INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE (NFL.com) - Year 12 / 2021

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Keeper Deadline Date: Friday, Sep 3, 2021
Live Draft Date: Sunday, Sep 5, 2021 3:00pm EDT / 8:00pm BST
(Snake style draft)

International League Homepage

Bold & Boxed text always means new for this season (to aide returning GM’s to quickly find internal rule changes or new rules).

Rules

In the International League each GM manages their real country. Your team’s name in the league must be your country spelt in (English and in) CAPITAL LETTERS (to bring some uniformity to the league). Also, your team logo/picture must be your countries current official flag as used by said countries national sports teams. Also, no fake names please or 1 letter initial - first name must be used - failure to comply will see you replaced. This is to make the league owners list have some uniformity.

Qualification

I wish for serious players that won’t quit during the season as it’s national pride at stake. I am ENGLAND and going nowhere so pointless going on the waiting list for. All other current countries in the league can be seen above. If you qualify and are interested to go on the reserve/waiting list then post on this thread telling me which country or countries you qualify for (and wish to manage). To qualify you must be born in or have at least one parent from that country.

You will then go on the waiting list. As and when people are removed from the league due to the *strikes rule (*see later) or opt to leave then the next person that meets the criteria on the waiting list will be invited to take over that place/team. It can and may be renamed to a completely new country depending on the new incoming owner.

Keepers

Each team is able to keep 1 player from their previous seasons finishing team. If a keeper is kept he will fill his draft round spot from the preceding season. If he was an undrafted player then he will fill the last round spot on your roster (Round 15). You do not have to keep a player in which case you will draft as normal each round in your designated position.

Further more, a keeper will count against your original pick in the applicable round (should you have more picks due to draft pick trading). If you no longer have your original pick for the round your keeper is due to be allocated to then he will take your next highest pick going upwards - so could be the same round (if you have traded for more draft picks in that round) or the next round(s) going upwards. If you don’t have any higher draft picks then you can not keep that particular player and I will override your keeper choice to ‘no keeper selected’ after the keeper lock deadline before the live draft takes place. Long term keepers (that being a player or team defense that is kept by the same owner for multiple seasons consecutively) will increase their drafted round by 1 round each season until they reach round 1. This rule only applies to a keeper being kept by the same owner/team in successive seasons. Otherwise all other keepers just count as your rounds pick for the round they were drafted or kept in the previous season regardles of team that drafted or kept them originally.

Please be aware to facilitate having to manually adjust the draft board (i.e. entering in the keepers at the correct positions before we live draft) their will be a deadline to choose your keeper by - you can change your keeper choice as often as you wish up until the deadline but once the deadline is reached it will lock and then you will be stuck with your choice or if you have not selected a player you will not have a keeper for the forthcoming season. It is each owners responsibility to find out when the keeper deadline locks and once it is reached no more changes can be made.

Draft

For those teams that make the playoffs proper (teams finishing 1st-8th) draft order will be a reverse of the previous years finishing positions as decided by NFL.com - so the previous years champion will draft last in round 1 (*20th) and the team finishing 8th (*13th). [*excluding draft pick trading]

However if you’re not in the running for the title (i.e. in the playoffs proper), there used to be nothing to play for except next years draft position - and the way it was the worse you did in the dead games, the better your draft pick position the next year. This encouraged GM’s who were out of the playoffs not to try and win, actually often hoping to lose by starting their worst players (just to avoid falling foul of the strike rule, as there’s nothing else riding on those results).

So to address this some seasons ago I amended the internal rules to make the dead games worth winning because from then onward this part of the draft order involving the 12 non-championship contending playoff teams is inverted - to reward post season wins, however pointless they may seem at the time. The 8 proper playoff teams will still keep their draft positions (20th - 13th).

