NNFL - Madden23
I. Intro/League Mission
Going into our 12th consecutive year, we’ve seen the NNFL evolve into a very successful community. This league will not be suitable for everyone. If you are looking for a controlled gameplay environment, this is not the league for you. Bitching, moaning, and complaining about your opponent’s play style after every loss will not be accepted. Welcome to the NNFL!
Requirements For NNFL Admittance
1. You must be a mature adult 21+ and respect all other members of the community
2. You must understand that games will be simmed on occasion if schedules do not sync up, there will be no games played against the CPU.
3. You must communicate daily and use Discord to schedule games.
4. You should be available to play most of your games from 9:00 PM to Midnight EST every day, otherwise known as "Preferred Hours".
*Failure to comply with any of these requirements will result in dismissal from the league. Depending on the circumstances, you may or may not be invited back.
Communication
You are required to use Discord for all league communication. This is the best way to be informed on league news, schedule games with your opponent, and socialize with other league members
II. Gameplay Rules and Advance Schedules
Rules & Regulations
NNFL plays 8-minute quarters, with 20 second accelerated clock on All-Madden difficulty with custom sliders.
Gameplay in NNFL will be wide open but leave the YouTube money plays and “lobby ball” at the door. This means that coaches can utilize their personnel and their play calling however they wish. Want to throw 15 screens in a row? That’s on you. There will be no harsh gameplay rules. Whatever the game allows will be acceptable. Just like in real life, you will have your own free will to call the plays you want and attempt to outmatch your opponent. There will be no rules to complain about or to cause controversy. It is an equal playing field for everyone. There won't be 4th down, onside kick, or no-huddle rules. The NNFL is not a "no rules" league. Don't be a dick.
Be respectful of opponent and gameplay style. Remember that running up the score and excessively padding stats will be frowned upon by league members.
NNFL does NOT allow CPU games.
League Schedule
This league will operate on a 24/48 Hour HYBRID advance schedule, with base advance at 9:00 am EST daily. We strongly encourage all members of the league to play games as quickly as possible, preferably nightly, so we can get in as many seasons as possible. If opponents cannot work out a suitable schedule, and neither is willing to give a Force Win, the game will be a sim. There is no possible way to determine whose schedule is more important. If you are found to be avoiding opponents intentionally, you will have Force Wins given to your opponent and eventually will be removed from the league. If you do not attempt to schedule or provide notice to your opponent repeatedly, you will be removed from the league.
• Advance Days – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
o Advances set for 9am EST.
Monday 9am – 24 hr.
Tuesday 9am – 48 hr.
Thursday 9am – 24 hr.
Friday 9am – 24 hr.
Saturday 9am – 48 hr.
• 48-hour advances will occur over Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday, while Monday, Thursday and Friday will advance at a 24-hour pace. Playoffs will advance at a 24-hour pace.
Force Wins
Force wins will only become an option under certain specific circumstances. Examples of FW situations would be.
1. If game disconnects with a clear winner late in the game
2. The scheduled time is missed by one party and can't be rescheduled (you must try to reschedule).
3. Your opponent is M.I.A for the entire advance period and you have actively been trying to reach them.
4. Player A is only available for minimal time during the advance while Player B is available most of the advance and the game can't get played in that window.
5. If your schedule is why the game cannot be played during the Preferred Hours of 9pm to Midnight est.
FWs do not have to be given if schedules do not match up within the advance period, and both players are available during Preferred Hours. If both players are available for roughly the same amount of time during the advance, this will be a sim.
Force Win will have to be agreed to by both teams and both users will need to PM the admins to advise of the Force Win result, or one user can provide a screenshot of the conversation agreeing to the FW between users.
If you will be going on vacation or have an extended absence, please notify the admins and we will assign your opponents the Force Win while you are gone. Force win requests must be submitted with reason for request and may be denied by admins.
Any games vs a CPU controlled team will be an automatic Force Win for the User team.
The ability to receive a Force Win can be revoked due to any rules being broken.
