Madden 21 rules (Version 1.4)

Mission Statement:

The SFL strives to be a league for players who seek a fun, interactive league experience where the emphasis is placed on playing realistic football and not on exploiting game flaws in order to win at all costs.

Your Commitment:

As an owner, you should commit to playing all of your games whenever possible, participating in the off-season, and communicating regularly in the league chat.  No one expects the league to take priority over real-life situations and we all understand that some owners will be more active than others.  Be considerate of the commitment made by your fellow owners and honor your commitment to play your games.

League Expectations:

Owners are expected to play the game using strategy and not exploiting game flaws.  If everyone uses that standard in their game-play then the majority of the following rules are unnecessary.  Simply because something is not prohibited by a specific rule should not be interpreted to mean that the behavior is acceptable.  If it isn’t sim then don’t do it.  Allow strategy and team building to determine your wins and losses, not stick skills.  Good luck to everyone!

League/Game Settings:

• Ball Hawk: Off
• Heat Seeker: Off
• Injuries: On (Regular season games) Off (Preseason games) Pre-existing: On
• Quarter Length: 10 minutes with 20-second play clock runoff
• Game Style: Simulation
• Trade Deadline: On (Human Only)
• League Type: Coaches Only
• Salary Cap: On
• Practice Squad Stealing: On
• Player Progression: Weekly
• Skill Level: All-Madden (subject to change)
• Play Limit: 4
• Play Cool Down: 7

• Custom playbooks allowed

General Owner Responsibilities:

●       All games must be streamed and archived by BOTH teams (YouTube or Twitch).  In the event of a CPU game, the human player must broadcast and archive.

●       Owners are free to edit player’s equipment and numbers as long as it is not unreasonable or silly looking.  No player attributes, names, or physical qualities will be edited except as participation rewards.

●       If there is a disconnect there are three options:

1. Restart the game as if it was new.

2. Start a new game, and play out however much time was left at the time of the disconnect and combine scores to get a winner.  The team leading at the time of the disconnect has priority on how to handle the disconnect.

3. The losing team can concede if the game is in the 4th quarter.

●       If you have a scheduled time and your opponent does not show or communicate with you by 15 minutes after the agreed-upon start time, you may take a force W or play the CPU.

●       Scheduling will be done through the Discord “Weekly Game Scheduling” thread.  Each week a channel will be created with all of the matchups for that specific week.  The teams will use those channels to communicate and decide on when to play.  Once the game time is decided, it must then be posted in the “Scheduled Games” thread by one of the owners.  Failure to respond to a request to schedule may result in a force loss by the unresponsive owner.  Please make every effort to communicate with your opponents in order to schedule games.  Please provide SPECIFIC times that you are available to play to make scheduling as easy as possible for both parties.

●        If teams are unable to reach an agreed-upon time due to scheduling conflicts, then the options are:

        1.  The game will be a fair sim.

        2.  One of the teams may agree to let the other play the CPU.

●        If an owner has 3 or fewer hours of availability during an advance period, then that owner is subject to being placed on autopilot so that the opposing team may play the CPU.  This will be decided on a case-by-case basis by the admin staff.

●       Regular season advances will be every 72 hours or when all games are scheduled/completed whichever comes first.  Once a game is scheduled it must be posted in the schedule thread on Discord with the SPECIFIC date and time agreed upon by the owners.  Vague times will be deleted and the game will not be considered as scheduled.

●       Playoff advances will be every 48 hours and follow the same scheduling rules as the regular season.  Advance extensions will not be given weeks 1-16 but admins will consider extensions week 17 if there are playoff implications and for the playoffs for major life events.

●       Users must play a minimum of 10 regular-season games in order to be eligible for post-season participation.

Front Office Guidelines:

●       Trades are allowed with other human users.  No CPU trades are allowed.   Each team is allowed 2 trades per season (defined as from the start of the off-season to week 8 of the current regular season).  Those trades include any trade that involves at least one player.  Trades solely for draft picks will not count against the 2-trade limit.

●       Trade requests will be made by using the “Submit Trade” feature found under the “Front Office” and “Trade” tabs on the league’s Daddy League site (http://daddyleagues.com/2014sfl)  Once the trade has been set up and submitted in Daddy League, a link will automatically generate in the Discord server to notify the admins that a new trade needs to be reviewed.  Allow for 24 hours for a trade to be approved by the admins.  Once the trade has either been approved or denied, a second link will be generated through the SFL Daddy League page and posted into the Discord server.  The link will also be posted in the “Trade Announcements” channel on Discord.