However the rest will now go like this…

The team finishing 9th (i.e. best of the non-qualifiers) will have pick #1
The team finishing 10th (2nd best non-qualifier) will have pick #2
And so on, down to the team finishing 20th (worst non-qualifier) will have pick #12

I think this has proved good for the league as now tanking for a better draft spot will not fly as the dead rubber games have something riding on them. This has also helped with the also ran GM’s trading away their better players with late round draft picks to the playoff bound GM’s who are willing to sell their next seasons chances on winning this year by agreeing to trades involving their bad players but with higher round draft picks from the following season - which was skewing the integrity of the league imho.

Default Rule Changes

I have changed the default scoring from 4 points for a thrown TD to 3 points - half what the scorer of a TD (6pts) gets.

All other current league settings including Scoring Settings can be viewed here: IL Settings

New from last season (2020) strikes are now also issued for not being seen to vote in an official poll posted within the league on NFL.com . It’s been the hardest thing for me as a commissioner to get people to engage with me on rules and proposals to do with the league like having a trade deadline, or changing a flex spot etc, so now it’s mandatory to partake in polls and to be seen to have voted.

I am not sure how you do this on the phone app but to do this via the standard internet using a browser - which can also be done on a smart phone - you scroll down the leagues home page to the message board and to the right of this you will see the latest poll. To the bottom right of this poll box you will see a link that says ‘More Polls >’ click this and it will open the poll with its message board below it. Here (you may need to scroll down) you sometimes will find more information about the poll and is also the place you type “Voted” to show you have voted after you have done so in that particular poll. To the top right of the poll you will see an arrow < and that will let you navigate back to see older polls and where you should check you have voted in each one and posted below each one to say you have Voted as if you have not voted or forgotten to post you have and not everyone has voted then anyone I can’t be sure did vote will pick up a Strike after 28 days of the Poll being posted. I hate having to do this but for many many seasons people have just not been engaging enough to help me shape the league by voting in polls so felt I had to do this so I can weed out and replace non committed GM’s with ones who buy into the ethos behind this custom International keeper league.**

LC RULINGS & ADDITIONAL INTERNAL LEAGUE RULES

Sometimes as we go along things come up and I as the LC (League Commissioner) have to make a ruling. So this is where I clarify and make the rulings on things that crop up over time so people can look up the answers going forward at any time just by coming here to see if its already happened before and what the ruling is. It is also a reference point for me to see what I did previously so as to be consistent in actions I do.

1) The LC has the right to reorganise the Divisions each season prior to the draft. This is only done when new teams / nations have joined the IL. I do this trying to make divisions firstly regional as best I can and secondly put natural rivals in the same Divisions.

2) Draft pick trading - draft pick trades can only be swapped for the very next draft (not multiple seasons in advance). I know the real life teams can but I have made this ruling for two reasons. One it will be very hard for me to keep track off and two a GM could pile up trouble for years down the line and then just leave and I’d find it almost impossible to get a replacement as they would have no chance due to so many early picks being traded away for possibly seasons to come. Also by making this ruling it means most of the season the system does it all and records it for me to find the following year - the only time it doesn’t is now prior to our leagues draft when I allow it and do it via the leagues wall and by using a poll when a vote is necessary.

As I need to manually adjust the draft board to reflect swapped draft picks before our draft room goes live (and this takes time) out of season (pre-draft) draft pick trades must be agreed before the keeper deadline.

3) If during a season a GM trades away his same draft pick to 2 different teams whether by accident or deliberate planning then instead I will take away their next highest pick instead to cover the trade. If we are talking about a round 1 double deal where there is no higher pick I can take away to cover the trade I will then swap there next 2 picks going down to whoever they traded with for a further round down pick from the cheated party. Basically being detrimental to the owner who made this error as punishment so be careful (as yes the system does stupidly allow this as I discovered in the past when someone did it).

Example: Team A trades his next years Round 1 pick with 2 different teams - only one team can get it so the other team has been screwed. In this case I will take team A’s 2nd and 3rd Round picks and give them to the cheated team in return team A will still get whatever pick(s) was part of the trade plus the cheated teams 4th round pick. What ever happens the cheated team will be compensated at the expense of the guilty team regardless of the offending teams mistake being genuine error or deliberate malpractice.

