A. Organization
∆ Commissioner – Brandon Rose
The commissioner is in charge of the day-to-day league business.
∆ The Canadian-American Football League is a draft league that was founded in August 2007.
The CAFL started with the 1980 season playing forward.
∆ There are no league dues.
∆ The Canadian-American Football League plays the latest version of Action! PC Football.
∆ Each member is required to own the game and purchase the season disk being used or have access to both.
∆ The league was formed with the intention of providing fun, fellowship, sportsmanship and competition.
∆ Competition Committee – Pat Barry, Ralph Geiger, Willie Jelks & Steve Zucchero
The primary duties of the Competition Committee will be to handle any league business and decision-making not related to the day-to-day operations of the league.
The commissioner holds the right to make the tie-breaking vote or overrule the Competition Committee if he sees it as being in the best interests of the league.
∆ The Competition Committee duties include:
1. Reviewing trades that the commissioner brings to them for an opinion and/or approval.
2. Fielding rules change proposals by league members at the end of the regular season. See Rule J. below.
3. Deciding if a rule change proposal is worth being discussed and/or voted on by the league members.
4. Researching the player file for mistakes and/or omissions and making the corrections.
∆ Web Master – Brandon Rose
B. League Setup
∆ The Canadian-American Football League is a twenty-four team league divided into two twelve-team conferences divided into three four-team divisions.
Conference/Divisional alignment:
Don Shula Conference
Bill Parcells Division
Hugh Campbell Division
Bill Walsh Division
Tom Landry Conference
Joe Gibbs Division
Chuck Noll Division
Marv Levy Division
Team names – city and nickname – can be derived from any professional football team - major or minor – from any league or era.
A franchise must remain in the same city for a minimum of three full seasons. If the owner wants to move the team after such time he must petition the league office for approval. The lone exception to this rule is when a team is vacated [the owner resigns or is expelled from the league] and the new owner, after playing one full season in the former city, then wants to move the team to a city of his choice.
A team’s stadium has to be in the city, state, or province they call home. If there isn’t a stadium available in the league file a stadium will be created for them using the game’s tools.
∆ The Canadian-American Football League will play two seasons a calendar year.
Season one will start in February and season two in August.
∆ League information will be available on the web site or via e-mail from the commissioner.
∆ The official league file will be provided by the commissioner during the regular season, playoffs and off-season.
∆ Vacant teams can be an issue from time to time. Therefore the Canadian-American Football League will always try to maintain a Coaches Waiting List. In the event that a team doesn’t have a coach, their regular season and/or playoff games will be played by the commissioner, a member of the Competition Committee or a designated owner until the vacant position is filled. The same rules apply if a team doesn’t have a coach during the rookie/free agent draft.
C. Regular Season Schedule and Playing Your Games
∆ The 1980 regular season schedule will be 16 games.
8 home and 8 away
∆ You will have one game per week during the regular season.
∆ Coaches are expected to accommodate internet or face-to-face play.
∆ If the coaches can’t agree on a day and time to play their game by Friday of game week the coach unable to play needs to try to find a substitute coach among the league membership. If those attempts fail, the coach unable to play must let the commissioner know ASAP so other arrangements can be made to get the game played on time.
∆ Game results must be sent to the commissioner and the opponent after the game.
∆ Games not reported by the deadline, with no excuse, will be played by sub-coaches or auto-played by the commissioner.
D. Game Settings
∆ The following league rules and game preferences will be checked ON:
League Type – Draft League
Two-Point Conversions
Overtime
Minutes/Quarter – 15
Play Clock: 40 Seconds
Hurry Up Offense> Allowed for the entire game
Spiking the Ball is Allowed
Injuries – Normal Frequency
Field Goal Miss Line – Line of Scrimmage
Kickoff Line – 35-yard Line
Goal Post Location – End Line
Home Field Advantage will be Set at 3
Penalties – Set at 3 for all Teams
Weather Conditions - Correct Home Field and Month of Play
Season Usage Penalties – Yes
Game Usage Penalties – Yes
Special Teams Usage Penalties – Yes
Quarterback Usage Penalties – Yes
Game Fatigue – Yes
Game Fatigue Settings – Mild 15% / Moderate 20% / Major 30%
Season Fatigue Settings – Mild 110% / Moderate 120% / Major 135%
∆ These game options are NOT allowed:
Audible
∆ The use of trick plays will be limited to a maximum of four per game.
Trick plays include: Non-QB passes, WR/TE reverses, fake punts, and fake field goals.
The rule will be the same for the playoffs, except, players are limited to the real-life number of trick plays they attempted.
Trick Play Disclaimer – If a player is rated RB/WR – and he is a viable RB option for you – he needs to be lined him up in the backfield and not run reverses all season. Abuse of this rule will result in the loss of the player and/or a second round draft pick depending on the severity of the abuse.
E. Playoffs
∆ Ten teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Don Shula Conference: 3 Division Winners and 2 Wild-Card teams
Tom Landry Conference : 3 Division Winners and 2 Wild-Card teams
Wild-Card Note: The wild-card teams will be decided on best record not order of finish in the division they compete in.
∆ Ties in the final standings will be broken by using the NFL tie-breaker system.
∆ Playoff teams will compete for an opportunity to play in the Can-Am Bowl for the league championship.
∆ Playoff System for both the Don Shula Conference & Tom Landry Conference:
Division Winners will be seeded 1, 2 and 3 in each respective conference based on best record or by the tie-breaker system if required.
Wild-Card Game: The Wild-Card teams play the first week. Home team will be determined by the best record or if necessary utilizing the tie-breaker system.