●       Trades should be made realistically and if they are deemed detrimental to the league as a whole they will be denied.  If a trade is not approved, the teams can adjust the trade and re-submit it for consideration.

●       A player who is traded cannot be traded again in the same season.

●       First-round draft picks cannot be traded in their rookie season.

●       Free-agent signings cannot be traded their first season with their new team.

Roster Requirements:

●         Teams must have a 53-man roster and are allowed, 10 practice players.  Owners cannot attempt to circumvent the salary cap by carrying less than 53 players.

Franchise Tag:

●            You may only franchise tag a player once. After that, you must sign him long-term, let them go to free agency, or trade them.

Re-Signing Players:

●           6 and 7-year contracts are not allowed unless the player specifically requests a contract of that length.  Owners will have to submit photographic proof to an admin prior to signing a player to a contract longer than 5 years.  Any player over 30 years old may not be offered a contract of more than 4 years regardless of their requested length.

Off-Season Free Agents:

●       Owners must offer in years, within 1 year of what the player is asking.

●       Free agents who are under 30 years old must have a green indicator on their offer sheet from a team.  

●       Free agents who are 30 years and older may have an offer outside of the green indicator on their offer sheet.

Pre-Season Free Agents:

●       Weeks 1-4 owners may sign 1 player rated 75 or higher on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Owners may sign as many players under 75 as they wish.

In-Season Free Agents:

●        Teams may sign up to 4 free agents per week (unless injuries require additional signings).  Signings will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis.

●        Practice Squad players can be “stolen” at any time.

Position Changes:

●        Moving (position groups) from CB to Safety, or Safety to LB, WR to TE (vice versa) may be done as a rookie.  Position changes among the same position group (OL to OL, DL to DL, LB to LB, etc.) are acceptable at any time.  Position changes outside of the rookie year and outside of the same position group must be approved beforehand.    

Gameplay Guidelines:

●       Away teams wear white visitor uniforms (except against Dallas) unless agreed upon by both teams to wear one of the alternate uniforms.  The home team has priority in uniform selection.  

●       If you can win a game with kneel-downs, then you are expected to do so.  You can kneel out the game anytime you have a first down at the 2-minute warning or later.  Be respectful, and do not try to pad your stats.

●       You can only manually motion one player per play (you may motion them one way and back.) The motion must clear the tackle unless it’s in the design of the play.  Players who automatically motion as part of the original play design do not count.

●       If you manually move a player on defense you MUST play as that player at the snap of the ball.  Multiple player movements to confuse the blocking are prohibited.  

●       No-switch rule: Once the ball is in the air, neither the offensive nor defensive user may switch to control a different player or change the catch mechanic (possession, RAC, aggressive).  Once the ball is caught or tipped then the users may switch to make the tackle and/or try to catch the tipped pass.  If the user defender is already in coverage of the offensive player thrown to, then the user defender is free to defend the pass with that player.

●       Players should have a realistic mix of running and passing plays.  5 runs and 45 passes is not realistic.  We understand that sometimes game situations limit your ability to be balanced, but this should happen sporadically and not as a matter of offensive philosophy.

1. Vary your routes.  No one route can be 50% or more of your completed passes.

2. Mix up your runs.  Outside runs (tosses, stretches, sweeps) may not be 50% or more of your total runs.  Also, run where the play is intended unless the defense is already in the hole.  Calling an inside run and taking it outside will count as an outside run against your percentages.

●       “Chew the Clock” tempo may be done in the final 3 minutes of the first half or the final 8 minutes of the fourth quarter unless agreed upon by both users.  However, teams are free to run the play clock down as low as they want at any time.

●       4th Downs – You may NOT go for it on 4th and greater than 1 yard to go on YOUR side of the 50 in the first half.  If it is 1 yard or less you may go for it in a realistic scenario, however, if this is abused it may be eliminated.  You may go for it on 4th down on your OPPONENT’s side of the 50 at any time but be reasonable.  Teams do not go for 4th and long routinely unless late in the game.  Remember the goal is realistic football strategy.  In the second half, you may go for it on 4th and greater than 1 yard to go on YOUR side of the 50 if you trail by 14 or it makes sense in a clock-killing scenario. If you are down in the 4th you can go for it on 4th down at any point.