4) In season 5 (2014) I ran the following poll and had all 20 GM’s vote:

Should we add in a Reserve (RES) spot from next season (2015) onward?

image

So this meant from the 2015 season onward each team would have 1 RES spot added to their rosters. Furthermore during the 2017 season I ran a poll to ask if we should keep the RES spot. The poll was left open for the whole of the regular season and the following screenshot is the poll result which now applies from the 2018 season forever more:

image

Last Years Final Standings

WEEKLY STRIKE COUNT 2021

WK1 - no strikes issued
WK2 - no strikes issued
WK3 - no strikes issued
WK4 - no strikes issued
WK5 - no strikes issued
WK6 - no strikes issued
WK7 - no strikes issued
WK8 - no strikes issued
WK9 - 1 strike (Portugal)
WK10 - 2 strikes (Grenada & Australia)
WK11 - no strikes issued
WK12 - no strikes issued
WK13 - no strikes issued
WK14 - 2 strikes (Wales x2)
WK15 - no strikes issued
WK16 - 1 strike (Wales)
WK17 - 4 strikes (Wales, Peru, Portugal & New Zealand)
WK18 - 1 strike (New Zealand)

Link to previous years table: IL 2020 Strikes

Additional Strikes (for not voting in polls):

23/8/21 Standings Tiebreaker Poll = 1 strike (AUSTRALIA / Arv Gee) issued 26/9/21

HOUSE KEEPING - 2021 Poll Results

Polls Run in 2021 that will apply going forwards (either immediatly or from the 2022 season onwards).


So the IL Standings Tie Breaker will remain as Head to Head Record.


So as the majority want a penultimate regular season Chamionship (Super Bowl) Gameweek finish from next season (2022) this will be applied and the play-offs will be over weeks 15-17 (8 teams in the Championship Post Season). However the Toilet Bowl will be over the same weeks for #1 draft pick amongst the other teams.

Doodle Draft Date & Time Poll Vote Result:


As you can see two options tied for most (7) votes so it went to a 24hr League Run Off Poll which after 24 hours only 9 people had bothered to vote in, but a narrow winner emerged:

So the International League’s draft date and time for 2021 will be Sunday, September 5th at 3pm US ET / 8pm UK time.

First Mandatory Poll in the IL for 2021 after 28 days was missing 1 voter:


So AUSTRALIA - Arv Gee - picks up a strike for not bothering to vote.


Week 9 Strikes (x1)

Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 9:


Miguel - PORTUGAL x1

x1 Started DEF - Seahawks - (SEA) - on a BYE


Week 10 Strikes (x2)

Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 10:


Marlon - GRENADA x1

x1 Started DEF - Texans - (HOU) - on a BYE


Arv - AUSTRALIA x1

x1 DEF - --empty– - did not start one.


Second Mandatory Poll in the IL for 2021 all 20 teams voted (so I do not need to identify the 3 team GM’s who did not post voted in the correct place - on the message board located directly under the poll - so thanks to having a full compliment of league voters those GM’s avoid picking up a strike). However it’s important those that did not post voted in the correct place understand that ultimately over time it could cost you strikes not getting this right and ultimately lose you your place in this league.

(So that you can check if your one of the teams that did not vote I am posting the message board below, so if your not showing a ‘Voted’ post then you did not comply and would have picked up a strike had we had less than the full compliment of 20 votes).

Now due to my tardiness and forgetting to post the results of this poll back in October (as I was waiting for the last voters to do so beyond the deadline so I did not have to dish out strikes to anyone), I now think it’s to late into this season to go adjusting league settings that could adversly affect some players who may have made trades just before the trade deadline based on where they are and if they could still make a push for the Championship playoffs. So this settings change (for a week 17 finish) will apply from the 2022 season onwards.

