Basic Rules

There are some basic rules to abide by in the Sideline Football League. It is important all owners follow these rules so they do not have to be warned or removed from the league. They are:

- Be courteous to all owners. Take the league for what it is worth, a fun experience with fellow gamers and fans of football & cut out all the bullshit.
Any issues, report them to TheTruth1566 (Commish aka Q), CARTERUTO (AC), Crimsion23 (Crim), CyphaDaGAWD (Steps).
- Be active. You must participate to be a member of this league and be deemed active in order to receive additional trades to the one you receive at the beginning of every new cycle (see Off-Season Rules for details). Create and engage posts on DL, if you need an idea of how to become active, please seek out an admin.
- Be Sim. Follow the rules of the game. Just because you found a glitch play doesn't mean you are allowed to use it. Play online vs mode if you enjoy that. This is a sim league so un-sim players will not be tolerated.
- Be Responsible. Make sure you communicate with your opponent when you will play your game and be as specific as possible regarding time zones as we have members from all parts of the globe.
- Owners may be given two free sim wins during the course of the season at an admin’s discretion.
- You must use a Custom Coach.
- Custom playbooks are allowed.

Gameplay Rules

Personnel Matching
•    If your opponent is in a 3,4, or 5 WR set, you should not be in a base defense (4-3/3-4) to combat that set.
•    The only exception to this rule is that you no longer need to match personnel on 3rd and 5 or longer vs 2 WR sets

Repetitive Play calling
•    Please refrain from calling the same plays all game long, if you pick a defensive play such as Cover 4 Show 2, you may not go right back to that play the following snap.
•    Your play calling should be mixed up and not limited to a specific formation or coverage shell, this applies to both offense and defense.

Scoring Threshold & Running up the score
•    You may not score over 59 points when playing a user; this threshold can be broken in games that are within 8 points. Do not use this as a goal to hit each and every week however.
•    While winning by multiple scores, if you have the football with 4 minutes or less and your opponent concedes, run out the clock. If your opponent is calling Timeouts at this time, you are able to advance to football at will.
•    If your opponent cannot stop the clock, you MUST kneel the football and let the clock wind down.
•     Those who find themselves on the losing side of the effort, please refrain from stoppages that are not needed, such as calling timeouts. If you have a chance to kneel the game out, please do so.

Playing the CPU
•    While playing the CPU you are not to score any more than 52 points. In the event that you break either scoring threshold, be prepared to have players suspended. This will be determined by the admins. In CPU games, you may not pass the following stat thresholds:
QB: 375 Yards, 3 TDs (Combined)
RB: 150 Yards, 2 TDs
WR/TE: 150 Yards, 2 TDs
*Pass Rushers cannot have more than 4 QB Sacks in a game.
(Those with prompts & proofs of those prompts will have 5 yards of leeway from the goal yardage while playing in CPU games. If you cannot provide proof, we will assume this was unwarranted.)

4th Downs & Fake Punts
•     In regards to 4th downs; If it is 4th and 2 or shorter and you are at least on your opponent's 50-yard line, YOU ARE ALLOWED to try and convert.
•    If it's 4th and 2 or longer, you are typically going to punt it unless it is a realistic situation - 4th quarter, down multiple scores or you are in a “Goal to Go” situation with less than 5 minutes on the clock.
•    You are allowed to attempt a fake punt once a game and must be past the 50-yard line.

Quick Snapping & QB Rollout
•    Rolling out with the QB excessively, excessive drop-backs with your QB is not allowed
•    Do not rush your offense to the line of scrimmage, you must allow the defense to get set as quick snapping is prohibited. If you motion a player, allow the CB, LB, FS/SS to get set before hiking the ball.

