will need to contact a member of the Trade Committee with a justification ... or post your challenge in Trash Talk.

(1) Trade Committee will review the trade and take into consideration the challenger’s justification. The committee will also consider trade equity for all the teams involved and competitive balance for the league. For a trade that is challenged to be allowed, it must pass committee by majority vote.

(2) The Trade Committee does not have to wait for a challenge from a league owner. If any member of the committee feels a trade is not fair, the committee can be convened for discussion and vote.

d. Renegotiated Trades: A renegotiated trade is one that includes any of the previous players offered in the first trade attempt.

(1) If a trade is renegotiated after Trade Committee review or during pending status, there will be another 24-hour period for league owners to review and challenge.

(2) If a trade made at the trade deadline is disapproved by the Trade Committee, there is no opportunity for renegotiating. Therefore, during Week #10 of the SFFL season owners need to consider the 24-hour pending period.

e. Trade Results: If as the result of a trade, your roster does not contain 22 players you may have to make additional adjustments to your roster.

(1) If your roster contains more than 22 players, you must release players to get back to 22. This applies to both your offense or defensive sides of your roster. If you end up with more than 14 offensive or 8 defensive players you must release players to get back to the allotted number.

(2) If your roster contains less than 22 players, you have the option to use transactions for picking up free agents to get back to 22. This applies to both your offense or defensive sides of your roster. If you end up with less than 14 offensive or 8 defensive players you have the option to use transactions.

(3) You cannot claim a free agent to fill a roster spot that is vacated as a result of a trade, while a trade is in pending status. However, if a trade requires you to drop a player (ie, 2 for 1 trade), that player must be named while the trade is in pending status or the trade will continue to be “pending” until the dropped player is named.

f. Trade Restrictions:

(1) Trading can begin immediately following the draft with the deadline during the regular season at Week #10 of the SFFL schedule. This is the end of Monday night’s NFL game.

(2) Trades must be submitted to “Trash Talk” to be official.

(3) Trading draft picks is not allowed at any time.

(4) If you trade a player away during the regular season, you cannot get him back, via trade, during the regular season.

(5) If transaction limits are in place, owners must have transactions available to make a trade with another owner.

(6) If the league has 16 or more owners, it will be divided into two conferences with two different drafts. Therefore, trades cannot be made across conferences to prevent a player from being in the same conference on two different teams.

10. Waiver Wire

The process used to make a released player available to other team owners is called waivers. A team owner may choose to release a player at any time for any reason. The only exceptions are Franchise Players (if applicable).

a. Waiver Process: Owners are responsible for claiming a player from the waiver wire using the Trash Talk Web Page. If more than one owner wants the same player, priority will be given according to the Waiver Wire List.

(1) A player is on waiver wire for 48-hours after the date/time stamp posted to Trash Talk. After the 48-hours, the commissioner will resolve any waiver wire claims. If a released player is not picked up in the waiver process, he becomes available as a free agent.

(2) If your roster is full you will have to decide which player to release in order to make room for the waiver wire pickup. The released player must be announced at the same time you claim the player on waivers, or else the waiver claim is invalid.

(3) Once you pick up a player from the waiver wire, you must keep him on your roster through the end of that player’s next game.

b. Waiver Wire List: Commissioner will maintain a waiver wire list throughout the year and located on the SFFL home page on the website via the Facebook Feed.

(1) Following Week 1, the teams will be ranked and re-ranked each week in order beginning with: (1) team with lowest number of successful claims, (2) team with the worst winning percentage and (3) team with lowest points scored.

(3) Once you pick up a player from the waiver wire, you will rotate down the list and be inserted at the appropriate spot.

c. Waiver Restriction: A released player cannot be picked up by the releasing team until after that player clears waivers, which is 48-hours after the player is released.