Week 14 Strikes (x2)

Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 14:


Iain - WALES x2

x1 Started RB - Darrell Henderson - (LAR) - who was ruled out before his teams actual game day:

Published: Sat, Dec 11 at 3:58pm by Rotowire.com

On COVID-19 list, out Monday

Henderson (thigh) was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday and will not play in Monday’s prime-time divisional matchup against the Cardinals.

Analysis: Henderson had been a limited participant in practice prior to Saturday as he was recovering from a hamstring injury that kept him out of Week 13’s win over Jacksonville, but Saturday’s designation will mean the star running back will not be eligible to play Monday against the Cardinals. Provided no other player is deemed a close contact, expect the Rams to once again rely heavily on Sony Michel out of the backfield. In last week’s aforementioned win, the 26-year-old Michel played 97 percent of the offensive snaps, registering 27 touches for a combined 129 yards and a touchdown.

x1 Started WR - Keenan Allen - (LAC) - who was ruled out before his teams actual game day:

Published: Fri, Dec 10 at 4:23pm by Rotowire.com

Won’t play Sunday

Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said Allen (illness) won’t be activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Sunday’s game against the Giants, Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Analysis: While Allen didn’t make enough progress in his recovery from COVID-19 to suit up this weekend, the Chargers anticipate fellow wideout Mike Williams coming off the list Saturday, after he was deemed a close contact of Allen. Without Allen, the Chargers will likely rely more on Jalen Guyton and Josh Palmer to pick up snaps at receiver alongside Williams.


Week 16 Strikes (x1)

Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 16:


Iain - WALES x1

x1 Started WR - Cole Beasley - (BUF) - who was ruled out before his teams actual game day:

Published: Tue, Dec 21 at 8:06pm by Rotowire.com

Ineligible for Week 16

Beasley won’t be available for Sunday’s game against the Patriots after he was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday due to testing positive for the virus, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Analysis: Because Beasley is abiding to the NFL protocols for unvaccinated players, he’ll have to complete a 10-day quarantine following his positive test, regardless if he’s asymptomatic or not. Since Beasley won’t be eligible to rejoin the Bills until the middle of next week at the earliest, he’ll miss out on a pivotal matchup with New England that could end up deciding the AFC East champion. With fellow wideout Emmanuel Sanders (knee) far from a safe bet to be available Sunday, the Bills could have to rely heavily on Gabriel Davis, Isaiah McKenzie and Jake Kumerow to pick up more reps alongside No. 1 receiver Stefon Diggs.


(LC) Rather sad but this is Wales’ (Iain Morris’s) 4th Strike. He will be replaced in the off season but as long as he does not pick up 6 (so 2 more before end of season) he is welcome to ask to go back on the waiting list to get back in when a space arises or someone else gets struck out.

Week 17 Strikes (x4)

Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 17:


Iain - WALES x1

x1 Started RB - Darrell Henderson - (LAR) - on IR

Published: Tue, Dec 28 at 1:27pm by Rotowire.com

Settles on injured reserve

Henderson (knee) was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

Analysis: Henderson sustained an MCL sprain in his right knee this past Sunday in Minnesota that will now require him to sit out three games before he can return to the active roster. His next potential appearances depends on the Rams’ eventual seed, but in the meantime Sony Michel is expected to be the team’s lead running back. Michel may welcome back Cam Akers to the lineup as soon as Sunday in Baltimore, as the latter is completing a much quicker than anticipated recovery from a torn Achilles suffered in July. Aside from Michel and Akers, Jake Funk and Buddy Howell are the other healthy running backs on L.A.'s active roster.


Felipe - PERU x1

x1 Started RB - Clyde Edwards-Helaire - (KC) - who was ruled out before his teams actual game day:

Published: Sat, Jan 1 at 1:27pm by Rotowire.com

Ruled out for Week 17

Edwards-Helaire (shoulder) has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

Analysis: With Edwards-Helaire not in line to travel with the team, look for Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore to head Kansas City’s Week 17 backfield, with Jerick McKinnon (hamstring) a candidate to mix in as well after having been activated from IR in advance of Sunday’s contest.


