No Name Football League Constitution

June 3, 2000

I. Introduction

The No Name Football League (NNFL) is a 20 team pro football simulation league based upon players' performance ratings from the previous NFL season. Each year the league plays a 16 game schedule and playoffs, using the 4th Street Software Computer Football game, to "crown" the NNFL champion. Players can be retained by the franchises year to year, traded, acquired and lost to free agency, or cut. A draft of rookies and previously unowned players is held prior to each season.

II. Rosters

a.      Each team's roster consists of up to 55 active players, which may include players who were not "carded" during the current season.
b.      The active roster may not be changed from week to week. Following cut down day, each team's roster is frozen for the season. No trades are permitted during the season.
c.       Each team's roster may include any combination of players subject to the following minimum numbers of players capable of playing each position (Note: many players can play more than one position):

Minimum Position Recommendations

3 QB
4 RB
3 TE
4 WR (at least 5 is recommended)
2 C, 3 G, 3 T with a minimum total of 7 OL (at least 8 is recommended)
4 DE, 3 DT with a minimum total of 6 DL (at least 7 is recommended)
6 LB
4 CB, 4 S with a minimum total of 7 DB (at least 8 is recommended)
1 K
1 P
d.      Kick returners can be any WR, RB, or DB. Players who actually returned punts and kickoffs will, in nearly all cases, be much more effective.
 

III. Schedule

a.      The NNFL consists of 20 teams placed into four, five-team divisions. The league has 2 conferences comprised of 2 divisions each. The commissioner operates franchises without current owners.
b.      Each team plays 16 games per season, with four games played every month (two home, two away) from September through December.
c.       Each team's coach is expected to make a "best effort" to play games face-to-face, if at all possible. Otherwise the home team will play versus the visiting team's "computer coach". If playing versus the computer, the home coach must receive the visiting coach's current "computer coach" and platoons.
d.      In case of a tie after regulation, regular season games are played until the first team scores. If the game remains tied after a 15-minute overtime period, it is declared a tie.
e.      The following schedule format is used (the order of the teams determined by the previous year's division standings):

Conference 1

Conference 2

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3

Division 4

Team A

Team F

Team K

Team P

Team B

Team G

Team L

Team Q

Team C

Team H

Team M

Team R

Team D

Team I

Team N

Team S

Team E

Team J

Team O

Team T
f.       
Scheduling Key (home games)

Team A Plays B,F,C,I,D,K,E,R

Team K...L,P,M,S,N,B,O,H

Team B Plays C,G,D,J,E,L,A,Q

Team L...M,Q,N,T,O,A,K,G

Team C Plays D,I,E,F,A,M,B,P

Team M...N,S,O,P,K,D,L,F

Team D Plays E,J,A,H,B,O,C,S

Team N...O,T,K,R,L,C,M,J

Team E Plays A,H,B,G,C,N,D,T

Team O...K,R,L,Q,M,E,N,I

Team F Plays G,B,H,D,I,P,J,K

Team P...Q,L,R,N,S,G,T,A

Team G Plays H,C,I,A,J,Q,F,H

Team Q...R,M,S,K,T,F,P,C

Team H Plays I,A,J,B,F,R,G,L

Team R...S,K,T,L,P,I,Q,B

Team I Plays J,D,F,E,G,T,H,N

Team S...T,N,P,O,Q,H,R,E

Team J Plays F,E,G,C,H,S,I,O

Team T...P,O,Q,M,R,J,S,D

IV. Playoffs

a.      A point system is used to keep division standings. A home victory is worth 2 standing points, a visiting win is worth 3 points, and a tie is worth 1 point.
b.      The following tie breakers are used to rank the teams within the divisions:

Tiebreaker Table

1) Standing points

5) Conference record

2) Actual win-loss record

6) Off/Def point differential

3) Head-to-Head competition

7) Coin flip by neutral party

4) Division record

 
c.        
d.      Each division champion qualifies for the playoffs, along with 2 wild-card teams from each conference. Wild-card teams are determined using the tiebreaker table (see above) except that condition 4 (division record) is not used. The eight playoff teams are ranked #1 through #8 seeds using the tiebreaker table (see above) except that conditions 4 and 5 (division and conference record) are not used. The higher seed in each round is the home team.
e.      Each team's coach is expected to make a "best effort" to play games face-to-face, if at all possible. Otherwise the home team will play versus the visiting team's "computer coach". If playing versus the computer, the home coach must receive the visiting coach's current "computer coach" and platoons.
f.        All playoff games have a one-week window to be played.
g.      The NNFL championship is decided in a best of 3 series, with each team being the home team once, and the highest seeded team being the home team in the third game, if necessary.
h.      In case of a tie after regulation, playoff games are played until the first team scores. There are no ties.

V. Salaries

a.      Trading is permitted once a season is completed.
b.      Teams enter the new year with the (up to) 55 man roster they ended the previous season with.
c.       Each team is given $5000 to pay players' salaries. No money may be carried over from year to year.
d.      On salary day, teams are required to submit roster lists (possibly adjusted by trades) with new salary amounts (minimum salary is $5). No team's total salaries can exceed $5000.
e.      Teams must place each player (including "uncarded" players) into one of four categories, according to their salary level as compared to the previous season:

Salary Categories

Category 1: EXEMPT: Players given at least a $50 raise are listed as exempt. EXEMPT players can not be bid upon by any other team. Exempt status should be reserved for top players only.

Category 2: SIGNED: Players taken in the rookie (or new player) draft the previous season and paid according to the rookie salary schedule (see below) are listed as signed. SIGNED players can not be bid upon by any other team.

Category 3: PROTECTED: Players given at least a $5 raise are listed as protected. PROTECTED players may be bid upon by other teams, but the original team has the right to match the bid later, if they are able to.