11. Free Agency

Any player who is neither not on a roster, nor on waivers is considered a free agent. You can pick up a free agent any time during the season, except during a roster freeze.

a. Free agency transactions will be made on a “first come – first serve” basis. The first owner to post transaction to Trash Talk will get the player.

b. If your roster is full you will have to decide which player to release in order to make room for the free agent. The released player must be announced at the same time as the free agent pickup for the transaction to be valid.

c. Once you pick up a free agent, you must keep him on your roster through the end of that player’s next game. This allows an owner to pick up a player on Saturday and drop him immediately after his game on Sunday. If a free agent is picked up during his game, that game is not considered in making the determination when he is eligible to release. You do not have to utilize him as an active player.

d. Players drafted on draft day are considered "draftees", not free agents. Therefore, you do not have to wait until their first game to remove them from your roster. You can release a "draftee" to pick up a free agent before the kickoff of Week #1.

e. Free Agents can no longer be picked up at the kickoff of the Thursday NFL game in Week #15. This is the start of the roster freeze.

12. Starting Lineups

The starting lineup is your active players for the upcoming game. Only your starting lineup can earn points for the game. The only exception is during the playoffs, when your whole roster counts to resolve a tied score.

a. Lineup Posting: Once your lineup is initially posted to Trash Talk for the Week 1 game, you will not have to resubmit the entire lineup each week (but you can). Your lineup will automatically carry over from one week to the next, unless a change is submitted on Trash Talk.

b. Lineup Deadline: You must post any lineup changes on Trash Talk before start time of each players' game. Commissioner will not be held responsible for policing this game time deadline. That responsibility will ultimately fall to the weekly opponents. However, any owner may notify commission of rule infraction. If the commissioner determines a lineup submission missed the deadline, the lineup position will revert back to the previous week’s lineup. This may have a “domino” effect and affect more than one player, or expose your lineup to potential penalty points.

c. Lineup Clarity: Clarity is very important when submitting lineups. Take time to proof read your entry before hitting the “submit” button on Trash Talk. Lineup submissions must be clearly understood.

(1) Do not leave any doubts as to what the intent is. If a submission is determined to be inconclusive, the position in question will be considered invalid and revert back to the previous week’s lineup. Sometimes this may have a “domino” effect and affect more than one player or expose your lineup to potential penalty points.

(2) If noticed by the commissioner, an attempt will be made to contact owner to ensure they are aware of the situation. Hopefully, the owner will have time to correct the error before game time deadline or else there is a potential for penalty points.

d. Lineup Freeze: All players’ status is "frozen" at their individual game time. Therefore, no lineup changes can be made for any player once his game starts. This also means you cannot make a player transaction if that player is in your starting lineup (except for injury), until after the player's game ends.

(1) Let's say you have Joe Flacco in your lineup as starting QB from the previous week's game and he is scheduled to play on Thursday. At game time Flacco automatically becomes your starting QB if you have not submitted a replacement.

(2) Let's say you intend to start Flacco for Thursday’s game, but he was on the bench during the previous week. At game time Flacco is frozen and cannot be placed in the lineup, if he hasn't already been.

(3) Let's say you started RB-Ezekiel Elliott and after the kickoff of his game you decide to trade him or release him. The transaction cannot be posted to Trash Talk until after his game and is considered invalid if posted too early.

e. Lineup Positions: The starting lineup will consist of:

(1) OFFENSE: 1-Quarterback (QB), 2-Running Backs (RB), 2-Wide Receivers (WR), 1-Offensive Flex Player (OFX), 1-Tight End (TE), and 1-Place Kicker (PK). The Offensive Flex Player must be either a RB or WR.

(2) DEFENSE: 1-Defensive Lineman (DL), 1-Linebacker (LB), 1-Defensive Back (DB), 1-Defensive Flex Player (DFX) and 1-Team Defense/Special Team (DST).

(3) Lineup Requirement: All lineup positions are required to be filled each week. The one exception is Offensive Flex Player, because sometimes circumstances may prevent an Offensive Flex Player from being inserted into your lineup. However, it is highly recommended that you start an Offensive Flex Player each week if at all possible. If your lineup is not complete you will be penalized, unless in the playoff rounds (See paragraph 13b).

(4) Double-Header Lineups: During weeks with double-header games (if applicable), you only need to submit one lineup. That one lineup will be used against both opponents.

f. Offensive Flex (OFX) Player: The purpose of the Offensive Flex Player is to soften the blow of a starting RB or WR who does not play after being a game time decision for any reason, gets injured during a game, or simply has a terrible day.