Miguel - PORTUGAL x1

x1 Started WR - Kadarius Toney - (NYG) - who was ruled out before his teams actual game day:

Published: Fri, Dec 31 at 2:31pm by Rotowire.com

Out this week

Toney (shoulder) has been ruled out for Sunday’s game in Chicago, Dan Salomone of the Giants’ official site reports.

Analysis: Toney was held out of practice all week, though he managed to work out on the side with the training staff Friday, per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. The Giants are thinner than ever at wide receiver, with John Ross (knee) and Collin Johnson (hamstring) also ruled out and Darius Slayton (illness) on the reserve/COVID-19 list. They appear to be down to Kenny Golladay and players from the practice squad, with Pharoh Cooper being the safest bet to have a role out of the probable call-ups. Toney’s final chance to play this season will come in a Week 18 home game against Washington.


Shawn - NEW ZEALAND x1

x1 Started WR - Jamal Agnew - (JAX) - on IR

Published: Mon, Nov 22 at 1:32pm by Rotowire.com

Slated to miss remainder of season

Agnew (hip) is expected to miss the remainder of the season after he was placed on injured reserve Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Analysis: Agnew showed promise during his first season with the Jaguars, particularly after DJ Chark (ankle) went down. Across 10 games, the 2017 fifth-rounder hauled in 24 of 39 targets for 229 yards and a touchdown while rushing seven times for 111 yards and a touchdown. Agnew will now shift his focus toward preparing for 2022, but he could see less work if Chark is back to full health in time for the start of the season.


(LC) I’m speechless - this was the worst week this season for strikes issued in the IL. There were plenty of other inactives and players that could be forseen as not going to play in Week 17 but the only reason I was able to avoid issuing strikes to the respective teams who started those players was because they were not officaly ruled out until their teams actual gameday - but even then there was hours and hours to swap them out before said players actual games started. Contray to what some must think I hate dolling out strikes and it takes a hell of a lot of my time posting these infractions here. So it’s no fun for me - but on the flip side it insures we have a competitive free league and is the only realistic chance new people have to get into the IL - by an incumbent being struck out.

Week 18 Strikes (x1)

Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 18:


Shawn - NEW ZEALAND x1

x1 Started WR - Michael Gallup - (DAL) - on IR

Published: Tue, Jan 4 at 2:00pm by Rotowire.com

Officially hits injured reserve

Dallas placed Gallup (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

Analysis: Gallup’s move to IR was fully expected after the Cowboys confirmed the receiver suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. The injury will sideline Gallup through the entirety of Dallas’ run through the postseason and leaves his availability for training camp and the start of the 2022 season up in the air. CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper sit as the clear top two wideouts with Gallup sidelined, while Cedrick Wilson is expected to step into a larger role moving forward as the No. 3 receiver.


(LC) This is New Zealands’ (Shawns’) second strike in as many weeks. For someone who has been very vocal in wanting me to change many settings in this league it kind of grates he doesnt’t pay as much attention to starting vlaid line-ups of late. It’s so lucky this was the last week of the season so he can’t pick up a third strike and lose his spot for next season.

Finally found out everybodys favourite team:

IL Regular Season Standings 2021

IL Play Off Tree 2021

IL Super Bowl XII Recap - 2021

As often happens the recap never generated in this league - same as the last 4 seasons - NFL.com fantasy people don’t care despite me reporting this annually to them. Last time this league had a recap generate for the Championship Game (Super Bowl) was at the end of the 2016 season.

Other feedback they have ignored over the years is the PlayOff Tree (see previous post above this one) years ago it used to display each teams logo and team name rather than just the boring writing (team name) as it is now but they didn’t seem to care the aspethics are less pleasing now. Anything seems to much trouble for them to fix or listen to feedback on - often the generic replies you get back don’t apply in the slightest to what you submited, it got so bad over many years with their Auction Draft draft room I have migrated to Sleeper for all my Auction draft leagues as NFL.com are just to big to care.