Category 4: UNPROTECTED: Players not given a raise of at least $5 (or have their salaries frozen or cut) and rookies not SIGNED (thus given a salary of $0) are listed as unprotected. UNPROTECTED players are available to the highest bidder.

VI. Free Agency

a.      By free agency day, each team may submit bids on PROTECTED and UNPROTECTED players from any team's roster (including "uncarded" players) and may designate a salary ceiling. Free agency is limited only to players from an NNFL roster the previous season. Coordinated raids on any team's players will not be tolerated.
b.      At no time during the bidding process can a team's salary total exceed $5000. A bid bringing a team's salary total above $5000 will be thrown out.
c.       To leave salary room for anticipated matches of PROTECTED players' bids, owners may designate a salary ceiling (e.g. $4800) such that any bids bringing their team's total salary level above that ceiling will not be considered.
d.      Trades are permitted during free agency, but they will not be effective until after the process is over. This rule prevents teams from "dumping" salaries in order to match a bid on a PROTECTED player.
e.      A bid on a PROTECTED player must be at least a $50 raise over their current salary.
f.        A bid on an UNPROTECTED player must be greater than their current salary. Minimum bid is $5.
g.      The team submitting the highest bid on a player "wins" that player and his new salary is added to their team's total. The original owner "loses" that player and his old salary is subtracted from their team's total. Ties go to the team with the worse record from the previous year's season. The tiebreaker table is used (except for conditions 4 and 5), if necessary. The championship team is considered last and the runner-up next to last, in spite of their records, for the purpose of this tiebreaker.
h.      After the bidding process is completed, original owners of bidded-on PROTECTED players can chose to match their bids, if they are able to. For each player they reclaim, their team's total salary is increased by the bid plus an additional 10% penalty on the bid. The 10% penalty does not become part of the player's permanent salary. Should matching the bid plus paying the penalty bring the team's total salary over $5000, they can not reclaim that player.
i.        Teams losing a PROTECTED player to a free agency bid of at least $200 will receive a compensatory, sandwich pick (the pick follows the round specified below and precedes the next round) during the current year's draft according to the table below:

Free Agency Compensation

Teams with a player lost to a bid of $500 or more receive a 2nd round pick
Teams with a player lost to a bid of $400 to $499 receive a 4th round pick
Teams with a player lost to a bid of $300 to $399 receive a 6th round pick
Teams with a player lost to a bid of $200 to $299 receive an 8th round pick
j.        Following free agency, all players are considered "paid" for the upcoming season, and all money restraints are eliminated. Therefore, trades may be made in which low salaried players can be traded for higher salaried players, with no need to worry about "salary cap" considerations.

VII. Draft

a.      An 8 round draft of rookies and previously unowned players is held. Only players "carded" in the current season can be drafted. The order of the draft is the reverse order of finish from the previous season (the tiebreaker table is used, except for conditions 4 and 5). The championship team drafts last and the runner-up drafts next to last, in spite of their records. Compensatory picks may be added at the end of the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th rounds due to free agency losses of PROTECTED players.
b.      Draft picks are not paid a salary for their first year.
c.       The following schedule is used to determine a draft pick's salary for the next season:

Rookie Salary Schedule

1st round picks are assigned a salary of $105 to $200 (depending upon the pick #)
2nd round picks are assigned a salary of $100
3rd round picks are assigned a salary of $90
4th round picks are assigned a salary of $80
5th round picks are assigned a salary of $70
6th round picks are assigned a salary of $60
7th round picks are assigned a salary of $50
8th round picks are assigned a salary of $50

Note: The #1 pick in the first round is assigned a salary of $200, which decreases by $5 for each subsequent pick. Thus, the #20 pick in the first round is assigned a salary of $105.

VIII. Deal Out

a.      On deal out day, all players remaining in the unowned players' pool are randomly dealt out to the teams.
b.      Any of these players making the final roster are assigned a salary of $5.

IX. Cut Down

a.      On cut down day, announced before the start of the season, each team must trim its roster to no more than 55 players (which may include "uncarded" players). If a team is short a position (see Minimum Position Requirements above), the worst player possible may be "rented" to them from the unowned players' pool for a fee of $10 by the league. The commissioner may also penalize the team with the loss of a next season's draft pick. At the conclusion of the season, this player will return to the unowned players' pool.
b.      While a player's salary may drop to $0 temporarily, his salary will be raised to $5 if included on the final roster.
c.       Players not on a roster (unowned players) will be eligible for the rookie draft next season if they are "carded".

X. Game Conditions

a.      Kickoffs are from the 30-yard line.
b.      Two point conversions are used.
c.       Missed field goals are returned to the spot of the kick.
d.      Goal posts are set at the end of the end zone (back line).
e.      Overtime rules are set at one period for regular season games, continuous for playoff games.
f.        Fatigue system is used.

XI. Injuries

a.      Following each game, home team players' injuries that carry over to future games must be recorded. These players are required to miss the appropriate number of upcoming home games. Visiting players' injuries are not applied to upcoming games.
b.      At the beginning of the playoffs all players are considered "rested" and their injury status is reset to zero.

XII. Dues and Requirements

a.      Dues and prices for game upgrades/disks will be set annually by 4th Street Software.
b.      Teams must play their games on schedule and the home team is required to send the game report and boxscore promptly to the commissioner. Reasons for not playing games on time must be coordinated beforehand with the commissioner.
c.       League standings and statistics will be periodically updated on the NNFL web page.

XIII. Commissioner

a.      The commissioner has sole power to rule on any issue that occurs within the NNFL and to apply penalties, if appropriate.
b.      The commissioner is responsible for operating franchises without current owners and may assign other teams to help play their league games.