TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Basic Concept
• Team Composition
• League Organization
• League Schedule
• Scoring Method
• Player Draft
• Playoff Determination and Payoffs
• Roster Changes and Transactions
• Situations Not Addressed
• 2002 Nuclear Football League Structure

BASIC CONCEPT

• League is formed by a number of team owners (as determined by league vote) who wish to participate. For scheduling purposes, this shall be an even number of teams. Currently this number is 10 teams.
• A random process determines a draft selection order. From this selection order each team will choose their draft position. When choosing, each team will be allowed 48 hours (if time permits) from the previous selection (as posted on the Nuclear Football League Message Board) to post to the League Message Board or directly inform the Commissioner of their selection.
• Should a team not choose within the allotted 48 hours, the next team shall begin their 48 hour period after the Commissioner posts the expiration of time to the League Message Board. The team which exceeded the time limit may then pick at any time prior to the end of the draft selection process .
• Each team pays a $45 franchise fee by a predetermined date, prior to the draft. These franchise fees are used for end of season prizes and for the purchase of league software for the Commissioner and coaches.
• A predetermined schedule is set up such that teams can meet in head to head competition.
• Trading players and player transactions are allowed after the draft; however, all such transactions are subject to the trade guidelines and deadlines of the league. There is no transaction fee charged for a transaction or trade.
• Each team coach will submit his weekly starting lineup before the teams meet in head-to-head competition.
• Following the scoring rules, the weekly results of scores and standings are determined and distributed by the Commissioner.
• The season culminates with playoffs and a championship game, using a predetermined playoff structure as a guideline.

TEAM COMPOSITION

• Each team roster will consist of 15 players and/or defenses. Each team defense is equivalent to one roster spot.
• Each team will designate 7 players and 1 defense each week as its starters. The starters must be designated by name and must fill the following positions:

  1 Quarterback
  1-2 Running Backs
  1-4 Wide Receivers
  0-2 Tight Ends
  1 Place Kicker
  1 Team Defense

LEAGUE ORGANIZATION

• The league will be organized conferences and/or divisions, the number and composition of which shall be dictated by the number of teams participating.
• The teams in each conference/division and team numbers (for scheduling purposes) will be determined by the Commissioner using a random draw process.
• Should it become necessary for the league to replace a coach/team due to retirement, resignation, or for any other reason, the replacement shall be selected from an approved list maintained by the Commissioner. This list will include interested replacement coaches ranked by league members in the order in which they shall be admitted into the league.
• Should a coach resign and then decide to rejoin the league, he shall be added to the replacement list and ranked along with other interested coaches on the list.
• Should a coach resign after posting the franchise fee, he shall forfeit the entire fee. The Commissioner may at his discretion require the replacement coach to post a prorated franchise fee.
• Any rule changes or additional rules shall be agreed upon by a majority of the coaches at any league meeting where a quorum is present. A quorum of greater than 50% of the league coaches must be present at any meeting to allow for official voting.
• There shall be no contact of league members or the Commissioner at their residences unless the contact was approved by the member/Commissioner prior to the contact. This does not apply to e-mail, which is an acceptable form of cold contact. This rule specifically excludes contacting the Commissioner concerning submission of starting lineups and/or trades.

LEAGUE SCHEDULE

• The 2002 NFL Schedule may also be viewed in FULL or TABLE format via the league web page index.

SCORING METHOD

• Each week, players and defenses earn points for their teams based on their actual NFL performance. The points are determined as follows:

  Passing-1 point for each 20 yards passing.
  Rushing-1 point for each 10 yards rushing.
  Receiving-1 point for each 10 yards receiving.
  Place Kicking-1 point for each PAT and a varying amount for each field goal, depending on length, as follows:

  17-44 yards	===>	3 points
  45-54 yards	===>	4 points
  55 yards & over	===>	5 points

  Defenses-Variable, based on total yards allowed (rushing yards + passing yards), as follows:

