I. League Layout and Overview

12 Team Head to Head Keeper Fantasy Football League
Straight-draft style format
Keeper format
Contract-style salary cap system, with no contract values, just years
9 starting players, 6 bench players, 1 Injured Reserve spot
Free Agent System based on a blind-bidding system, then first come, first serve
Internet-based, using MyFantasyLeague.com
Commissioner is Brian Kreklau (brian@smartguysports.com)
Prize league with a league fee of $100 per season per team
No league transaction fees

II. Owners/Teams

There shall be a maximum of 12 teams in the league. Teams may have multiple owners, but for the purposes of voting on league issues, each franchise is considered equal to all other franchises. Each owner is required to meet the basic guidelines of ownership in this league:

Attendance at the league draft in the summer
Required to turn in a contract list, 1 week after the league draft
Required to pay league fees at least two weeks prior to the league draft
Required to adhere to the rules of the league
Required to participate in all league-wide constitutional amendment votes
Required to maintain a team and keep up-to-date with a starting lineup
Failure to comply with the above basic guidelines of ownership will result in possible expulsion from the league, without a refund of league fees.

III. Rosters

Each team's active roster consists of the following players:

1 Quarterback
Flex RB's/WR's (A combination of 1 RB/4 WR's, 2 RB's/3 WR's,or 3 RB's/2 WR's)
1 Tight End
1 Place Kicker
1 Defensive Team/Special Teams Unit

All teams will have 6 bench spots and 1 injured reserve spot. To be eligible to be placed on injured reserve, the player must be listed as at a minimum of "Out" on the official NFL Injury Report or placed on Injured Reserve by the NFL team. The player that is placed on injured reserve for the team is ineligible to come off injured reserve for the remainder of the season. At the conclusion of Week 17, the player comes off injured reserve and goes to bench status for the offseason. If a player is placed on injured reserve, his contract status does not count against your cap.

Each team must have their starting lineups turned in prior to their respective actual NFL games. If the website is having technical difficulties, etc. The owner is required to email the commissioner prior to the deadline.

IV. Standings/Scoring

Wins and Losses are the #1 determination of record for this league. Ties in the standings are broken by total points. This leagues uses an actual decimal system for scoring. The following is the scoring system for this league

QB/RB/WR/TE

Passing Yards = 0.05 points per yard
Rushing/Receiving Yards = 0.1 points per yard
(WR's/TE's Only) Pass Receptions = 0.5 points each
All Touchdowns scored = 6 points each
Passing Touchdowns = 4 points each
Passing/Receiving/Rushing 2 point conversions = 2 points each
Interceptions thrown = -1 points each
Fumbles lost = -2 points each

Place Kickers

Field Goals (1-39 yards) = 3 points each
Field Goals (40-49 yards) = 4 points each
Field Goals (49+ yards) = 5 points each
Any Field Goals missed = -3 points each
PAT = 1 point each
PAT missed = -1 point each

Defensive Team/Special Teams Unit

Any Defensive TD (INT, FR) = 4 points each
Blocked Punt:  4 points
Blocked FG:  3 points
Blocked PAT:  1 point
QB Sack = 1 point each
Safety = 2 points each
Turnovers (INT, FR) = 2 points each
Kickoff/Punt Return TD = 6 points each
Offensive Points Allowed:
   0-5 points allowed:  10 points
   6-10 points allowed:  7 points
   11-15 points allowed:  5 points
   16-20 points allowed:  3 points
   21-25 points allowed:  1 point
   26-30 points allowed:  -1 point
   31-35 points allowed:  -3 points
   36-40 points allowed:  -5 points
   41-45 points allowed:  -7 points
   46+ points allowed:  -10 points

Teams will play a 14 week head-to-head schedule to be determined before the season by the commissioner. Each team will play it's division opponents twice, at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. Each team will play each non-division opponent once, during the middle of the season.

There are three, 4 team divisions. The divisions will be created at league start-up by the following:

Homer Division: Draft Pick #1, #4, #7, #10
Flanders Division: Draft Pick #2, #5, #8, #11
Smithers Division: Draft Pick #3, #6, #9, #12

V. Statistics

All statistics determined by the league software (MyFantasyLeague.com) are final unless a dispute is brought to the attention of the commissioner and an adjustment is made.

VI. Trades

Regular season trades may be made at any time from the conclusion of the draft until the Wednesday before Week 14 at Midnight EDT. Draft picks are never allowed to be traded under any circumstances. Offseason trades can be made at any time from the start of the offseason (explained below) up to one week prior to the draft.

Teams are not allowed to make trades involving future considerations, players-to-be-named later, free agent dollars, or draft picks.

All trades are subject to review by the Commissioner. If the commissioner deems a trade unacceptable to maintain league integrity, he will veto the trade and the parties involved will return to their respective teams. All trades must fit into each teams Salary Cap (explained below).

VII. Free Agency

Beginning with the first transaction period following the conclusion of the draft, through the end of the regular season, free agents in the free agent pool may be signed, without limit, in the following manner:

Each team will use a blind-bidding free agent system run by the league software to put in bids on players, the league software or commissioner will process these waivers at 9:00 PM EDT on Wednesday. Free agents will then be available on a first come, first serve from then until Game-Time of each player's game. Each team will be given "$100" in free agent bucks to use for blind-bidding free agent money. This money cannot be traded and does not carry-over from year to year.

The default value for all free agents is a 1 year contract (see below for explanation). There are no free agents allowed of any kind after the beginning of Week 14 of the regular season. Offseason waivers are not allowed.

VIII. Draft

The initial draft for the league will be determined by a random-dice roll. Each team will be given one roll and this will determine the initial draft order. The initial draft is a snake-style draft. Draft picks are not allowed to be traded at anytime. The draft will be 15 rounds.

