#1 - Set in 1982
You can edit your playbooks on the site for each of your teams before the next week's ROM is released. In-game playbook changes are limited to the following scenarios:
- Before their first offensive play of the game.
- In the last minute of either half, or in the last minute of overtime.
- Before their first offensive play of the 3rd quarter.
- Before the first play of overtime.
Outside of these scenarios, playbook changes are illegal. Violation of this rule will be subject to penalty at the discretion of the league rules committee.
#2 - Set in 1976
Player conditions only change once a quarter, so the checking of conditions should be limited to once per quarter, save for certain circumstances: a player gets injured, a starting running back fumbled and you want to take him out, and situations of that kind.
NOTE: Player conditions do not change from the fourth quarter to overtime.
#3 - Set in 1976
Please allow the team on defense to choose a player prior to snapping the ball. Do not rush the snap. Make sure the coach is ready before snapping the ball. Most especially do not snap the ball if the defensive player has the default defensive lineman selected, without first gaining confirmation from the defensive coach that this is the player he intends to use.
#4 - Set in 1976
This one goes under the category of recommended protocol. Save states (using F2) as often as possible, especially after important plays, such as touchdowns, 2 pt. conversions, or key turnovers. NOTE: Save states can still be applied even after players are disconnected online.
In the event of a glitch, where the current game is suspended indefinitely (ie- someone fumbles and it cannot be picked up by anyone), the game will resume from the last SAVE STATE. If a SAVE STATE was not had then the game must be replayed from the beginning, unless otherwise specified by league officials, or if an approved solution between the coaches in question is met.
#5 - Set in 1982
An onside kick is only deemed legal when a team is trailing in the 4th quarter. By legal it is meant that if an onside kick is performed it can be rightfully recovered by the kicking team. If the game is tied in the 4th quarter an onside kick MAY NOT be kicked and legally recovered. On the occasion that an onside kick is illegally performed, and the kicking team recovers the fumble, the protocol for returning the ball to the receiving team is as such: The kicking team must line up for a field goal, allowing the receiving team to block the field goal, thus returning the ball back to the receiving team. This wastes no clock in TSB III.
-Onside kicks are illegal following a safety given up.
-Onside kicks are illegal for any player trailing by 1 POINT in the FOURTH QUARTER following a failed 2-point attempt. (SEE RULES 22 AND 23)
#6 - Set in 1982
1) Kick Returners can have no more than 56 MS and 31 HP in AVG to start the game (Rule set in 1982)
2) However, an eligible player that starts the game can remain in as the kick returner if he for instance goes into GOOD or EXCELLENT and thus exceeds the original baseline, as long as this player is never substituted during the game.
#7 - Set in 1976
In the case of a "fumble glitch" where the defensive team recovers the football after a fumble, yet the offensive team is still awarded possession, the offensive team is to immediately set up for a field goal to allow the opposing team, that actually recovered the fumble, to gain possession of the football at the spot where the ball was returned by the defensive team.
1) A fumble glitch occurs when a defensive player picks up a fumble before the game itself is able to "switch over". This is indicated by the words "FUMBLE" coming across the screen accompanied by a slight pause. So be aware of this when judging during a game whether a "fumble glitch" is occurring.
2) If a "fumble glitch" is suspected, refrain from running the ball into the end zone since the game will count this as a safety and not a touchdown. Being erroneously awarded a safety rather than a touchdown makes it more difficult to resolve the glitch at hand. If this happens coaches should work to get the correct number of points awarded to each team before proceeding. This is not desirable since it wastes some time, which is why one should avoid this scenario in the first place.
2b) If one is unsure if a fumble glitch has occurred or not while they are in control of a defensive player who has recovered a fumble, one should run out of bounds as close to the end zone as possible. (a) If the defensive player has an obvious and clear path to the end zone, but steps out of bounds short of the goal line, the ball must first be returned to the team that recovered the fumble by a field goal. Secondly the team now in possession of the ball must be allowed to score on the following play (coordinate what play you are running with your opponent so there is no chance of a picked play, etc.). (b) If the defensive player who is returning the fumble goes out of bounds short of the goal line, and it is not apparent he would have scored a touchdown the team now in possession (the defensive team that had recovered the fumble) takes possession at the spot of the ball following the field goal that returned possession to them.
3) IMPORTANT NOTE: If one is returning possession of the ball via field goal, and the spot of the kick is occurring in the end zone, one must actually kick the field to avoid a safety. This will award the ball to the rightful team close to the actual spot where the defensive player returned the ball.
#8 - Set in 1976
No Cheating. No White Gary Browns. Penalties for cheating are subject at any time to the discretion of League Officials.
#9 - Set in 1976
Any player can play any position on offense, except QB must play QB. TEs can play RB, WRs can play RB, etc.
