PREAMBLE: We, the franchise owners of the 3rd and Long Fantasy Football League (TLFFL), in order to promote a more perfect game, disregard domestic tranquility, scout obscure players in far away place, spend inordinate amounts of time and money on sports magazines and web sites with questionable value, peer endlessly over columns of stats, and curse inaccurate reports, hereby establish this Constitution as the Official Rule Book for Fantasy Football play. I. LEAGUE OPERATION This document will serve as the league rules and bylaws. It is the job of the Commissioner to see that the league is run smoothly and in accordance with its bylaws (see section XIV. League Governance). Any question about the league or its functions, as well as any disputes, will be referred to this document. At the end of each season and before the next season, the league rules will be reviewed and (if necessary) modified and/or updated, provided there is a majority consent of the league members. II. TEAMS AND MEMBERSHIP A. The league consists of 12 teams, with at least 12 owners. Each team has one vote in determining the league membership. B. All franchises and owners from the previous year are automatically invited. C. Expansion will be voted upon by the owners. League membership is decided by nominations and balloting from the current membership. A majority vote of the membership is required to approve any team ownership and/or partnership. D. Should a primary owner leave for any reason, the team CAN be inherited by an expansion franchise. The new owner would inherit the roster and draft position of the outgoing team. III. PLAYER DRAFT A. The draft will be held no earlier than three weeks before the start of the season and no later than the day before the start of the season at a time and place to be announced by the commissioner. B. The draft order is determined by the previous season’s finish. The defending league champion automatically gets the 12th pick and the runner-up gets the 11th pick. All other draft positions are based on regular season record. Last place drafts first, second to last picks second and so on until the champion picks last. C. Owners build their teams through a traditional “snake” draft. Draft picks in odd numbered rounds are selected in the order of 1 through 12. Even number rounds are reversed, 12 to 1. For example, the owner with the 1st overall pick in the draft would also get the 24th and 25th picks. Likewise, the owner with the 12th overall pick would also get the 13th pick. D. There will be a three-minute time limit for each pick in Rounds 1-4, a two-minute time limit for each pick in Rounds 5-11 and a one-minute time limit for each pick in Rounds 12 15. E. If an owner does not make his pick in the allotted time, the owner with the next pick can proceed with his pick. F. All owners must be in attendance during the draft, either in person or online. G. The draft will be 15 rounds in length. IV. KEEPERS A. Owners are allowed to protect (keep) one player from their previous season’s roster. B. Owners must identify their “keeper” to the Commissioner no later than five days before the draft. C. Owners who fail to identify a keeper by the deadline forfeit the right to protect a player. D. The commissioner will ensure that the final list of keepers is available to all league owners as soon as the keeper deadline expires. E. Players can be kept a maximum of two times. For example, a player can be drafted in 2001 and kept in 2002 and 2003, but must be released into the draft pool for the 2004 draft. V. ROSTERS AND STARTING LINEUPS A. The maximum roster is 15 players. B. The minimum starting roster consists of the following: 1 Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 3 Wide Receivers, 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker and 1 Team Defense (includes Special Teams). There are six extra positions on the roster reserved for bench and injured reserve. These players may be from any position. C. The deadline for submitting starting lineups is five minutes before the start of a player’s game. D. Once a players game has started, he cannot be removed or added to a lineup until the current week is over. E. It is an owner’s responsibility to keep his lineup current and up to date. Owners who start a player on a BYE week or inactive for whatever reason are out of luck. VI. TRANSACTIONS The deadline to complete all transactions (trades, free agent claims, and waiver claims)for a given week is 11:59 pm PT every Sunday. A. Trades 1. For a trade to be valid, both owners must approve it. 2. Trade requests must be presented to the veto committee (See section XIV. League Governance) for consideration. 3. Once the committee accepts a trade, it cannot be rescinded. 4. Final trading deadline is November 19. 5. There is no limit on the number of trades allowed. B. Free Agents 1. All un-drafted players are included in the free agent pool. 2. Free agents can be acquired at any time. 3. There is no limit on the number of free agent acquisitions allowed. 4. Free agents are available on first come/first served basis. C. Waiver Wire 1. A player can be dropped at any time for any reason. 2. Once a player is dropped, he remains on waivers for two days. 3. Owners can claim players during the waiver period. 4. If more than one owner claims the same player, the team that is highest on the Waiver Priority List is given the rights to the player. 