2012 - If an Owner fails to start a player at any of the required positions in a given week, the Owner shall receive -10 points for that position that week.
2012 - If an Owner starts a player whose team is on its bye week, the Owner shall receive -10 points for that position that week.
2019 - In the Unrestricted Free Agent Auction, an Owner may not pass on placing a player up for bid when it is his turn in the bidding order.
2020 - COVID-19-Specific Rules for 2020 Season:
1. Should the NFL season start, but be abandoned prior to the kickoff of the first NFL game in week 9, the 2020 U-League season would also be abandoned. No champion would be crowned, no payouts would occur, and all franchise fees would be refunded. However, a player contract year would still click off.
2. Should the NFL abandon its season after the kickoff of the first NFL game in week 9, the team with the best record at the point the season is abandoned (using all tiebreakers, if necessary) would be crowned Owners Cup champions. Player contract years will click off. Should there still be a tie all after all tiebreakers are applied except for drawing of lots/coin flip, the tied teams would be named co-champions. 2nd-4th Place would be determined the same way. Tied teams would split payouts. However, all payouts would be halved and the remaining half of franchise fees would be refunded.
3. Should the NFL pause its season at any point, with the intention of resuming it later, the U-League season would also be paused and we'd wait and see what the NFL ultimately does (resumes later or abandons the season) and proceed accordingly.
4. Be aware that it is almost certain that some players will be scratched right before kickoff this season due to a positive COVID test. We will treat those situations the same as we would a player who is hurt during warmups. I realize this could add some difficulty to setting your lineups. Unfortunately, it's just how it has to be and I'd highly recommend checking the status of all of your starters right before kickoff and planning ahead for possible afternoon and night game swap outs. I'll do my best to alert everyone if I see the news that a player has been scratched, but I can't guarantee that.
5. If an individual NFL game is postponed, but the rest of the week is played as normal, the individual situation and how the NFL and the ESPN site handle it, will dictate what we do. Because there are multiple options for how the NFL will handle these situations, we'll have to deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
6. Finally, it's highly likely that unforeseen situations will arise this season that will force us to do things that are out of the ordinary. Sometimes, this may help your team. Sometimes, it may hurt your team. As I've said numerous times, we have to be prepared to be flexible this season. This thing makes all sorts of weirdness possible. The structure of our schedule and the above rules cover a number of possible eventualities, but this situation is too volatile to predict everything that might happen. Anything not covered above will have to be handled on the fly.
7. Should the certainty of a scheduled NFL game being played within its scheduled game week be in doubt due to positive COVID-19 tests, the following procedures will be implemented:
A) The Commissioner will announce to the league via email or text that a particular game being played is in doubt, but not official.
B) "Backup" players will then be permitted for players in the in-doubt game.
C) "Backup" players will only be used if the in-doubt game is not played within its scheduled game week.
D) If the in-doubt game is played during its scheduled game week, "backup" players will not be accepted for players who are injured.
E) To make use of this option, an Owner must post on the league message board on ESPN.com listing a specific backup for each player in the in doubt game started.
F) All normal lineup rules must still be followed.
G) "Backup" players must be posted prior to the kickoff of the "backup" player's game. Message board time stamps will be used.
H) If the in-doubt game is rescheduled out of the scheduled game week, lineup will be adjusted by swapping in the "backup" players listed.
2021 - COVID-19-Specific Rules for 2020 season shall remain in effect for 2021 season.
2012 - If an Owner starts a player whose team is on its bye week, the Owner shall receive -10 points for that position that week.
2019 - In the Unrestricted Free Agent Auction, an Owner may not pass on placing a player up for bid when it is his turn in the bidding order.
2020 - COVID-19-Specific Rules for 2020 Season:
1. Should the NFL season start, but be abandoned prior to the kickoff of the first NFL game in week 9, the 2020 U-League season would also be abandoned. No champion would be crowned, no payouts would occur, and all franchise fees would be refunded. However, a player contract year would still click off.
2. Should the NFL abandon its season after the kickoff of the first NFL game in week 9, the team with the best record at the point the season is abandoned (using all tiebreakers, if necessary) would be crowned Owners Cup champions. Player contract years will click off. Should there still be a tie all after all tiebreakers are applied except for drawing of lots/coin flip, the tied teams would be named co-champions. 2nd-4th Place would be determined the same way. Tied teams would split payouts. However, all payouts would be halved and the remaining half of franchise fees would be refunded.
3. Should the NFL pause its season at any point, with the intention of resuming it later, the U-League season would also be paused and we'd wait and see what the NFL ultimately does (resumes later or abandons the season) and proceed accordingly.
4. Be aware that it is almost certain that some players will be scratched right before kickoff this season due to a positive COVID test. We will treat those situations the same as we would a player who is hurt during warmups. I realize this could add some difficulty to setting your lineups. Unfortunately, it's just how it has to be and I'd highly recommend checking the status of all of your starters right before kickoff and planning ahead for possible afternoon and night game swap outs. I'll do my best to alert everyone if I see the news that a player has been scratched, but I can't guarantee that.
5. If an individual NFL game is postponed, but the rest of the week is played as normal, the individual situation and how the NFL and the ESPN site handle it, will dictate what we do. Because there are multiple options for how the NFL will handle these situations, we'll have to deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
6. Finally, it's highly likely that unforeseen situations will arise this season that will force us to do things that are out of the ordinary. Sometimes, this may help your team. Sometimes, it may hurt your team. As I've said numerous times, we have to be prepared to be flexible this season. This thing makes all sorts of weirdness possible. The structure of our schedule and the above rules cover a number of possible eventualities, but this situation is too volatile to predict everything that might happen. Anything not covered above will have to be handled on the fly.
7. Should the certainty of a scheduled NFL game being played within its scheduled game week be in doubt due to positive COVID-19 tests, the following procedures will be implemented:
A) The Commissioner will announce to the league via email or text that a particular game being played is in doubt, but not official.
B) "Backup" players will then be permitted for players in the in-doubt game.
C) "Backup" players will only be used if the in-doubt game is not played within its scheduled game week.
D) If the in-doubt game is played during its scheduled game week, "backup" players will not be accepted for players who are injured.
E) To make use of this option, an Owner must post on the league message board on ESPN.com listing a specific backup for each player in the in doubt game started.
F) All normal lineup rules must still be followed.
G) "Backup" players must be posted prior to the kickoff of the "backup" player's game. Message board time stamps will be used.
H) If the in-doubt game is rescheduled out of the scheduled game week, lineup will be adjusted by swapping in the "backup" players listed.
2021 - COVID-19-Specific Rules for 2020 season shall remain in effect for 2021 season.