If you are unavailable to play during a playoff game, it will be expected a Force Win is offered to opponents. We will not have people sim through the playoffs without offering opponents Force Win chance.
Any week that has a Force Win assigned, will have the Injuries slider lowered to 0 (zero) and Injuries turned Off. If there are no Force Wins assigned for a given week, Injuries will remain On.
Game Disconnects
If a game disconnects the following options are available for owners.
1. Replay – This is the preferred option, assuming both owners’ schedule permits
2. Force Win - Admins can assign a win for a team, but BOTH owners must submit the request to an admin for approval. Admins will not assign wins without both owners agreeing to it unless game is out of reach for a comeback.
3. Advance Sim - Game will be simmed without a Force Win being given.
All games (including playoffs) will follow this policy.
Quitting Games & Conceding
If you quit a game, you will be removed from the league.
*Concede Blowout Games*
If a team is losing by 28+ points in the 4th quarter, they now are allowed to concede the game to their opponent. This can only be done in the 4th quarter and the person who is conceding must message their opponent on Discord to let them know they are conceding. Both members must pay attention and check Discord in the 4th quarter if the game is paused in the event of a blowout in case your opponent is conceding. Reminder that you only have one pause per half, so make sure you PM your opponent and if they do not respond @ them in main chat. If your opponent attempts to resume the game and the 30 second timer begins, you have the option to concede before the timer expires, due to the limited one pause per team per half. This will give both members a chance to decide if they do want to concede, and it must be reported to an admin via pm for tracking. The idea is that this will calm some animosity between members in the event of a blowout or spam cheese game.
III. Team Management
Roster
All team MUST maintain a 53-man roster and under the salary cap through the season. If you put someone on IR, you must sign a Free Agent to fill the roster spot. Playing a game without a 53-man roster will require a 4-game suspension of your top offensive player (determined by admins). A second offense will require additional games and/or additional players being suspended. A third offense will require severe player suspensions and firing of your coach.
All teams are required to roster a minimum of SEVEN (7) Offensive Lineman per season. Must have at least one backup T and one backup G/C.
During the Season, if you cut a player you must wait until the next advance before you can re-sign that player.
Free agents may be signed at any time. You are permitted to sign a free agent during FA bidding and trade that player if you wish. You may trade newly drafted rookies as well if you can strike a deal.
Teams eliminated from the playoffs are no longer permitted to sign free agents, as their season is considered over.
PLAYER NAMES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE CHANGED. If you edit a player’s name, you will be required to change it back.
Position Changes
Please keep position changes realistic. Specific limitations are listed below.
WR is allowed to be changed to TE only if 235+ lbs.
DB is allowed to be changed to LB only if 225+ lbs.
WR-to-TE & DB-to-LB Position Change Attributes Modifier- In order to further balance the athleticism at the TE and LB positions to the true NFL, any player that has a Speed rating over the threshold listed below for each position would have their speed reduced and converted to the player's Strength rating (as noted below).
WR to TE will have speed reduced to 89.
DB to LB will have speed reduced to 90.
*Example - 92 spd, 65 str WR would be edited to 89 spd (-3), 68 str (+3) when the position change is made by an admin.*
Player positions may not be changed multiple times weekly.
Player Positions are not allowed to be changed starting Week 13 without permission from admins, this is to avoid Awards sniping. If you have an injury that requires a player position to be changed, you must send PM to admin to request change and wait until it is approved. Any positions changed after Week 13 will result in the player being suspended.
Superstar & X-Factor Players - Restricted & Tracked Position Changes
Any X-Factor or Superstar player will only be allowed to have his position changed **TWICE** for the duration of his career. These position changes will only be allowed in the Offseason. After exhaustion of the 2 moves, a player may be moved one (1) additional time with the approval of an admin. This move will not result in any changes to a player's abilities and will only be approved when necessitated by scheme or roster changes. (Note - Prior to making this move, you must send a PM to an admin with the request and a pic of the player's current abilities). Elite players do not change from LE to RE every offseason, and they will no longer be allowed to do so in the NNFL. These position changes will be recorded on a tracker that will be made available to the league. Any additional unauthorized changes after a player has already used their two position changes may result in dev trait reduction.
