GFL Constitution

Updated February 17, 2024

**A. Fees and League Management**

• Each team must pay $250 by the start of the draft. Any team which has an outstanding balance cannot participate in the draft.

• GMs taking an expansion team play for free their first 2 seasons if they have NO GFL experience with Action

• GMs taking an existing team play for free their first season if they have NO GFL experience with Action

• GMs taking an expansion team play for free their first season if they have GFL experience with Action

• GMs taking an existing team must pay if they have GFL experience with Action

• A non-refundable $250 escrow fee will be paid by any new coach taking an expansion team or existing team. This escrow fee will be applied to fees in future seasons 2nd or 3rd year depending on the points above.

A2. The SB winner will host the annual party and $600 is set aside for the party.

A3. Payments are generally made twice per season since many coaches exceed the $50 for free agent and injury pickup transactions. Payments must be made within one week of the end of the GFL regular season.

A4. No league prize money can be paid until all league fees are paid. Coaches who do not pay the balance of their league fees are subject to league dismissal.

A5. The Commissioner is elected by the League Members and an election is held every 2 years before March 1st.

A6. The Commissioner will select a League Treasurer who will collect, hold, and issue payouts. The Treasurer will keep track of league transactions along with the league statistician.

A7. The League Statistician is the keeper of the official league directory and provides updates to the directory including player transactions and game results.

A8. The Commissioner will appoint an Assistant Commissioner who will rule on any matters where there is a conflict of interest with the Commissioner. More than likely this would involve rulings that apply to the Commissioner’s team and the Commissioner’s actions as a Coach/GM.

**B. Draft & Roster Rules**

B1. The GFL is a continuous ownership league that attempts to follow NFL rules where possible.

Rosters. During the GFL season, 46 players can be active for a game with a maximum roster size of 53 not including injured or Injured Reserve (IR) players. This is subject to change based on NFL rules.

Rosters may exceed the limit due to injured players who are Inactive and due to players (un-carded or injured during a GFL season) who are placed on IR. All other players beyond the aforementioned must be inactive for a game. A player's status set at the beginning of the game cannot change. He cannot be switched from Active to Inactive or vice versa once a game begins.

B2. Only players listed in the "Action PC Football" game for the season being utilized may be drafted.

B3. At the end of the GFL season, each GM will submit a 30-man protected roster, 8 other pullback players who will be kept if there is no expansion, and will specifically list out all other players who are cuts. The cut list is required to minimize the chance of any confusion. This is due on March 1 at 12:00 AM. The 30 men protected roster and 8 other players will be retained if there is no expansion. If there are 2 expansion teams, then 26 players will be protected and 12 other players identified as pullbacks

B4. Any GM who misses the deadline for submitting his protected list and pullback list is subject to losing draft picks in the upcoming draft. If a team goes over the cuts deadline period which will be midnight March 1st same date as expansion team deadline, they lose their 5th round draft pick (they are skipped ). If the team continues to not set keepers after 1 week, instead of the 5th they lose their 4th. And it will continue on like this:
2 weeks - third round instead of 5th or 4th.
3 weeks - 2nd round
4 weeks - 1st round.

B5. GMs can protect a max of 2 QBs on their 38-man roster. All other positions have no max on the 30 man list.

B6. Any player may be retained on a roster from one year to the next provided he is included on the 30-man roster submitted at the end of the season. This includes players that are injured in the NFL season, which may result in that player not being carded in the upcoming GFL season.

B7. There can be a maximum of 5 players on IR per team. Once a player is placed on IR he is out for the GFL season and cannot be used again under any circumstance. To be placed on IR, the player must either not be carded or must sustain an injury in the current GFL season. Note that this rule is not in line with the NFL rule which was changed in 2012 and then again in 2018. There is no applicability in the GFL for making this change.

[The NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed to a short-term IR rule change which took effect in 2012. The change allowed one player (per team) to be activated from the IR list, and was changed again in 2018 so each team can return up to two players during the season.] B8. Players on the IR list that were un-carded and players placed on IR that were injured during the GFL season (players drafted or acquired via free-agent pickup or trade) can be protected on post-season 30 and 38 man rosters. Injury pickups that suffer a GFL injury cannot be placed on IR and cannot be protected on post-season 30 and 38 man rosters.

B9. After the PC Action Football ratings are produced and after any expansion draft that may occur, there will be a Free Agent Draft which begins the official release date of the Action game that will consist of an unlimited number of rounds.

B10. Starting with the 1st round there is a time limit of 24 hours to make a pick. The 24-hour clock starts when the pick is posted by the preceding coach. Starting with the 3rd round there is a time limit of 12 hours to make a pick. The 12-hour clock starts when the pick is posted by the preceding coach. If a GM time expires, they will automatically miss future picks unless they have filled the missing pick. If a GM time expires 3 or more rounds in the draft, they will be automatically be skipped in subsequent rounds. They can still draft players, but they will have 0 time to make picks.

