League History 2017 Edition

League Charter

This league was formed out of 25% friendship, 1% love of football, and 75% pure idiocy. It is a keeper league, and forever shall remain a keeper league. The league was formed by Commissioner Chris Haigney and consisted of nine founding members: Matt Altman, Matt Winter, Ian Lane, John Condon, Matt Condon, Dave Slater, Joe Trendowski, Peter Ott, and Matt Verone.

Notable changes over time include: Greg Cupelo replacing Matt Condon (2005), expansion to 12 teams adding Mike Lane and Mike Sterbank (2008), Joe Trendowski's franchise moving to Matt Condon (2015), and in 2017 Kratz & Corey replacing Greg Cupelo.

"This Charter is worth its weight in Guinness."

General Rules

• All rules live in this document.
• Pre-season rule changes require > 50% approval. In-season changes require > 75% approval.
• Each team may keep up to 3 players from the previous roster.
• No collusion, conspiring, cheating, or skullduggery (conniving excluded).
• Last-place team must dress per the champion's choice at the draft. No photos.
• Champions must engrave their victory on the Glorious Meat Plate.

Draft Order

Draft Lottery (non-playoff teams)

Lottery held at the Christmas Party or July 3rd Tournament; otherwise day-of-draft.

Trades

• Veto Power: Commissioner vetoes only for egregious cases or collusion.
• Off-season: Keepers only; must be 1-for-1, 2-for-2, etc. Uneven deals process after draft starts. Players traded in the off-season must be kept.
• Draft Picks: Equal number of picks each way; future picks allowed. If unspecified, the returned pick is the manager's last remaining pick.
• Waiting Period: In-season trades: 24h (12h if Thursday players involved). Off-season: immediate.
• Deadline: Whiskey Wednesday (Wednesday before Thanksgiving).

Rosters

• Active player required at each position.
• The Vern Rule: Starting an inactive player (bye/IR/ruled out pre-Sunday) costs a 6th-round pick; repeat violations move the penalty up each time.
• Benching to protect a lead is allowed.
• New fathers (< 6 months) or managers abroad are exempt from same-week "ruled out" surprises.

Waivers

• All non-rostered players enter waivers at kickoff until Tuesday; bye players enter Monday 8:30 PM ET.
• FAAB: $100 budget. Ties resolve by waiver priority; successful claim moves you to the end.
• Dropped players sit for 2 days before they can be claimed.

Scoring

Offense

Kicker

Defense / Special Teams

Punt returns count for the player (not the DEF). Kickoff returns for TD count for the defense; kick returns allowed for TD count against the defense.

Divisions

• Division Draft: Pre-draft, bottom four teams draft a pod (top-4 or middle-4 finishers) as divisional rivals (non-snake: 9th → 10th → 11th → 12th).
• Scheduling: Play every team once; divisional rivals twice.

Playoffs

• Top 6 qualify; top 2 get a bye.
• Runs Week 14 → Week 16.
• Non-playoff teams may still make roster moves.

League Fees & Payouts

• Fees: $150 due before NFL Week 1 (PayPal or cash). Unpaid: Commissioner sets lineups.

Payouts

Full 2017 Transcript

The League History

2017 Edition

Table of Contents

General Rules  2
Draft Order  3
Trades  4
Rosters  5
Waivers  6
Scoring  7
Divisions  9
Playoffs  10
League Fees and Payouts  11
2004  12
2005  15
2006  18
2007  21
2008  24
2009  27
2010  30
2011  33
2012  36
2013  39
2014  42
2015  45
2016  48

League Charter
This league was formed out of 25% friendship, 1% for the love of football, and 75% pure idiocy.
It is a keeper league, and forever shall remain a keeper league. The league was formed by Commissioner Chris Haigney and consisted of 9 founding members. Matt Altman, Matt Winter, Ian Lane, John Condon, Matt Condon, Dave Slater, Joe Trendowski, Peter Ott, and Matt Verone. Following the 2004 season, Matt Condon parted ways from The League. Greg Cupelo took control of his team. In 2008, The League expanded to 12 teams and added Mike Lane and Mike Sterbank as managers. In 2015, founding member Joe Trendowski resigned from his position as manager and his team was restationed to Matt Condon. In 2017 Greg Cupelo left the league to manage the Camillus Dump. His team was given over to the LA-based, award winning writing duo of Brian Kratz and Josh Corey.
This is a competitive league and each manager is expected to manage his team to the best of their abilities (as they see fit).
All members agree to follow these specified rules.  Any issues not addressed in this document will be voted upon and then the charter will be updated to reflect said change.  This Charter is worth its weight in Guinness.

General Rules
All rules will be found in this document.
All pre-season rule changes require >50% of votes in favor.
All in-season rule changes require >75% of votes in favor.
Each team may keep up to 3 players from the previous year roster.
No collusion, conspiring, cheating, or skullduggery of any kind is acceptable (conniving excluded).
At the draft the last place team must dress in a fashion chosen by the championship team. No photos allowed.
All Champions must get their victory engraved on the Glorious Meat Plate to be saved for all eternity.

Draft Order
12th Pick: The previous year's Champion.
11th Pick: The previous year's runner up.
10th Pick: Team winning the consolation game.
9th Pick: Team losing the consolation game.
8th Pick: Winner of the Whiskey Bowl can choose this or 7th pick. Loser will receive the other pick.
7th Pick: Winner of the Whiskey Bowl can choose this or 7th pick. Loser will receive the other pick.
Draft Lottery: The remaining picks will be chosen at random via a draft lottery...
            

We'll keep formatting the remaining years (2005–2016) into the pretty layout above.