If a player that has already used both position changes is traded, that new team will have the option to change the players position **ONCE** only.
Trade Rules
Trading is permitted, but each team owner will be limited to TWO player trades per season (preseason, regular season, and offseason), ONE “draft day” trade and unlimited picks for picks trades during the draft. Your trades can be used at any time the game will allow. Unused trades may not be carried into the next season. Trading with a CPU owned team is not allowed. Trade count will be reset when we advance to the next season preseason.
First round draft picks CAN be traded, including during the season and offseason for players & draft picks but not during the live draft when you are permitted to only trade picks for picks. First Round Picks CANNOT be traded in back-to-back seasons. If an owner trades their First Round Pick or acquires a First Round Pick (current or future seasons) in any way during the season (picks only or for players), you are not permitted to acquire additional or trade your First Round Pick (current or future seasons) in the current season or the following season under any circumstance. You are not allowed to acquire First Round Picks in consecutive seasons. All trades involving First Round picks must be submitted to Trade Admin, so they can be properly tracked.
“Draft Day” Trade – 1 player only for one team, up to 3 picks only for the other team. As we are allowing for more pieces to be moved in the “Big” Trade and allowing teams to trade up/down the First Round of the draft with more flexibility, we are limiting the Draft Day trade to be a maximum of 1 player sent for a maximum of 3 draft picks only. Teams will not be allowed to trade with a Team that they completed a deal with previously that season, in order to prevent any "back-end" trade terms.
New Member Trade Restrictions
Since we have had recent issues with new members making big trades and then leaving the league, we now restrict Five Players and first round pick from being traded by new users until their first full season is complete. The five players will be designated by the admins and cannot be changed unless there is a career-ending injury or retirement.
Here is How Trading Will Work:
Owners will negotiate the terms of their trades in private, please do not use the public chat. You may use the public Discord chat "NNFL Trade Block" to post your trade block and what you are looking for, but not for open negotiations with another owner. Once an offer has been negotiated and agreed upon privately, BOTH owners will submit the trade terms to TheSteve3811 or another admin via pm on Discord for verification. As soon as the trade is submitted to the Admins for approval, it will be considered OFFICIAL unless BOTH teams decide to back out of the trade, or it is rejected by the admins. We will no longer be voting to approve trades; we will instead be verifying that you have not used up your trades. We will no longer evaluate the trade based on perceived value (unless ridiculous in nature) but verifying that you are able to complete the trade within the guidelines set forth in the trade rules. We will also not restrict the number of teams involved in a trade. Just know that each team cannot have more than 3 players being received or sent away. In multiple team trades, each team must be receiving something of value (e.g., you can't combine trades by having two teams swapping picks in the same round). Three-team trades can be rejected if it is deemed as not required to be a multi-team trade by design. When you send in your trades it is very important that the trade makes sense, so be diligent in the way you format the trades you send in. Here is a template you can use:
Team 1 Receives:
Player A, QB, Team 2
Player B, RB, Team 3
Team 2 Receives:
Player C, TE, Team 1
Player D, CB, Team 3
Team 3 Receives:
Player E, LT, Team 1
Player F, RT, Team 2
Trading While Draft is in Progress:
First Round Picks cannot be traded while the Rookie Draft is in Progress, as there is not adequate time to approve the trade.
When it comes to the draft you are not protected, so it is suggested that you leave the draft if you are not attending to your team. (e.g., making your picks) If you are green during the draft, you are considered fair game for trade offers and whatever happens because of it, is what it is. You may NOT trade with the CPU during the draft and all trades during the draft must be of the Picks for Picks variety.
*If you are trading draft picks (rounds 1-7) other than on draft day you will use “Draft Pick Round #” in place of the player format. Trading for draft picks during the draft will be handled differently because they will be happening on the fly while the draft is taking place.
Trading during the draft is unlimited, but trades can only be of the pick for pick variety.