(1) OFX Score: Flex player points will only count if he scores higher than a starting RB or WR; essentially replacing that starter’s score. Flex player points can only replace the score of one player.

(2) OFX Restrictions: Flex player points cannot replace a starter who is on “Bye”, listed on “PUP”, listed on “IR”, listed as “Out” on the NFL.com injury report, serving suspension, cut from his team’s roster, or "Holding Out" due to contract talks. However, Flex player may be able to replace one of the remaining eligible players’ points.

g. Defensive Flex (DFX) Player: The purpose of the Defensive Flex Player is to allow owners the opportunity to start an Edge Rusher, if they so choose. This is because of the confusion the defensive position has caused.

(1) Edge Rusher Definition: The Edge Rusher is defined as any player listed as "Edge" on either their NFL Team website or nfl.com. If the player is listed as "Edge" on both sources, you have no choice but to use that player at the "Edge" position. However, you do have a choice if the two sources are not the same. See paragraph 6a(1)(2).

(2) DFX Points: The Defensive Flex Player lineup position points do count and it is a required lineup position to fill...unlike the Offensive Flex Player.

(3) DFX Restrictions: The Defensive Flex Player lineup position may be filled by any defensive IDP you have on your roster (except Team Defense). The EDGE player can only be inserted into your lineup in the Defensive Flex position.

13. Scoring

Scoring is calculated first by tallying the individual points and then adding them together to obtain your team score.

a. Validation: The league’s official scoring source is the "dummy league" set up on Yahoo Fantasy Football to keep track of points. The commissioner will post scores to the Lineup Page and other related web pages as soon as possible.

(1) Team owners are ultimately responsible for verifying their own points and notifying commissioner of mistakes posted to the web site. However, any owner may notify commissioner of mistakes on any lineup. It is highly recommended that team owners verify points of opponents each week.

(2) Owners have the opportunity to submit corrections until the start of the following SFFL scheduled game. At that time points are considered final.

(3) There is a "dummy league" set up on Yahoo.com Fantasy Football so points can be tallied automatically for each player. Link is in the "Resources" menu tab on the website and is also pinned to the top of the Facebook Feed. The login email is: smokinffl@yahoo.com. The password is: sffl2005

b. Penalty Points:

(1) Penalty points will be assessed in the following circumstances.

(a) If a transaction limit is not in place during the season or playoffs, and an owner starts a player who is on "bye", listed on “IR” or “PUP”, serving suspension, cut from his team’s roster or "holding out" for contract talks, and that owner has an eligible player on their roster…they will be penalized. The Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the offending player’s points.

(b) Only if a transaction limit is in place...During the season or playoffs, if an owner starts a player who is on "bye", llisted on “IR” or “PUP”, serving suspension, cut from his team’s roster, or "holding out" for contract talks, and that owner has available transactions with no other eligible player on their roster…they will be penalized. The Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the offending player’s points.

(c) Only if a transaction limit is in place...During the season or playoffs, if an owner finds him/herself with no eligible player on their roster to place into lineup at any position and does have a transaction available, a transaction must be used to complete the lineup. If a transaction is available in this circumstance and not used, the owner will be penalized and the Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the offending player’s points.

(d) Except for Flex, all starting lineup positions are required. Therefore, if during the season or playoffs a starting spot is left vacant, with transactions or eligible players available…penalty points will be assessed.

(2) Penalty points will not be assessed in the following circumstances.

(a) Since Flex Player is the only position in the starting lineup not required, no penalty points will be assessed if it is left blank.

(b) Only if a transaction limit is in place...If at any time during the season or playoffs an owner finds him/herself with no eligible player on the roster to place in lineup at any position and does not have transactions available to pick up a free agent, the owner will not be penalized. The owner will simply receive zero(0) points for the vacant lineup spot. The Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the vacant lineup position.

(c) If a transaction limit is not in place...and at any time during the playoffs an owner finds him/herself with no eligible player on the roster because they chose to only carry one player at a position, the owner will not be penalized. The owner will simply receive zero (0) points for the vacant lineup spot. The Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the vacant lineup position.