●           No huddle should only be used in the final two minutes of each half, or when trailing in the fourth. A few no-huddle plays here and there at other times are fine, but it should not be your default offensive strategy or more than 3 times on any one drive not within the final two minutes.  Unless up against the game clock you should allow your opponent 2 seconds or more to get set on defense before snapping the ball.  This allows the defender to reset to the player they want to control rather than being stuck with the last player from the previous play.

●              Mix up your plays/players:

1. Offense:  Running the same concepts is fine if they are from different formations and alignments, but running the same plays continuously is not.  A good measure is that the same play may not be run more than 4 times per game on offense.  Teams may not run 4 Verts more than 4 times during any game regardless of formation except in the final 2 minutes of a half.  Specific plays are not banned but if money plays or broken plays are discovered they are subject to banning. (This is remedied by the new play limit on commissioner controls.)

2. Use a variety of players on offense.  Your #1 WR cannot have more catches than your next two receivers combined (WR/TE).  Your #1 RB cannot have over 85% of your team’s running back carries.  These will be treated as season percentages, but owners should try to maintain this throughout each game.

3. Defense:  Running the same concepts is fine and teams are allowed to play to their strengths but do not abuse the same defense over and over.  No one defense should be 50% of your total defensive calls. (This is remedied by the new play limit on commissioner controls.)

4. Owners must align defensive personnel with offensive personnel unless the down and distance or time remaining dictate otherwise.  For example, defenses should not come out in a dime formation versus a 3 TE set.  If the game is in the final 4 minutes the defense may play more pass-oriented personnel if protecting the lead regardless of the offensive formation.

●         No running with the QB on non-designed run plays unless forced from the pocket or the coverage dictates that no one is open. It is tempting to run with mobile QBs and that is fine within acceptable game situations, but don’t abuse the mobile QBs.  Players may leave the pocket to avoid the rush of an unblocked defender.  

●        Players may not roll out to pass unless the rollout is part of the called play design.  If a QB does rollout to avoid pressure, he cannot throw a pass if the rollout takes him at or beyond the numbers.  He must throw the ball away or become a ball carrier at that point.  Players may not influence the coverage by moving their QB toward the LOS in order to draw the AI coverage away from a receiver.  

●        QBs may not run back more than 10 yards from the LOS to pass unless actively avoiding a defender within 2-3 yards.    

●         Do not run up the score or stat pad. If you are winning by 24 points in the 3rd quarter, or 17 points in the 4th quarter your primary offense should be runs and short passes with extreme emphasis on running out the clock.

●         Teams should try to match realistic stats to those of the real NFL.  Do not intentionally chase end-of-season awards.  The awards players win should be the result of excelling in the spirit of the game and not by chasing stats.

●        Do not use “Suggested Plays” to pick your play calls.  There is no strategy in allowing the computer to pick plays for you.

●        Play action cannot be called on 3rd down and more than 6 yards, at any time.  You may call a play-action pass, but you must hot route the RB out of the play-action fake.

Playing a CPU Controlled Team:

●        If you have a CPU opponent in a division game you may take a FW or play the game.

●        If you have a CPU non-division opponent then you must play the game or take a fair sim. If you choose to play you may use super sim for part of the game but must play by our rules for any part of the game you do control.

●        Human-controlled teams must stream and archive any games against the CPU.

●        This rule only applies to teams that are “owned” by the CPU and not games involving scheduling conflicts with human-owned teams.

Performance Enhancing Suspensions:

●         Offensive players who exceed the following statistical averages will be subject to “Performance Enhancing Suspensions” for any and all playoff games:

●        Players who have two violations in consecutive seasons will also be stripped of two development levels and suspended regular-season games the following season.  For example, an X-Factor player would be reduced to a star development, a Superstar would be reduced to normal development.  The suspended number of regular-season games will be determined by the chart below and be based on the 2nd season’s violation total.  For example, if a player is in excess of the PED average for a second consecutive season, then the length of suspension would be based on the most recent season using the chart below.