#10 - Set in 1978
All games in the regular season will be played, save for games that feature two teams by the same coach. This does not occur as frequently as one may think, but unfortunately it is a part of the league. The rule, as it stands, is that coaches may select which of their teams they would like to win, except in one circumstance: If a coach drafts two intra-conference teams that play one another twice in a season, then the SKP games must be split. These are called SKP games
#11 - Set in 1979
1)Any injured player set to start in a SKP game will be substituted with the next-highest player at his position. For example, if RB1 is injured but set to start, he will be replaced with RB2.
2) Any healthy player who is not in the offensive or defensive starting lineup for a SKP game, but normally is in the starting lineup of a team, may not be used in any capacity during the first quarter of the next human game. This penalty stacks; i.e. if a team has two consecutive SKP games and WR1 is left on the bench for both, then he may not play during the first two quarters of the next human game.
#12 - Set in 1976
No Skipping the coin toss
#13 - Set in 1978
There shall be no large scale or major alterations to either the ROM itself, or to established rules during the season. This includes proposals to alter attributes, change policies concerning game play, etc. All alteration proposals shall be made between seasons, where either the Co-Commissioners will evaluate the proposals, or the proposals will be subject to a league wide vote. However, if a MAJOR issue arises midseason (as either deemed so by the current co-commissioners, CC, DF, Slim, or are presented to the co-commissioners by league members or member then the co-commissioners reserve the right to make an alteration. `Major issue` can largely be defined as a significant flaw with the game functioning itself, where the problem is producing an abnormal result, or one severely hindering play. An example is the `kicker glitch` that was found to be present during the TLL77 season.
#14 - Set in 1978
No one, but the owner of the team, may control a team in the TLL. Under special circumstances, league administrators may override this rule (such as when a coach is away for a lengthy amount of time, etc.).
#15 - Set in 1976
Playoffs and Tiebreakers: The TLL will use the NFL playoff format that features 6 teams from each conference make the playoffs: Three divisional winners, and three wild card teams. Tiebreakers will follow NFL standards.
#16 - Set in 1977
Be a Good Sport: Frustration in Tecmo is understandable, but please refrain from quitting games, or purposely stalling games. It is a longtime, entrenched custom with online Tecmo to offer opponents "good luck" before the game, and to say "good game" following the game, whether it was close, or a blow-out.
#17 - Set in 1977
If a league member quits during the season the first measure will be to locate a replacement. If a replacement cannot be found midseason then the remaining games of the quitting coach will be distributed amongst the remaining coaches. Further details can be given for this rule if requested.
#18 - Set in 1982
Draft Order (Needs updating to reflect changes made at the start of TLL82)
Before each season a team draft will be held, and a drafting order will be determined. The drafting order is based on the following criteria:
a) Regular Season Status: Each coach may earn from (0-5) points (in a 6 coach league), based upon overall winning percentage (sans SKP games) calculated from the previous regular season, with 0 being the lowest and 5 the highest. This score will be coupled with a coach’s playoff score.
b) Playoff Status: For the playoffs, the same (0-5) rating applies. The coach who wins the Super Bowl automatically gets 5 points, and the Super Bowl loser gets 4 points. From here ratings are based upon the number of playoff wins (including SKP games). Tiebreakers from here are as follows: 1) 1st tiebreaker= playoff win%
2) 2nd tiebreaker=playoff point differential (NON-SKP games) The two scores will be combined to determine draft order, with the highest total drafting first on down the line.
Total Point Tiebreakers:
1) (Established prior to the 1978 season): In the event of a tie in total points the first tiebreaker is if a Super Bowl win leads to the total tie then the Super Bowl winner is given the tiebreaker.
2) Second Tiebreaker: The team with the worse regular season record is given the tiebreaker.
Status of Teams Entering a Draft:
All teams are considered owned by their previous coaches at the opening of the draft, except for:
a) Those teams owned by vacated coaches
b) those teams owned by coaches that did not meet the 40 game total minimum requirement. The 40 game minimum requirement says that a coach must complete 40 games during the regular season to be eligible for regular draft status; otherwise the coach is considered in the draft as a newcomer, who is placed at the end of the drafting line.
c) Newcomers are placed in the order they declare intent to play the upcoming season. If multiple coaches join simultaneously, a random order at the end of the round will be determined for them.
Drafting:
Per the above clauses any teams occupied by a coach leaving the league after a season, or any teams occupied by a coach that did not make the 40 game minimum, will enter the available pool to start the draft.
With the 1st overall pick in the draft, the player may select from any teams they had the previous season or any teams currently in the available pool. Once the first overall pick has been made, any teams controlled by that coach in the previous season NOT selected with their 1st round pick, will enter the available player pool.