(d) If a transaction limit is not in place ... If at any time during the season or playoff an owner chooses to not start an eligible player for a Thursday or Saturday game and then later is in position not able to complete a lineup on Sunday, due to the sudden status change of other players at the same position, penalty points will not be assessed. The owner will simply receive zero (0) points for the vacant lineup spot. The Flex Player points for that game cannot cover the vacant lineup position.

(e) Fantasy Football is definitely not more important than family. Therefore, if an owner or his/her family member is incapacitated, in the hospital, or passes away the commissioner will attempt to take necessary eligible steps to ensure a complete lineup is submitted. The owner will not be held liable and penalty points will not be assessed.

(3) Penalty points will be assessed in the following amounts.

(a) The first offense will result in 30 penalty points being subtracted from the team’s total score for that game. Each subsequent offense will result in an increase of 30 penalty points (ie, 30, 60, 90, etc.).

(b) Beginning with the third offense, and each time penalty points are assessed after, the other league owners will conduct a vote whether or not to terminate the offending owner.

(4) Regardless of the number of infractions in any given week, penalty points will only be assessed once.

c. Partial Points: Only if there is a tie during the regular season or the playoffs, Partial Points will be counted from the starting lineup to break the tie. If during a regular season game, after Partial Points are counted and a tie still exists the game will be considered tied. However, if this happens during the playoffs, points from all bench players will be added to the score utilizing Partial Points where applicable.

(1) Partial Points only apply to passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, and Special Teams return yards. Therefore, Place Kickers, Team Defense, and Individual Defensive Players do not earn Partial Points.

(2) Another term for Partial Points is "Fractional Points". A player who gains 35 yards rushing/receiving will earn 3.5-points, instead of the usual 3-points. If a player gains 335 yards passing, instead of usual 16-points, the player will earn 16.8-points (actual math is 16.75, but will be rounded to the nearest tenth.

14. Offensive Points

Offensive points are based on statistics of the following positions: QBs, RBs, WRs, FXs, TEs, and PKs. If during play an offensive unit becomes the defense due to ball changing hands as the result of a turnover, offensive players may be awarded IDP points.

a. Yards: 1-point for every ten yards rushing or receiving and 1-point for every twenty yards passing; yards will not be rounded up.

b. Touchdowns: 6-points for every touchdown; whether it is rushing, passing, receiving or an offensive fumble recovery.

c. Conversions: 2-points for every rushed, passed, or received conversion after touchdown. 1-point for every kicked conversion after touchdown.

d. Field Goals: 0-39 yards … 3-points, 40-49 yards … 4-points, 50-59 yards … 5-points.

e. Turnovers: Minus 2-points for every interception thrown or fumble lost.

f. Bonus Points: 1-point for every five rushing attempts. 1-point for every reception. 1-point for every five pass completions thrown.

15. Defensive Points

Defensive points are based on the statistics of the following positions: Team Defense, Special Teams, DL, LB, DB and Edge Rusher (if you choose to have one).

a. Team Defense: Points will be awarded to the team defense in the following categories:

(1) Touchdowns: 6-points for every defensive touchdown regardless of how it was achieved.

(2) Turnovers: 2-points for every interception, fumble recovery and safety.

(3) Sacks: 2 points for every sack.

(4) Points Allowed: 0 points allowed … 12-points, 1-6 points allowed … 10-points, 7-13 points allowed… 8-points, 14-20 points allowed … 6-points, 21-27 points allowed … 4-points, 28-34 points allowed … 2-points, 35+ points allowed … 0-points.

(5) Yards Allowed: 0-99 yards allowed ... 10-points, 100-199 yards allowed ... 8-points, 200-299 yards allowed ... 6-points, 300-399 yards allowed ... 4-points, 400-499 yards allowed ... 2-points, 500+ yards allowed … 0-points.

b. Special Teams: Special Teams points are not awarded to individual players whether they are on the defensive or offensive side of your roster. Points will be awarded to special teams in the following categories.

(1) Touchdowns: 6-points for every special teams touchdown regardless of how it was achieved.