5. The Waiver Priority List is initially set based on the reverse of the draft order. However, each time an owner adds a waived player to his roster, he is pushed to the back of the list, so the team with the lowest waiver priority will always be the team that completed the last successful waiver claim. This “rolling” list stays in effect for the entire season. 6. If a player is not claimed during the waiver period, he becomes a free agent. VII. INJURED RESERVE There is no injured reserve. If a player is injured, the franchise owner(s) has the option of waiving him or simply riding out the injury. VIII. LEAGUE AND TRANSACTION FEES A. The league franchise fee is $100.00 per team. B. All transactions—trades, acquisitions of free agents and acquisitions of players on waivers—cost $1.00. C. Weekly low-point man pays weekly high-point man $5. IX. LEAGUE SCHEDULE A. The regular season of the TLFFL lasts from Week 1 through Week 13 of the NFL regular season. B. Regular season schedule will be set by the host site (See section XIV. League Governance). C. The 3rd and Long Fantasy Football League is a Head-to-Head League. D. The team that accumulates the most fantasy points wins the game. E. Weekly results are then tallied into an overall record. X. PLAYOFFS A. Playoffs will include eight teams and will begin Week 14 of the NFL season. The championship game will be played on Week 16. The playoffs are single elimination. B. The playoff schedule will be set by the host site (See section XIV. League Governance). XI. SCORING A. Quarterbacks/Running Backs/Wide Receivers/Tight Ends 1. Passing Yards (50 yards per point) 2. Passing Touchdowns (6) 3. Rushing Yards (20 yards per point) 4. Rushing Touchdowns (6) 5. Reception Yards (20 yards per point) 6. Reception Touchdowns (6) 7. 2-Point Conversions (2) 8. Interceptions (-2) 9. Fumbles Lost (-2) B. Kickers 1. Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3) 2. Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3) 3. Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3) 4. Field Goals 40-49 Yards (4) 5. Field Goals 50+ Yards (5) 6. Field Goals Missed 0-39 Yards (-3) 7. Field Goals Missed 40+ Yards (0) 8. Point After Attempt Made (1) 9. Point After Attempt Missed (-1) C. Defense/Special Teams 1. Sack (1) 2. Interception (2) 3. Fumble Recovery (2) 4. Touchdown (6) 5. Safety (2) 6. Block Kick (2) 7. Kickoff and Punt Return Touchdowns (6) 8. Points Allowed 0 Points (10) 9. Points Allowed 1-6 Points (7) 10.Points Allowed 7-13 Points (4) 11.Points Allowed 14-20 Points (1) 12.Points Allowed 21-27 Points (0) 13.Points Allowed 28-34 Points (-1) 14.Point Allowed 35+ Points (-4) XII. TIEBREAK SYSTEM A. Regular Season (If two or more teams finish with the same overall record) 1. Overall winning percentage. 2. Fantasy points scored. 3. Fantasy points scored in Week 17 (This tiebreak method continues through Week 1 until the tie is successfully broken). B. Playoffs 1. Most touchdowns scored by entire starting roster. 2. Most fantasy points by starting quarterback. 3. Most fantasy points by starting defensive team. 4. Most fantasy points by starting wide receivers. 5. Most fantasy points by starting running backs. 6. Most fantasy points by starting tight end. 7. Most fantasy points by starting kicker. XIII. PAYOUTS A. Prizes: Champion receives 75% and runner-up receives 25% of total franchise fees($1200). B. Total transaction fees are divided by 13 and distributed among the weekly high-point winners for each week. C. The Commissioner will calculate the payouts at the end of the season and provide the information to all the franchise owners in a timely manner. D. All payouts must be delivered on or before Super Bowl Sunday. E. The league champion is awarded the coveted “Champion’s Blazer” and keeps it through the following season. The champion must wear the blazer once in public, with at least five franchise owners present, before he must relinquish it to the next season’s champion. The “Champion’s Blazer” is graciously presented to the new champion at the following season’s draft. XIV. LEAGUE GOVERNENCE A. YAHOO.com will host and maintain the league. B. Commissioner. Our goal is to have a strong, yet fair commissioner. The Commissioner is sworn to act at all times in the best interests of the league and is vested with the following powers: 1. Interpret the constitution as he sees just and fit. 2. Preside over the draft and settle draft disputes. 3. Set up league meetings. 4. Have an equal vote on all league matters related to Amendments to the constitution. 5. Calculate the payouts at the end of the season. C. Veto Committee. The Veto Committee consisting of three owners is randomly selected at the annual draft. It is their responsibility to vote on whether a proposed trade will be allowed. Two alternates are randomly selected as well. In the event that one or more of the committee members are involved in the proposed trade, the alternates will take their place in the vote. The Commissioner cannot be a member of the committee. D. Rule Changes. All requests for rule changes must adhere to the following procedure: 1. The proposed change must be submitted to the Commissioner. 2. The change must meet a majority vote for approval. 3. All franchises are required to vote on rule changes. E. Expulsion and Impeachment This procedure can be used in the event a franchise is not holding up their good standing with the league or if a commissioner is not running the league up to standard. Both may be subject to removal by the preceding procedure under Rule Changes.