B11. After the Free Agent Draft has concluded, GMs may sign players off of the free agent list. The roster limit must be maintained at all times so a roster cut may be necessary. Released players are put in the free-agent pool. Injured players (in the current GFL season) and players on IR do not count towards the roster limit total. All monies generated post-draft will be added to the post-season payout figures.

B12. Draft Order is determined by NFL Rule.

• If there is an expansion team, that team will pick first, and if there are two expansion teams, they will flip a coin with one team getting the first pick in the draft and the other in the expansion draft of current players.

B13. The draft can start anytime after the finalized game is released and new season divisions have been set.. The draft clock starts 1 week after the final game is released. This allows 2nd and subsequent pick to have no time limit until 1 week.

B14. The draft is over once every team has not made a pick 48 hours after the last pick. (Note that the draft usually lasts 20 rounds).

B15. Divisions will be set prior to the current season draft. The number of divisions will be as follows:

• 10-12 teams - 2 divisions
• 13 - 3 divisions
• 14 - 2 divisions
• 15 - 3 divisions
• 16 - 4 divisions
• 17 - 1 division
• 18 - 3 divisions
• 19-20 - 4 divisions

**C. Expansion.**

C2. The expansion team needs to have a minimum of 38 players after the expansion draft and can have a max of the NFL roster limit.

C3. The expansion team will be given a one-year grace period on losing players to expansion if there is expansion the following season. They will not have to cut their roster to 30 at year-end but instead will reduce their roster to 38 which will be their rosters entering the GFL regular draft. They can lose players (39-5x) to the new expansion team(s). An Expansion team will not be allowed to protect more than 4 QBs on their 38 man protected lists. All other positions have no max.

C4. In the event an existing coach drops out of the league, the new coach will have the option of taking over any franchise that no longer has a coach or drafting a team via the expansion rules. If there is more than one existing franchise available the expansion coach(es) can either:

• draw to see who gets the first choice of what team;
• combine the available teams and conduct a draft

**D. Trades**

D1. Trading Deadline: Trading for the current GFL season ends at same time as NFL trading deadline.

D2. Rules Governing Trades:

1. A trade is considered official when both coaches confirm the trade on the GFL message board or when the trade is made and jointly announced at a league function such as the Super Bowl party.

2. All conditions of the trade must be specified at the time of the trade. If conditions are not specified, then it is assumed that none exist.

3. Under extraordinary circumstances where a trade is deemed completely one-sided and thus not made for competitive reasons, a league review of the trade can be initiated by the Commissioner.

D3. A trade effective for the following season may be made anytime with the following provisions:

1. The players involved in the trade must be accounted for on the 30 man rosters that are submitted at the end of the season. Example: Green Bay makes a trade effective next season with Detroit and agrees to trade an OLB to Detroit for Detroit's first-round pick in next year's draft. The OLB must be accounted for on Green Bay's 30 man roster submitted at year-end.

2. If a team quits the league in that upcoming year, the remaining team will not lose the pick. The remaining team will select where the quitting team would have picked. So if I trade a LB for a number one but that team quits the league, then I get the pick that WOULD HAVE been in place had that team not quit. The pick would be somewhere between 2 teams that remain in the league. D4. $10.00 FREE AGENT PICKUPS: A free-agent at any position may be signed up until the NFL trading deadline for $10. If the free-agent signing takes the roster above the NFL roster limit, (not including injured players or players on IR) then a cut MUST BE submitted with the signing. If there is no cut specified then the signing cannot take place and will not be recognized. All FA signings and cuts must be made on the GFL email group.

D5. INJURY PLAYER PICKUPS:

1. A $0.00 Interim Injury pick-up can be made with the stipulation that the player signed must play the same position as the injured player and be returned to the Free Agent pool when the Injured Player is healed. A team's roster may exceed the 53 player limit when there is an injury pick-up until the injured player heals.

2. ~~A $0.00 Interim Injury pick-up can be made with the stipulation that the player signed does not have to play the same position as the injured player and be returned to the Free Agent pool when the Injured Player is healed. A team's roster may exceed the 53 player limit when there is an injury pick up until the injured player heals.~~ This rule was changed by vote. Injury pickup must be at same position. 4/14/2024 3. INJURY PLAYER PICKUP RETAINED: A player picked-up due to an injury may be retained at no additional cost for more than one injury when another player on that team is hurt in a subsequent game. When the player that was injured in the subsequent game is healed, you must then cut the player picked-up.

3. No injury pickups can be included on post season 30 or 38 man rosters.

D6. Injury rule pertaining to games unavailable for the injured player.