(2) Blocked Kicks: 2-points for every blocked field goal, blocked XP conversion, and blocked punt.

(3) Return Yards: 1-point for every 20 yards of combined kickoff and punt return yards; yards will not be rounded up.

c. Individual Defensive Players: IDPs may be rewarded offensive players points for offensive plays. For example, a DL that is lined up as a TE/RB or a DB that is lined up as a WR. Points will be awarded to DL, LB, DB and DFX in the following categories.

(1) Tackles: 2-point for every tackle; 1-point for every assisted tackle.

(2) Passes Defended: 2-point for every pass defended.

(3) Sacks: 3-points for every sack; 1-point for every half sack.

(4) Turnovers: Forced fumble ... 3-points, recovered fumble ... 3-points, interception ... 3-points, safety ... 3-points.

(5) Touchdowns: 6-points for every defensive touchdown.

16. Resignations

a. Owner Resignation: If a team owner resigns during the year, we will look for a replacement owner until the beginning of Week 8 (first half of season). After that we will not consider replacing that owner until after the season ends, during the Spring Owners' Meeting.

(1) If a new owner is found, they will inherit the team of the resigning owner and finish out the season. However, if no new owner is found, the resigned team roster is "Frozen." There will be no transactions allowed by this team for the remainder of the season. One exception is if there is a circumstance in which the team cannot complete a starting lineup, minimal transactions are allowed, only as necessary to ensure a lineup is complete to avoid penalty points.

(2) Without a new owner, the commissioner will continue to submit the best possible lineup each week for that team for the remainder of the season. If the commissioner is that team's opponent anyone else may post its lineup, by contacting the commissioner. This team is not eligible for Tier I playoff spots. However, with a new owner the team is eligible.

b. Replacement Process: The following process will take place to replace an owner who has resigned. Owner will be replaced at the start of January Owners' Meeting.

(1) The commissioner will contact all owners to obtain nominations; owners can only nominate one person.

(2) League owners will vote on the replacement. If no nominee receives more than half of the votes, then the top 2 nominees will be voted on in a "run-off". Voting will take place by secret ballot.

(3) The replacement owner will inherit the team and fill the draft spot of the resigned team for the upcoming season.

17. Terminations

a. Owner Termination: If any team owner feels another owner is not actively participating, he may (confidentially) make a motion to the commissioner to terminate the other owner’s team. The commissioner will evaluate the situation and if warranted will search for a team owner to second the motion, then call for a termination vote.

(1) Terminations must be approved by a clear majority vote. The team being considered for termination doesn’t get to vote. All votes will remain confidential.

(2) If termination is approved prior to the start of Week 8 (first half of the season), we will attempt to find a replacement owner to inherit the team. After that we will not consider replacing that owner until after the season ends, during the Spring Owners' Meeting.

(3) If a new owner is found, they will inherit the team of the terminated owner and finish out the season. However, if no new owner is found, the terminated team roster is "Frozen." There will be no transactions allowed by this team for the remainder of the season. One exception is if there is a circumstance in which the team cannot complete a starting lineup, minimal transactions are allowed, only as necessary to ensure a lineup is complete to avoid penalty points.

(4) Without a new owner, the commissioner will continue to submit the best possible lineup each week for that team for the remainder of the season. If the commissioner is that team's opponent, anyone else may post its lineup, by contacting the commissioner. This team is not eligible for Tier I playoff spots. However, with a new owner the team is eligible.

b. Replacement Process: The following process will take place to replace an owner who is terminated.

(1) The commissioner will contact all owners to obtain nominations; owners can only nominate one person.

(2) League owners will vote on the replacement. If no nominee receives more than half of the votes, then the top 2 nominees will be voted on in a "run-off". Voting will take place by secret ballot.

(3) The replacement owner will inherit the team and fill the draft spot of the terminated team for the upcoming season.

18. League Expansion/Contraction

League expansion or contraction must be approved by clear majority vote of owners in attendance at annual owners’ meeting; no tie vote counts. The league will only expand or contract by an even number of teams (ie, 2, 4,etc).

a. Expansion: If expansion is approved, results of previous year playoffs which had determined draft order for upcoming year will be thrown out. There will be a new random draw to determine the new draft order. All teams will have the same odds…one chance. There must be at least four team owners present at the new draft drawing.