Pre-Snap, Post-Snap & Play Action
•    You are prohibited from moving more than one defender manually, if you do indeed move a defender, you must control that player for the remainder of the play.
•    Once the football is snapped, you CANNOT switch to a defender while the ball is in the air, however after a hand-off or pass, you are allowed to swap in order to make the tackle.
•    No F.A.G defense – you must have 3 defenders rushing the passer at all times.
•    3rd and 9+ - You're no longer allowed to run Play Action UNLESS you are blocking your Running-Back

No Huddle
•    Excessive use of the No Huddle is strictly prohibited – You may run the No Huddle when trying to change the tempo but cannot run it more than 3 times in a row.
•    If you choose to run No Huddle, you must run at-least 2 plays back-to-back from the huddle before going back to the No Huddle.
•    If the defense audibles, you MUST WAIT for them to get set before you snap the football.

Suspension Breakdown
•    Suspensions will be handed out in a uniform fashion; those who find themselves facing their first suspension will be given 4 games to a player of the admins’discretion.
•    Your second offence will result in a 10-game suspension to a player.
•    Your third offence will result in a discussion amongst the admins regarding suspension or your potential removal from the league (3-strike rule).

Roster Management

Contracts & Extensions
•    Contracts given to existing players and free agents cannot exceed 4 years. Any extension found to exceed 4 years will be converted back to 1 for second time offenders, Free Agents signed exceeding 4 years will be thrown back into the pool of players the following week.

Ability Changes & Re-Rolls
•    Each season you will have the option to hand-pick a Tier 1 and Tier 2 ability for a player on your roster. You cannot use these changes on the same player, once an ability is changed that player then becomes LOCKED for the cycle and cannot be changed again.
•    If you would like to have your abilities Re-Rolled you then give up BOTH of your ability changes for the season. This is also the only way to obtain a different X-Factor.
•    You may not double-up an ability within the same position groups, for example if one of your CBs has Acrobat, you MAY NOT add Acrobat to another CB.

Position Changes
•    Owners must seek out permission from an admin to make position changes, however changing sides for players (Such as RE to LE, ROLB to LOLB or O-Line) can be changed at will.
NOTE: Any player that has abilities can still be changed in this manner, but will need to be “requested” still as we will need to apply the proper abilities once their position has changed.

In order to convert a WR to TE they must meet the following qualifications:
•    6'3” or taller
•    Weigh at least 235lbs

In order to convert a WR to RB they must meet the following qualifications:
•    Max Height – 6'2”
•    Max Weight – 225lbs
•    Attributes – 80+ Ball Carrier Vision / 80+ Break Tackle / A Combo of 80+ Juke & Spin or 80 in Juke or Spin + 65+ Trucking or Stiff Arm

In order to convert a RB to WR they must meet the following qualifications:
•    Max Weight – 220lbs
•    Attributes – 70+ in Short Route, Medium Route or Deep Route Running

Practice Squad Players
•    Signing a player from an opposing team’s practice squad is prohibited during the pre-season, you must wait until the regular season to do so.
•    If you take a player from a practice squad, they must remain on your Active 53-man roster for the remainder of that season.
•    You CANNOT sniper a player from a user's practice squad if that is indeed the user you play that week.

Off-Season Rules
•    You are allotted 2 trades in the Off-Season and 2 Trades in the Regular Season if you are deemed active.
•    You are allotted 1 trade in the Off-Season and 1 trade in the regular season if you are deemed semi-active.
•    You cannot trade your 1st round selection until after their first season that you have them (season 1, you cannot trade your 1st round selected players that the real-life teams selected).
•    No trades within your own division. Have to be outside of your division.
•    Every user is allotted one trade PER CYCLE, once this is used you may not trade again until you have been deemed active and acquired more trades.
•    Each trade will be subject to review by the admins for approval. When submitting a trade for approval, submit a screenshot of the trade calculator, type out the full proposal for easy viewing (see below for an example) and send it to one of the administrators.

Example:
Atlanta Falcons Trade
WR Calvin Ridley Jr.
2023 1st Round Pick

San Francisco 49ers Trade
WR Deebo Samuel
2024 4th Round Pick