  0-169 yards	===>	20 points
  170-184 yards	===>	19 points
  185-199 yards	===>	18 points
  200-214 yards	===>	17 points
  215-229 yards	===>	16 points
  230-244 yards	===>	15 points
  245-259 yards	===>	14 points
  260-274 yards	===>	13 points
  275-289 yards	===>	12 points
  290-304 yards	===>	11 points
  305-319 yards	===>	10 points
  320-334 yards	===>	9 points
  335-349 yards	===>	8 points
  350-364 yards	===>	7 points
  365-379 yards	===>	6 points
  380-394 yards	===>	5 points
  395-409 yards	===>	4 points
  410-424 yards	===>	3 points
  425-439 yards	===>	2 points
  440-454 yards	===>	1 points
  455 & over	===>	0 points

  
  

• The official stat source of the 2002 Nuclear Football League is The FLM webpage. Stats from any other source have no significance and are not admissible, except where errors can be proven.
• Once each week’s games are complete, scores are tabulated for each team’s starters and compared to his opponent's starters’ scores. The team with the most points wins the game. RESULTS OF EACH WEEK’S GAMES WILL BE POSTED TO THE LEAGUE WEBSITE, ALONG WITH PLAYER STATISTICS.
• In the event of a tie, the winner is determined by comparing the total points for each team’s reserve players. The team whose reserve players has the most points wins the game (see Roster Changes and Transactions for an explanation of how scores are calculated for players and defenses whose teams are idle in a given week). If the teams have the same amount of reserve points, the game ends in a tie, which counts as 1/2 win and 1/2 loss for playoff determination purposes.
• In the event of a tie during the playoffs, the winner is determined by comparing the total points for each team's reserve players. The team whose reserve players have the most points wins the game. If the teams have the same amount of reserve points the next tiebreaker will be total points scored during the regular season. Should the teams still be tied, the winner will be determined by coin toss.
• In the event of scoring errors, the affected team(s) will have two weeks from the time the official results are released (generally the Tuesday following each week’s games) to report the error to the Commissioner, who will review and correct errors as necessary.

PLAYER DRAFT

• The draft shall be permanently scheduled on the Tuesday before the first weekend of the NFL schedule each year; however, this date may be moved at the discretion of the Commissioner if it is deemed that the date puts undue burden on a significant portion of the league members.
• Each team’s coach MUST attend the draft, and draft his OWN TEAM. The ONLY exception to this requirement is EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES preventing his attendance which have received the prior approval of the Commissioner. The Commissioner will decide for such circumstances how the affected team’s draft will be conducted.
• Any football player or defense may be drafted.
• The draft will include 15 rounds. The draft order will reverse each alternating round: the team who selects first in the odd numbered rounds selects last in the even numbered rounds.
• Players and defenses may be drafted in any round, and a team may draft more than one defense.
• There are time limits when drafting players, as follows:

  1. Two minutes are allowed per pick.
  2. Four minutes are allowed if a team has two consecutive picks.

• If the time limit has been exceeded, the next team in line will then be allowed to pick. The team which exceeded the time limit can still take his pick at any time prior to the end of the draft, unless prior arrangements have been made with the Commissioner.
• Draft picks may be traded as desired; however, these trades must be reported to the Commissioner. There are no provisions for trading current year players or draft picks for future years’ draft picks, either during the draft, or the course of the season.

PLAYOFF DETERMINATION AND PAYOFFS

• Given a 10 team, two conference league, each of the two conference champions will qualify for the playoffs. The four remaining teams with the best records which are not conference champions will also qualify for the playoffs as “wildcards”. The conference champions will receive first round byes. The highest seeded wild card team will play a first round game against the lowest seeded wild card team, while the other two wild card teams also face off in a first round matchup. The winners of these two first round games will advance to the semifinals to meet the two conference winners who received first round byes.
• The following criteria determines conference winners, wildcards, and how teams will be seeded in the playoffs:
  
  
  1. Best won-lost-tied record.
  2. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied record in games between the clubs).
  3. Best won-lost-tied record in games played within the conference.
  4. Best won-lost-tied record in common games.
  5. Best net points in all games (net points=starters points).
  6. Strength of schedule (won-lost-tied record of teams played).
  7. Coin toss.
  