** Please remember to consider contracts, cap hits, and cap penalties before you submit trades. Make sure that you have the room under your cap to carry out the trade. If it is deemed that one of the parties can’t complete the trade due to any reason, the trade will be cancelled.
***Completing trades on the console with CPU teams and/or without verification will require an automatic reversal and loss of the trade and you will be responsible for any cap hits that were incurred. Furthermore, you will also lose your next available trade. Repeat trade offenders will lose multiple future trades.
Contract Length Restrictions for Player Re-Signing and Free Agency
• Player Re-signing
Contract Extensions of 6 & 7 years will not be allowed, unless player requests in contract negotiations, and picture of screen detailing player salary requests must be provided to an admin prior to signing any player for any 6- or 7-year extension. Any contracts exceeding 5 years without proof of player request, will have the full financial value remain the same but the contract length reduced to 5 seasons.
• Free Agency
Players can only be signed to One Year Contacts during Stage 3 of Free Agency. This will prevent the monster 1 Year Contracts for top players, which have adversely affected the Free Agency Stage for several Maddens now. Should a player be signed to an illegal One Year Contract during Stage 1 & Stage 2 of Free Agency, that annual salary & bonus term will be multiplied, and the contract will be extended to a 5 Year Contract. All remaining Free Agents are eligible to be signed to a One Year Contract in Stage 3 of Free Agency.
• Cornerstone Contracts
In order to still provide long term flexibility to teams and the chance to lock up key players for the duration of the league, each team is permitted to sign ONE player to a 6-year contract per season. The Cornerstone Contract will not count if a player is requesting a 6- or 7-year deal in negotiations and proof is provided to the admins via picture of Contract Requested screen. This applies for ONE Cornerstone Contract Per Full Season (Regular Season & Offseason). Like trades, they cannot be carried from one season to another, use it or lose it. This will be tracked and recorded like Trades. If you sign a player who has requested a contract length of less than 6 years to your Cornerstone Contract, you must notify an admin of your intention to sign this player, and we will track it as your one Cornerstone Contract of the Season.
IV. Playbooks & Broadcast Rewards
Playbook Draft
To avoid the overuse of a few, select playbooks, all teams per conference will have to use a unique playbook on Offense and all teams per division will have to use a unique playbook on Defense. Custom playbooks are NOT allowed. We will have a playbook draft in each season, including the first one, for those owners/users that wish to use a different than default playbook. The owner/user will declare that they are entering the playbook draft prior to the start of the season. You may enter the playbook draft for either Offense, Defense, or both. An admin will compile a list of available playbooks to be view-able by the participants. All draft results are FINAL, and you must use that playbook for the entire season it was drafted for.
Switching playbooks will not be allowed at any time between playbook draft periods. If you use the incorrect playbook once, you will have your starting QB suspended (required to be benched and not play) for your next two games. If you do not bench your suspended QB as required, that suspension will increase by four additional games. If you deliberately use the wrong playbook again, you will be permanently removed from the league and will not be invited back. You are required to show your opponent your playbooks during the team selection stage before kickoff. This will ensure that everyone is using the correct assigned playbooks.
Broadcast Rule & Rewards
If you stream ALL REGULAR SEASON AWAY GAMES (8 or 9) per season, you will qualify for a player trait edit or a development trait bump from Normal to Star for any ONE player on your team. This reward will be announced during the playoffs and the dev trait increase will happen during the Player Re-Signing Period for all teams that qualify. We hope this will increase the number of games broadcasted throughout the year and improve league activity. You MUST post your link for every streamed game in the primetime-games-broadcast-links channel and archive your broadcasts to be eligible for the reward.
V. Conclusion
Don’t be a dick. There should be no name calling, slurs or personal attacks made. We all get frustrated and angry when playing Madden. It’s impossible NOT to at times. However, most, if not all, guys in this community have gotten to know each other well. Treat them as you would any of your other friends.
If you read the rules in full, please reply to TheSteve3811 in recruiting chat with the phrase “Shut up Tim”.
League Administrators
TheSteve3811
Sullyb2332
MChew74
Konesie
Believeland219