Each draft prior to the first draft will be determined by using an NBA style-lottery system. The 6 teams that miss out on the playoffs will be given the opportunity to obtain draft picks (#1-6). The worst team in the league will be given 6 dice rolls, the 2nd worst 5 dice rolls, etc. The 6th worst team in the league will have 1 dice roll. This roll will determine draft picks #1-6. The playoff teams will conduct a similar system to determine draft pick #'s 7-12. These teams rolls will be determined by their finish in the league playoffs. League Champion gets 1 roll, Runner-Up gets 2 rolls. League Semi-Final teams #3-4 get 3 and 4 rolls respectively. Those spots are determined by the score of each team compared against the other in the league semi-final matchup. The same system determines the 5-6 team rolls. Each draft after the initial draft is NOT a snake-style format. It is a straight draft. So if you receive pick #5, you have that pick for each round of the draft. The league champion from the previous season automatically earns the #12 pick in the draft, the league runner-up from the previous season automatically earns the #11 pick in the draft.

X. Keeper System

At the conclusion of the league draft, each team will "sign" each of it's players to contract years. The salary cap of contract years for this league is 25. The default value for any free agent is 1 year. The maximum year a contract can be awarded is 5 years. At all times a team must maintain it's salary cap of contract years. Each team has one week from the end of the draft to sign it's players. At this time, teams are now locked in to the contracts they have signed. If a team decides to cut a player with a 1 or 2 year contract there is no penalty. If a team decides to cut a player with a 3 year contract they receive a salary cap penalty of 1 year (from 25 to 24, etc). If a team decides to cut a player with a 4 year contract they receive a salary cap penalty of 2 years (ex from 25 to 23). If a team decides to cut a player with a 5 year contract they receive a salary cap penalty of 3 years. This salary cap penalty is in place for 1 year from the time the player is cut (the commissioner will maintain this on the website).

At the conclusion of the regular season, the league commissioner will reduce each teams players contract values minus one year. Any player that has a value of zero is considered open for the following season's draft. Each player that a team has on it's roster 1 week prior to the draft will cost the team a draft pick determined by the following formula: Based on the league scoring rules, if your player is a top 6 QB, top 12 RB, or top 12 WR at the end of Week 17, you lose a draft pick starting in Round 1 for each player. Any other performance or position not listed above you don't lose any draft picks for those keepers. So for example, if you have 3 great players that qualify based on performance signed to contracts, you would lose your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks in the next draft. If none of your players qualify, you don't lose any draft picks. A team cannot draft more than 15 players onto it's team. The only offseason roster moves that can be made are trades.

Added for 2005 and beyond. At the end of the regular season, each team may place the "franchise designation" on one of it's players. This designation places 1 contract year on that player. To earn the "franchise tag" a player has to have not had a contract placed on him previously by any team. Usually these are players that were picked up late in the draft and not awarded a contract or waiver wire pickups.

XI. League Schedule of Events

League Draft (Held in August)
Team contract signing (from the conclusion of the draft for 1 week)
Trade/Free Agent Deadline (Wednesday, Midnight EDT prior to Week 14)
Weeks 15-17, Simpson's League Playoffs
Conclusion of Week 17, All players deducted one contract year, trading turned back on. Injured reserve players are moved back onto each team

XII. League Fees/Prizes/Playoffs

The cost of the Simpson's league season is $100 per team. This must be paid to the commissioner no later than 2 weeks prior to the draft. If an owner is removed from the league or quits the league, the commissioner is responsible for deciding the best fate for the franchise.

After the season is over, the top 2 division champion are awarded a first round bye in the playoffs. The top remaining 2 teams, based on record regardless of division are seeded into the playoffs. The final Wild Card team is the team with the highest points. The playoffs occur during weeks 15, 16, and 17. We seed the teams 1-6 and don't play with a tournament style structure to the championship. There is also a loser playoff bracket that starts at week 15 and runs through week 17. All teams that don't qualify for the regular playoffs will compete in the loser playoffs and will be seeded according to record.

The league prizes will be paid out as follows:

League Champion: $300
League Runner-Up $150
Weekly Prize Winner: $10 each week for 17 weeks
Division Champions: $100 each
Wild Card Teams: $50 each
League Software and PayPal Fees, etc: $130

The Weekly Prize winner will be determined as follows: If there is still a tie, then the teams split the weekly prize. All weekly prize winnings will be paid at the end of the season.

XIII. Responsibility and Governance

The commissioner is empowered to interpret the rules.

All illegal player moves made by a league member will be nullified. For an illegal draft pick, the player will be immediately released back into the free agent pool. For an illegal roster move, the transaction will be nullified and any affected statistics will be recalculated back to the date of the offense.

Approval for participation in the Simpsons Football League will be determined by the commissioner. Three recorded complaints received by the commissioner against any participant, for rule violations or behavior not in the best interest of the league, will be grounds for termination from the league either immediately or at the conclusion of the season. No fees reimbursement will be required for expulsion from the league.

Any issues not covered by this constitution will be determined by the commissioner in the best interests of the league, until a suitable amendment can be ratified by the league in the offseason. Every February, each franchise will be given the chance to suggest up to 3 new amendments. Then at the end of February, all of the suggestions will be placed on one voting form and the league will vote on them. Any amendments must be ratified by a vote of 8 out of 12 teams. These changes will then appear in the "Amendments" section of the league constitution and will be named after the owner who suggested it. This would then conclude the policy changes for the year. This constitution was put into place by the league members on June 2nd, 2004.

XIV. League Amendments and Revisions

1/15/07:  Defensive Scoring Rules Amended
1/15/07:  Change to Top Players Costing Draft Picks Amended