  
• End of season payoffs are as follows:
  
  
  1. First place-60% of prize pool.
  2. Second place-25% of prize pool.
  3. Third place-15% of prize pool.

ROSTER CHANGES AND TRANSACTIONS

• After the draft, teams may trade players and defenses.
• After the draft, teams may waive players and defenses and pickup other available players and defenses.
• Team rosters must never exceed 15 players and defenses. For every player or defense added to a team’s roster, another must be dropped or traded.
• Once a player is dropped by a team, he is placed on waivers and is eligible to be picked up by any other team according to the following process:

  The waiver list (list of players dropped by all coaches) will be published by the commissioner by 6:00 PM on Tuesday of each week along with the regular scores, standings and stats. Coaches interested in acquiring said players will have until Noon Friday to make a claim on a waived player. If no claim is made on a player by the Friday deadline, the player becomes a free agent and is available to any team on a first-come, first-served basis. If more than one team makes a claim on a given player, the player is awarded to the team which placed a claim with the lowest ranking (based on the same criteria as playoff determination) at that time. Any player dropped (waived) after the 6:00 PM Tuesday list is published will NOT be available until the FOLLOWING week’s list is published.

• Players which are NOT DROPPED by other teams and are already on the free agent list are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• There is a limit of 3 transactions per team per week. Multiplayer trades count as one transaction.
• All trades are subject to Commissioner review and approval.
  

  The intent of Commissioner review is not to prevent trades which are made in good faith for the purpose of improving all teams involved, but rather to prevent the illegal "dumping" of players from one team or teams to another team or teams with the intent of not benefiting all teams involved.

  
  
• All roster changes and starting lineups must be submitted fifteen minutes before game time (12:45 on Sunday at the latest). For any games played prior to Sunday, such as Thursday or Saturday games, each team must designate its starters for those games fifteen minutes before game time but can wait and submit its remaining lineup by 12:45 on Sunday. Players who are involved in games prior to the normal 12:45 Sunday deadline MUST BE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED AS STARTERS at least fifteen minutes before game time; they do not automatically start.
• The following are acceptable methods for submitting starting lineups (in keeping with the leagues "100% electronic" policy):

• Post a copy of your starting lineup to the Nuclear Football League message board, under the appropriate week's folder created by the League Office. This provides a date and time stamp and gives the coach immediate feedback that his lineup was received before the deadline, as well as allowing other coaches to view each individual team's starting lineup. This is the preferred method for lineup submission.
• If the league message board is unavailable, then the first alternative method for lineup submission is to use the Submit Lineup link on the Nuclear Football League webpage. This will send an e-mail to the Commissioner, webmaster, and opposing coach in one message.
• Should the Nuclear Football League webpage be unavailable, then the next alternative method for lineup submission is to send an e-mail to both the Commissioner and the opposing coach.
• Should none of the above methods be available, coaches may still give a copy of their starting lineup to the opposing coach by hand OR leave a voice mail for the Commissioner (x 4234). Coaches must still ensure the Commissioner and/or opposing coach receives their lineup via e-mail at the earliest available opportunity.
• Other means are unacceptable and will be disallowed.

• The trade deadline will be 12:45 PM Sunday, Week 10 of the NFL Season. The Normal Transaction Deadline will be 12:45 PM Sunday, Week 13 of the NFL Season. After this teams will be allowed only one position-for-position transaction (QB for QB, WR for WR, etc.) per week.
• ALL TRADES AND TRANSACTIONS SHALL BE TRANSMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONER. ONCE APPROVED, THEY WILL BE POSTED TO THE LEAGUE WEBPAGE.
• If a team fails to submit a weekly lineup, his previous week’s lineup will be used. Players who are involved in games prior to the normal 12:45 Sunday deadline MUST BE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED AS STARTERS at least fifteen minutes before game time; they do not automatically start.
• Each NFL team has one off week (bye) this season. To address this, coaches will be allowed to carryover stats for players who will be off during a given week from the previous week. The carryover players can be designated once they have earned the carryover stats.
• Carryover players MUST be on a team’s roster when the carryover stats are earned in order for that team to use the stats in the bye week.

SITUATIONS NOT ADDRESSED

• For situations not addressed in these rules, all decisions made by the Commissioner are final.

2002 NUCLEAR FOOTBALL LEAGUE STRUCTURE

Alpha Conference Gunslingers Mudcats UBU Sports DC Alley Cats Dawgpound
Beta Conference Rough Riders Trojans Thundermugs Shockers Texas Vipers