The Official Constitution of the Game of Throws Fantasy Football League (GoTFFL)

Preamble

Welcome to the Game of Throws Fantasy Football League (GoTFFL). Established in 2014, this league is a competitive and engaging 12-team money league founded on the principles of sportsmanship, strategy, and fun. This constitution serves as the governing document for all league activities. Its purpose is to provide a clear and comprehensive set of rules to ensure fair play and enjoyment for all members. All owners are expected to read and abide by this constitution.

Article I: League Governance

Section 1.1: Executive Committee

The GoTFFL is managed by an Executive Committee responsible for all league operations and dispute resolution.

• Commissioner: Domenick

• Co-Commissioner: Antonio

The Executive Committee’s decisions on all matters are final. If a dispute involves a member of the Committee, that member will recuse themselves from the decision-making process.

Section 1.2: Living Constitution & Amendments

This is a living constitution, subject to review and amendment during the offseason. All rule changes require a majority vote from the league owners, with the Commissioner breaking any ties. Suggestions for rule changes should be submitted to the Executive Committee for consideration before the annual league meeting.

Section 1.3: Platform Governance

The official hosting platform for the GoTFFL is Yahoo! Fantasy Sports. In the event of a discrepancy between this constitution and the Yahoo! league settings, the Yahoo! settings will be considered the binding rule, unless otherwise specified herein.

Article II: League Finances

Section 2.1: League Fees

The annual league fee is $85.00 per owner. This fee is mandatory and must be paid to the Commissioner on or before the scheduled draft time. This fee includes the entry fee and league expenses. Failure to pay by the deadline may result in forfeiture of draft position or team ownership, at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

Section 2.2: Prize Distribution

The total prize pool of $900 will be distributed as follows within seven days of the conclusion of the GoTFFL Championship:

• League Champion: $600

• League Runner-Up: $200

• Regular Season Points Leader: $100

Article III: League Structure & Schedule

Section 3.1: Teams & Divisions

The league consists of 12 teams, organized into three divisions:

• The Crownlands

• The Westerlands

• The North

Divisions are realigned annually based on the draft order, ensuring a new competitive landscape each season.

• The North: Draft Picks 1, 4, 7, 10

• The Westerlands: Draft Picks 2, 5, 8, 11

• The Crownlands: Draft Picks 3, 6, 9, 12

Section 3.2: Regular Season

The regular season spans 14 weeks. The schedule is generated by the league platform, with each team playing divisional opponents twice and all non-divisional opponents once.

Section 3.3: Playoffs

The playoffs begin in Week 15 and conclude with the Iron Bowl in Week 17.

• Qualification: Six teams will qualify for the playoffs. The three division winners automatically secure a spot. The remaining three spots are awarded to the non-division winners with the best overall records.

• Seeding: The top two division winners, determined by overall record, will receive a first-round bye (Seeds #1 and #2). All other teams will be seeded #3 through #6 based on the tiebreaker rules.

• Tiebreaker Criteria (for playoff seeding and division ranking):

  1. Overall Win-Loss-Tie Record

  2. Head-to-Head Record

  3. Total Points For

  4. Divisional Record

  5. Total Points Against (Lowest)

  6. Virtual Coin Flip

• Playoff Schedule:

  • Quarterfinals (Week 15): Seed #3 vs. Seed #6; Seed #4 vs. Seed #5.

  • Semifinals (Week 16): Seed #1 vs. lowest remaining seed; Seed #2 vs. highest remaining seed.

  • GoTFFL Iron Bowl (Week 17): Winners of the Semifinal matchups.

Article IV: The Annual Draft

Section 4.1: Draft Order Determination

The annual draft order is determined as follows:

• Playoff Teams (Picks 7-12): Ordered in reverse of their final playoff standings. (Champion picks 12th, Runner-up 11th, etc.).

• Non-Playoff Teams (Picks 1-6): The draft order for the first round is determined by a weighted lottery to discourage tanking. The six non-playoff teams will have the following odds to secure the #1 or #2 overall pick:

  • 7th Place Finish (Worst Record): 28.57%

  • 8th Place Finish: 23.81%

  • 9th Place Finish: 19.05%

  • 10th Place Finish: 14.29%

  • 11th Place Finish: 9.52%

  • 12th Place Finish (Best non-playoff record): 4.76%

• Once the top two picks are assigned via lottery, the remaining four non-playoff teams will fill picks #3-#6 in reverse order of their regular-season standings.

• Rounds 2-16: The draft will follow a non-serpentine (linear) order based on the final regular-season standings (worst record picks first in each round).

Section 4.2: Draft Procedure

The draft will be conducted live and in-person at a location designated by the Commissioner.

• Draft Time Limits:

  • Rounds 1-5: 120 seconds per pick.

  • Rounds 6-16: 90 seconds per pick.

• If an owner exceeds the time limit, the next owner is on the clock. The skipped owner will have 30 seconds to submit their pick before being skipped again.

Article V: Roster & Player Management

Section 5.1: Roster Composition

Each team will have a roster of 18 players, structured as follows:

• Starters (9):

  • 1 Quarterback (QB)

  • 2 Running Backs (RB)

  • 2 Wide Receivers (WR)

  • 1 Tight End (TE)

  • 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE)

  • 1 Place Kicker (K)

  • 1 Defense/Special Teams (D/ST)

• Bench (7): Any position.