Semi-Finals: Wild-Card game winner seeded #4 at Division winner seeded #1 / Division winner seeded #3 at Division winner seeded #2
Finals: Semi-Final winner vs. Semi-Final winner with the highest seed being the home team.
Can-Am Bowl: Don Shula Conference champion vs. Tom Landry Conference champion. The home team will be on a rotating basis.
∆ Sudden death overtime will be used in playoff games ending in a tie.
∆ The Can-Am Bowl will be played in historic Rosedale Park in Toronto, Ontario.
∆ The Can-Am Bowl winner will be awarded the Jim Thorpe-Lionel Conacher Trophy by the commissioner.
F. Roster & Player Usage
∆ Roster Size – 50 Players
∆ Player usage will be dictated by injuries, game and season fatigue. There will be no artificial limitations imposed.
∆ Skill position players will be required to use 1/3 of their real-life usage in the following: categories:
QB – Pass Attempts
RB – Carries
WR/TE – Receptions
Failure to meet the 1/3 minimum usage requirement will result in the player becoming a free agent at the end of the regular season and eligible to be drafted in the next free agent/rookie draft. This rule is to guard against teams hoarding skill position players.
∆ A player missing a season because of an injury, suspension or military service who is obviously not game rated can be kept by his team for that season. Players kept, who fit that description, and who are listed as Not Available [N/A] will NOT count against the 50-player active roster. There will be a three-player maximum limit regarding keeping players with Not Available status.
∆ Teams are required to carry a backup at every position except kicker and punter. You must also have a minimum of 600 combined rushing and passing attempts for a 16-game season on your roster. Maximums may be flagged if the Commissioner sees fit.
∆ You may have to play a player or players out of position due to injury and/or fatigue - forced to sit by the game’s design.
Here are the playing out of position guidelines:
C, OG & OT can play any offensive line position
DE & DT can play any defensive line position
ILB & OLB can play any linebacker position
CB & S can play any defensive backfield position
∆ Keep in mind, players who play out of position are reduced in effectiveness by the game.
∆ Once the injured or fatigued player is eligible to return, you must put him back in the game.
∆ Playing a player out of position for no apparent reason will result first in a warning and second, if repeated, some sort of penalty. You will lose either the player that you are playing out of position, a draft pick, or both. If the offenses continue you will be relieved of your Canadian-American Football League team
∆ Special QB Rule: Any QB with a Passing Rating of 59.9 or less will be given a Durability Rating of 5.
∆ Special teams guidelines for the Holder, Long Snapper and Gunner:
Holder – Any Quarterback, Punter or real-life Holder [coach must verify]
Long-Snapper – Any Center or real-life Long-Snapper
Gunner – Anyone except Quarterback, Offensive and Defensive Linemen
G. Injuries & Waiver Transactions
∆ It is in your teams best interests that you select a player or players from the free agent list when you lose a player or players to injury.
∆ Waiver claims should be made to the commissioner. When the injured player is eligible to return the waiver wire pick up or another player on your roster has to be released. That transaction is also sent to the commissioner.
∆ During the regular and off-season you can claim players off of the waiver wire and release players.
∆ All waiver claims are handled on a first come-first served. The claim/release requests are to be sent to the commissioner.
H. Trades
∆ You can make trades during the off-season through Week Ten of the regular season.
∆ Trades can include players and draft picks. You can trade your draft picks in the upcoming rookie draft plus one year in the future.
∆ All trades are to be reported to the commissioner and confirmed by the non-trade reporting coach.
∆ Once a trade is official – one coach reports it and one coach confirms – it will be announced to the entire league via e-mail.
∆ The commissioner will review and have final approval of all trades. If he deems it necessary, the trade might get turned over to the Competition Committee for review and approval.
I. Rookie Draft
∆ Sometime after the end of the regular season each coach will be asked to submit a 40-player protected list with the remainder of their team’s roster going into the free agent pool. Combined with the rookies these players [free agents] will make up the next group of players eligible to be drafted in the upcoming rookie draft. Teams will be limited to 2 QB’s on their 40-player protected roster with only one QB allowed to have over 250 attempts.
∆ The Rookie Draft will be ten rounds – worst to best in order - with a lottery held to determine the pecking order for the first four draft positions in the First Round.
∆ Teams who reach the 50-player roster limit can continue participating in the rookie draft but must cut a player before making a pick.
∆ A team with less than the 50-player roster limit at the end of Tenth Round of the rookie draft can continue to draft until they reach the 50-players.
∆ The rookie draft will be conducted via e-mail.
J. Rule Changes, Expansion & Miscellaneous
∆ Proposals for rule changes can be made to the commissioner and/or the Competition Committee after the Can-Am Bowl. The Competition Committee will review the proposal and decide whether or not the recommendation merits league wide discussion. Any proposal making the cut will then be introduced to the league for a short [one week] e-mail discussion. At that time the Competition Committee will decide whether or not the proposed rule change has enough interest to be put to a league vote. If the rule change proposal is put to a vote every member has one vote. Not voting will be considered a no vote. A proposed rule change must carry a ¾ majority vote in order to be put into the Canadian-American Football League Rules.
∆ Expansion will be addressed at the time the NFL added more teams in real-life.
∆ It will always be the goal of the Canadian-American Football League to have no more than 2 or 3 less teams than the NFL in an effort to keep player’s values as realistic as possible.
∆ Any topics not covered by the league rules will be addressed by the commissioner as needed. It should not be assumed that the lack of a rule against a certain practice permits its usage.
∆ The commissioner is ultimately responsible for all membership issues.