1. An injured player will miss the subsequent weeks in the schedule from the week in the schedule from which his injury occurred. e.g. Player X gets injured for 4 games playing for Team A in Team A's Week 3 game. Player X will be injured for GFL Schedule weeks 4 thru 7 and is eligible to play in Week 8. This is irrespective of whether Player X is a free agent or signed by another team after the injury occurred who might be playing in another scheduled week.

2. A player can never play in a scheduled week prior to or equal to one which he has already played. e.g. Player X's last game played was for Team A in a Week 4 game. Player X cannot play a game for another team in any week prior to Week 5.

**E. Protocol**

E2. Coaches must play their games within the week they are scheduled or their computer coach (which they can program) will play the game. Of course exceptions can be made when there is a good reason and the commissioner is notified in advance. The delay cannot go beyond the 2nd week from the scheduled game. Example: Game scheduled for Monday Sept. 1. You have until Monday Sept. 8 to play the game or the Computer Coach will play. Coaches of existing GFL teams are prohibited to coach other GFL teams.

E3. An unexcused failure to play the scheduled game could result in the Commissioner determining that the computer coach should play the game for the absent Coach depending on the situation.

E4. A Coach who quits playing during a game without good reason will have the computer coach finish the game for him. If the quitting team is the host then he must forward the game file to his opponent immediately. The Commissioner will rule on whether the offending Coach should have his hosting privileges suspended.

E5. A Coach who explicitly or obviously quits the league will have his remaining games played by the computer coach or by a potential new Coach. As per Rule E2 the games cannot be played by an existing Coach.

E6. The treasurer will collect all money for league fees, including league entry and player transaction fees that must be paid.

E7. If there is a dispute during a game both coaches must agree before a play can be done over. Common sense and fairness should be the rule. Examples: If a non-kicker attempts and misses a FG or Extra Point then it is obvious that play should be re-done with the Kicker making the attempt. If an Option Pass is attempted and the passer turns out to be a player not chosen and he throws an interception, then it should be assumed that the game is working properly and the text is incorrect. That play should stand.

E8. It is the responsibility of each Coach to see that his lineups are correct at all times. A coach cannot assume that he has the right to re-do a play because he notices after the fact that his lineups are incorrect.

E9. The Commissioner is the sole person that can post league polls. All league members should request that the Commissioner post a league poll.

E10. The results of a vote are effective for at least one GFL season. No other vote on the same issue can be taken until one season is completed where the results of said vote is enforced.

E11. For all GFL polls where there are more than two (2) choices, there must be a plurality of 50% & 1 vote in order for a choice to win. In the event no one choice achieves the plurality, the top two choices in accumulating votes would then have a runoff vote.

E12. All on-line polls having to do with league rule change proposals must have a two week time limit as to when the poll closes. The Commissioner will follow up with Coaches that have not yet cast a vote.

E13. In order for a poll result to be official at least half the members of the league must vote. If there is a poll in which less than half the members have voted at the time the Poll is closed, then the result will be considered null and the status quo will remain.

E14. Press Box Narrator must be turned off when playing online opponent. This can only be turned on if both coaches agree. (can be turned off on Setup Screen, Sound tab)

E15. Teams must deploy a 46 man active roster that is healthy. Teams that do not maintain a 46 man active healthy roster will have a player chosen to their team from free agency to make their roster legal. The player chosen will be the highest rated free agent player at that position. The action taken to make a roster legal ( 46 man healthy roster ) if a team fails to do it will be done by league commissioner or assistant commissioner.

**F. Post Season**.

F1. The number of teams that qualify for the playoffs is based on the number of teams in the league and the format of the divisions. This is announced prior to the start of the draft and is based on NFL Rules. For 2024 season which has 18 teams, there will be 8 playoff teams. Use past season if not decided prior to season starting.

F2. GFL regular season stats and injuries do carry over to the playoffs as per the operation of the Action Football game and the Playoff Module which is used. Coaches are encouraged to monitor player usage as it compares to their actual NFL stats

F3. The Action Playoff Mode will be used for post season play unless circumstances such as an inability to create the seedlings properly or game malfunction dictate otherwise.

F4. Playoff seeding is the same as the NFL. Division winner gets a home field game. In some cases depending on division format, a Wild Card with the best record amongst wild card teams may secure a home field game. In some seasons, BYES are in place. We follow NFL Rules. F5. NFL tie-breaker rules are in effect to determine playoff seeding.
NFL Tie-breaker rules (always confirm that the latest NFL rules are in effect***):*** F6. The Super Bowl is played at the stadium where the current NFL Super Bowl is being played and the Home Field Advantage flag will be set to OFF. There will be a one week rest period prior to the Super Bowl, if the NFL had an off week the current year.

F7. Payouts are determined at the beginning of the season and the League Treasurer notifies the league of the details. Since player transaction money is accumulated throughout the season, exact figures will be determined at the end of the GFL regular season.

**G. GAME RULES AND SETTINGS**