Thus, with the 2nd overall pick, the coach may choose any team they controlled in the previous season, any team vacated by departing coaches, or any team not chosen by the player with the 1st overall pick. This format continues until the end of the 1st round. The player drafting last in the 1st round will begin drafting in the 2nd round via the standard snake format of drafting (ex-6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,6,5,etc).
Drafting will continue in this way until all teams have an equal number of teams drafted, and there are fewer remaining teams left in the pool to draft for a full round (ex. 6 coaches, 28 teams would draft 4 teams each (24 teams) with 4 teams remaining). Starting with the next player to draft, if there are any available teams for them to legally draft, they must do so, continuing down the draft order until all teams are distributed.
Other Drafting Rules:
a) No coach may draft two teams from the same division
b) If a coach drafts two intra-conference teams that play one another twice in one season the two SKP games must be split equally, with each team winning one. These teams will be the two previous third place finishers from the 5 team divisions.
c) Some oddities may occur in the last round of the draft (est TLL79), where a coach may already have a team from a particular division, and thus may be assigned by DF or CC a team from a division they yet have. If this does occur, it is likely to occur in the last three picks or so. Thus, reassignment of these teams to coaches is mandated to ensure no coach has more than one team per division as per the above rule. NOTE: This rule only includes consequences emerging from the drafting procedures present in this document, and not from any other potential circumstances.
d) Noted Seven Coach League Draft Hitch (following only from consequences emerging from the drafting procedures present in this document, and not from any other potential circumstances).
Here is a mock draft example: Just pretend this is how a draft unfolds. I'll write out the entire draft just to have it there, but really we are focused upon the fourth round.
| coaches | | | A | | | B | | | C | | | D | | | E | | | F | | | G |
| | | ATL | | | NE | | | PIT | | | SD | | | SF | | | DAL | | | CLE | |
| | | MIN | | | DEN | | | OAK | | | RAM | | | DET | | | HOU | | | PHI | |
| | | STL | | | CHI | | | MIA | | | TAM | | | KC | | | BUF | | | BAL | |
| | | | | | | NYG | | | WAS | | | CIN | | | NO | | | GB |
Say the draft unfolded in this way. Coach C is left with the choices of NYJ, NYG, SEA at the end. He can only choose NYG because he has an AFC E and AFC W team. Now, it is coach Bs turn but ooops only NYJ and SEA are left. Coach B cannot select either team bc he has an AFC E and AFC W team.
So, somewhere down the line a coach is going to have to deselect his 4th round pick. MY SUGGESTION WOULD BE THIS: GO BACK THE LEAST NUMBER OF STEPS NEEDED TO FIX THE PROBLEM FROM WHERE THE PROBLEM FIRST ARISES.
Here, it would be Coach D. Coach D gives up WAS and basically has to select NYJ, bc he must leave open the two NFC E teams for the remainder of the draft to proceed without a hitch, and coach D cannot select SEA because he already has an AFC W team. Okay, so coach D has to give up WAS for the NYJ. Now we are back to coach C. Teams left are: WAS, NYG, SEA. Coach C cannot choose SEA bc he already has an AFC W team, but he can now choose an NFC E team without issue. So, say he chooses WAS. Now coach B is left with SEA or NYG, having to select NYG bc he has an AFC W team. Coach A gets SEA to conclude the draft.
With the slight de-selection and mandatory selection for coach D, the rest of the draft is then open to conclude effectively.
This type of scenario pops up frequently enough (I'll just put it that way). Not every de-selection and forced selection will be at the same spot IF it occurs, but this is the main gist of the problem.
#19 - Set in 1982
Trades of teams are allowed for three days following the draft. There are no in draft trades allowed. Trading of multiple teams is allowed (eg. trading Chicago for Detroit and Cleveland). However, any trade that would leave a coach more than one team above or below the league average of number of teams is illegal (i.e. in a seven-coach league of 28 teams, each coach must maintain at least three teams and no more than five). All above-stated rules about division alignment and intraconference SKP games apply.
#20 - Set in 1981
Each full-time coach will be allowed one injury veto to be applied to any of his teams across the season. This rule applies to any player injured during a game. The veto may be declared after the player's injury roll, but must be declared before the next week's ROM is released. Injury vetoes may not be traded during the post-draft trading period.
#21 - Set in 1982
League expansion up to 8 coaches
#22 - Set in 1982
Onside kicks are illegal for any player trailing by 1 POINT in the FOURTH QUARTER following a failed 2-point attempt.
#23 - Set in 1982
Onside kicks are illegal following a safety given up.
#24 - Set in 1982
With an 8 coach league, a coach needs to play at least 30 MAN games to earn off season voting rights following the season.
#25 - Set in 1982
Kicker Glitch Rule (Only applies to extra points and field goals)
(1) When attempting to block an XPT or FG you may only use the two players on the end of either side of the front line, or the three players backing the line.
(2) You can rush punts with any defensive player