(1) Expansion Keeper Players: If keeper players were used the previous season, they are all placed back into the draft pool for the upcoming expansion year.

(2) Expansion Process. The following process will take place to determine who the expansion owners are.

(a) First the expansion vote will take place during the Spring Owners' Meeting, to determine if expansion will take place. Then the owners will vote on how many teams to expand the league by, and finally the new draft order will be drawn.

(b) A deadline date of May 31st will be set for current owners to find new owners for the expansion. If the required number of new owners is not found by the deadline, league expansion will not take place. In this case, an emergency draft re-draw will take place with a minimum of three owners and Keeper Players (if applicable) will be reinstated.

b. Contraction: If contraction is approved, the remaining teams will then draw for the upcoming season’s draft order. Teams will maintain the same odds that resulted from the previous year’s playoffs. There must be at least four team owners present at the draft draw.

(1) Contraction Keeper Players: If keeper players were used the previous season, owners will maintain these players. Only the terminated owner’s keeper players will be returned the draft pool.

(2) Contraction Process: The following process will take place to determine which teams will be terminated as a result of approved contraction.

(a) First the contraction vote will take place during the Spring Owners' Meeting, to determine if contraction will take place. Then the owners will vote on how many teams to downsize the league by.

(b) Owners in attendance will then vote by secret ballot to determine which owners will be terminated to get to the agreed league size. Of course owners present at the meeting have the best chance of maintaining league status, but there is no guarantee. Therefore, it is highly recommended that all team owners attend.

19. Notifications

Commissioner will post all transactions and publish new rosters to the SFFL web site as quickly as possible. Commissioner will also post team lineups, player scores, and game results to the appropriate web page. It is the owners’ responsibility to check the web site to ensure these changes/updates are accurate and notify the commission for corrections.

a. Owners without internet access will need to contact commissioner by phone, text or email for updated information. The commissioner will accept any form of communication for notifications of any correction needed.

b. All transactions and lineup submissions must be posted to the Trash Talk web page. Trash Talk is the "official" notification for league owners. The preferred method is Trash Talk because it is posted in real-time with time/date stamp. Transactions and lineups are not considered final until posted to Trash Talk. This eliminates controversy when someone claims to have contacted the commissioner before a particular item is posted to Trash Talk.

c. It is the owners’ ultimate responsibility to get items posted to Trash Talk. If owner does not have internet access and needs to make a transaction or lineup submission, he will have to contact someone to request they post item on their behalf ... and hope item is posted in a timely manner. It matters not when request was made…what only matters is when item is posted to Trash Talk. If making a post on behalf of someone it is courteous to acknowledge this fact in your post.

d. It is highly recommended that you do not wait until the last minute to attempt submission of your transaction or lineup because something may go wrong with Trash Talk, the internet or someone may not be available to assist before the game time deadline. Trash Talk does have a date/time stamp, so if you miss any deadline you are "out of luck."

20. Rule Amendments

a. Rules can only be amended during the Spring Owners' Meeting. During the regular season, owners can notify the commissioner about rule changes to be considered at the meeting. Any rule changes must be approved by majority vote of those attending the Spring meeting.

b. Rules Committee: The committee is made up of the same five owners who are on the Trade Committee, with the purpose of providing an appellant process for team owners who do not agree with the Commissioner's decision and line of reasoning on a rule under dispute. Team owners have the right to appeal a rules decision and upon request the Commissioner will convene the committee. In order to override a Commissioner's decision, the committee must have a clear majority vote.

21. Timeline Recap

a. Draft Day is held on Saturday of the 2nd or 3rd week of the NFL Pre-season schedule.

b. Transactions are allowed immediately following the draft.

c. Regular season begins Week #1 of the NFL season.

d. Trade deadline is Week #10 of the NFL season.

e. Roster freeze effective at the start of Round 1 (NFL Week #15).

f. SFFL playoffs take place Week #15 through Week #17 of the NFL season.

g. Owner's meeting in the Spring.

h. Keeper Player announcement deadline is July 31st.