• Injured Reserve (IR) (2): Players must have an official IR, PUP, or Out designation from the NFL to be eligible.

Section 5.2: Keeper Rules

GoTFFL is a 3-player keeper league. Owners may retain up to three eligible players from their previous season’s roster.

• Keeper Declaration: Keepers must be officially declared by the deadline set by the Commissioner (typically one week before the draft).

• Keeper Cost: Keeping a player forfeits a draft pick one round earlier than where the player was drafted in the previous year.

  • Example: A player drafted in the 15th round costs a 14th-round pick to keep the following year.

• Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA) Cost: A player acquired from the waiver wire or free agency costs a 16th-round pick to keep.

• Keeper Conflicts: If an owner designates two keepers that have the same round value, one must be assigned to the preceding round.

  • Example: An owner wishes to keep Player A (10th round value) and Player B (10th round value). They must forfeit their 10th and 9th round picks for these players. An owner may use a traded draft pick to resolve this conflict.

• Ineligible Keepers:

  • Players drafted in the 1st round cannot be kept.

  • Kickers (K) and Defense/Special Teams (D/ST) cannot be kept.

Section 5.3: Player Contracts

To promote league parity, players are subject to a contract system that limits how long they can be kept consecutively.

• Contract Length: All players begin with a 4-year contract upon being drafted. A player may be kept for a maximum of 3 consecutive seasons (totaling 4 years on a roster).

• Draft Round Limitation: The initial draft round of a player can reduce their maximum keepable years:

  • 2nd Round Draft Pick: Can only be kept for one year.

  • 3rd Round Draft Pick: Can only be kept for two years.

  • 4th Round or later Draft Pick: Can be kept for the full three years.

• Contract Continuity: A player’s contract year status is tied to the player, not the team. A traded player’s contract does not reset. It resets only when the player is released back into the main draft pool and is re-drafted.

  • Example:

    • 2024: Player X is drafted in the 6th round (4 years remaining on contract).

    • 2025: Kept for a 5th-round pick (3 years remaining).

    • 2026: Kept for a 4th-round pick (2 years remaining).

    • 2027: Kept for a 3rd-round pick (1 year remaining).

    • 2028: Contract expired. Player X returns to the draft pool.

Section 5.4: Player Transactions

5.4.1: Waivers & Free Agency (FAAB)

This league uses a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) system for all waiver claims.

• Budget: Each team receives a $100 seasonal budget for waiver acquisitions. This budget does not renew.

• Waiver Process:

  1. All un-owned players lock at the start of their respective games each week.

  2. They enter a waiver period. Owners may place blind bids from their FAAB on these players.

  3. Waivers process on Wednesday morning. The highest bidder for a player acquires them, and the winning bid amount is deducted from their budget.

• FAAB Tiebreaker: If multiple teams bid the same amount, the player is awarded to the team with the lower standing in the league (reverse order of standings).

• $0 Bids: $0 bids are permitted.

• Free Agency: After the waiver period clears, any remaining un-owned players become free agents, available for immediate, first-come, first-served pickup without using the FAAB budget. Free agency remains open until players lock for their respective games.

5.4.2: Trades

Trading is highly encouraged to improve teams.

• Eligible Assets: Trades can involve players and/or draft picks from the current and upcoming seasons. Conditional trades are permitted.

• In-Season Trades: Trades must involve an equal number of players/picks from both sides to maintain roster limits. The trade deadline will be prior to the kickoff of Week 12 games. No trades are allowed after this deadline until the offseason.

• Offseason Trades:

  • Any player acquired via an offseason trade must be declared as one of that owner’s three keepers for the upcoming season.

  • An owner cannot acquire more players via offseason trades than their available keeper slots.

  • Players with expired contracts cannot be traded in the offseason.

• Trade Vetoes: The Executive Committee reserves the right to veto any trade that is demonstrably unfair, involves collusion, or compromises the integrity of the league. This power will be used only in extreme circumstances. The involved parties will be allowed to defend their trade, but the Committee’s final decision is binding.

Article VI: Owner Conduct & Responsibilities

Section 6.1: Active Management

All owners are expected to manage their team actively throughout the entire season, including setting a valid lineup each week. A valid lineup does not contain players who are on a bye week, injured (IR), or suspended.

Section 6.2: Anti-Tanking & Competitive Integrity

Intentionally submitting a non-competitive lineup to lose a matchup is strictly forbidden. The Executive Committee reserves the right to adjust a lineup if it is clearly set to an unfair disadvantage. Repeated violations will be subject to penalties, including potential forfeiture of future draft picks or removal from the league.

Section 6.3: Bye Week Penalty

If an owner starts a player who is on a bye week, that owner will be forced to drop the bye-week player to the waiver wire as a penalty. It is each owner’s sole responsibility to ensure their lineup is valid before games begin.

Article VII: League Scoring

Scoring is fractional and calculated to two decimal places.

Section 7.1: Offensive Scoring (QB, RB, WR, TE)

Section 7.2: Kicker Scoring (K)

Section 7.3: Defensive/Special Teams Scoring (D/ST)

Section 7.4: Stat Corrections

Weekly matchup results are considered final as of Tuesday at 12:00 PM (Noon) Eastern Time. Any official NFL stat corrections that occur after this time will not be applied to the previous week’s results.

Conclusion

This constitution is designed to create a stable, fair, and fun environment for all GoTFFL owners. By joining the league, you agree to abide by these rules. Let’s have a great season!