 ●        Players who exceed the PED limits but their teams do not make the playoffs will be subjected to game suspensions the following regular season if they are on the same team’s roster.  The length of the regular season suspensions will be based on how much above the allowed average the player ended the previous season.  The chart below will determine how many regular-season games the player will be suspended.

Sportsmanship Expectations and Rule Violations:

●         Use appropriate language. This is a league for adults and it is just a game.  If you are upset about something, that does not give you the right to start name-calling or using abusive language towards your opponent and/or other owners. This goes for all communication in-game and on Discord servers. Be respectful at all times.  Good-natured ribbing is acceptable and part of the fun of the league environment.  Just make sure it stays friendly.

●        If there is a rule violation during a game, please use DMs with your opponent to try and work through the issue.  If an admin is needed, send DMs.  Do not argue or call out other owners in the main chat.  Try to work out the issue without involving the admins, but if that is not possible we will get involved.  

●        If the issue cannot be resolved during the game, finish the game and allow for the admins to review the archived stream(s) to make a determination.  Request a review from an admin within 24 hours of the game completion.  Admins will review as soon as possible and make a determination.  Both parties will be contacted about the decision reached by the admin reviewer.  

●        If the game is paused, please contact your opponent immediately to inform them of the reason.  If a game is paused without explanation for 1 minute, the game may be resumed by the other party.  

●        Rage quitting is not acceptable.  Please respect the time your opponent has committed to playing and do not penalize them for playing well or for you playing poorly.  Even if you think rules are being violated, make every attempt to finish the game and allow the admins to review and deal with the issue.

Penalties (Regular Season):

1st offense: Warning

2nd offense: Sim loss of next game

3rd offense:  Loss of development for one player

4th offense: Removal from the league

Penalties (Post Season):

●         Loss of development and 10 attribute points to a player on both sides of the ball and a force loss in the next round.

Off-season Schedule:

●         The off-season begins after the Super Bowl is over.  The period for re-signs lasts from the Super Bowl until 24 hours have passed.  Free agency begins after the re-sign period has advanced, with the first signing period lasting 24 hours, the second signing period lasting 24 hours, and the final signing period lasting 24 hours.  Free agency recap will last until the draft starts.  The draft will be at 9 PM eastern on the first Sunday following the completion of the free agency period.  This timeline may be adjusted in the event that the Super Bowl ends with fewer than 4 days remaining until the next Sunday.

●        Immediately following the draft the league will advance to the pre-season.  The league will advance each week of the pre-season every 15 minutes to allow teams to do their training if they wish and sign available free-agents (following the rules for pre-season free-agent signings previously outlined).  Once the league reaches week 4 of the pre-season, owners will have until 6:00 PM EST on Monday to set their roster to the required 53.  Week 1 of the new season will begin at 6:00 PM EST.

Participation Incentive Program: (Revised)

Tier 1 Participation:

1. Joining THE SFL Daddy League page (http://daddyleagues.com/2014sfl).
2. Create a team Twitter account.
3. Following the league’s Twitter account @SFL53.
4. Play at least 10 regular-season games (1 tier 1 reward of owner’s choice), play 14 (2 rewards), all 16 games (3 rewards).

Tier 1 Rewards: (Up to 3 if all 16 games are played)

• 1 development upgrade of a player from normal to Star.
• 2 trait upgrades.
• 3* rating points to be spent on a player(s) below Superstar development.

Tier 2 Participation: (Completed all tier 1 participation goals)

1. Post at least 8 game preview/game recap blog (or other blogs concerning league goings-on; draft prospects, trades, injuries, etc.) on The SFL Daddy League page.
2. Post at least 10 tweets concerning team/league activities from your team’s Twitter.
3. No punishable rule violations all season (warnings alone do not count).

Tier 2 Rewards: (Choice of 2)

• 1 development upgrade of a player from normal to Star.
• 3 trait upgrades.
• 5* rating points to be spent on a player(s) below Superstar development.
• Salary cap reset.

Tier 3 Participation: (Completed all tier 1 and 2 participation goals)

1. Post at least 5 video highlights from your games.
2. Participate in the draft.
3. Play in multiple consecutive seasons.

Tier 3 Rewards: (Choice of 2)

• 1 development upgrade of a player from normal to Star.
• 5 trait upgrades.
• 7* rating points to be spent on a player(s) below Superstar development.

*Speed may not be increased over 95 for any player using rating point rewards.