Madden 19 Rules

[SpectreBugg]

Gridiron Impact Madden 19
Rules and regulations

Section 1: Settings and philosophy

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1A. Menu Settings
Skill Level – All Pro
Quarter length – 12 minutes
Accelerated Clock – On
Minimum Play Clock – 18
Game Speed – Normal
League Type – Coach
Player Names – Always
Heat Seeker – User Preference
Ball hawk – OFF
Switch assist – User preference
Camera settings – User preference
Defensive graphics – off
Kick aiming arc – off
Previous play info – on
Fill Roster – off
Re sign players – off
Progress players – off
Sign off season free agents – off
simulate game prep activities – User preference

1B. League Philosophy:
To create a fair and enjoyable atmosphere for all participants.
To maintain consistent integrity of the leagues rules and stats, so as to provide an immersive experience for everyone.
To enlist players who take the experience seriously for what it is, and are not here “just to win”.
To make sure that we are giving every level of experience and skill a fair shot by minimizing the effect of stick skills and knowledge of broken mechanics/plays, and putting an emphasis on strategy and team building.

Section 2: General regulations

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2A. League Type: Standard sim league. 72 hour advances. 36 to schedule, 72 to play

2B. Coach Creation: All members joining the league should choose to create a new coach. The type of coach is completely up to you.

2C. General Expectations: We are here to enjoy a league that looks and feels like real football every week. We follow rules, we run real schemes, And we create an atmosphere that is enjoyable and fair for everyone. While there is some leeway to teach members when something goes wrong, there is a low tolerance for consistent issues.

2D. Scheduling: If you do not contact your opponent within 36 hours after advancement your game will be subject to a sim win for your opponent(provided they attempted to contact you). If your schedules simply do not match up, then the admin team will review both teams availability. If there is a considerable difference in availability, the team with the most will be given a sim win. Otherwise, the game will be simmed as per usual.

2E. Reliability: Members need to participate, from start to finish, as best as they can. This means not missing a lot of games, properly managing your team throughout the off-season, and remaining available/playing games even during losing seasons. If you need extended time away for any reason, simply speak with an admin about it.

2F. Playbooks: Custom playbooks are allowed and encouraged. However, You will be required to post your intended offensive scheme, build your playbook around that scheme, and execute it in game. If you say your scheme is power run, and you spend most of the game in 3+ wide throwing the ball, or similar off scheme stuff, that will be unacceptable. You are not limited to the built in schemes in the scheme selector. The idea is to mimic a real team, or create a legitimate scheme of your own. You simply need to make sure your scheme is clearly explained.

2G. Streaming expectations and jerseys: All members are expected to use either twitch or youtube to stream and archive their games. Home teams will stream games, and will get their choice of jersey type(Colored or white), with the away team taking the opposite. Teams are never to have the same jerseys, even if they are different colors(IE: color rush) unless both teams agree to it.

2H. Gameplay complaints: issues related to your opponents play are to be handled in a step by step process.

1. Pause the game and message your opponent in the live game chat. Let them know that there is a possible issue, and attempt to resolve it respectfully then and there. If need be, you may try to notify an admin to help resolve it, but don’t expect an admin to always be available. If the situation cannot be resolved, continue the game. Do not hold up the game for a large amount of time if the situation can't be resolved.
2. If the problem was not resolved properly during the game, notify an admin once the game is over. Provide information on what the issue was, a link to the game it occurred in, and an approximate time for when it occurred. The admins will review the issue, and provide a ruling based on what they find.

2I. Quitting and blowout expectations: Quitting out of a game is grounds for immediate removal from the league. This will not be tolerated. Now, sometimes madden will get to people, or you’ll be in a game where nothing is going your way and you’re losing big, and you simply want the game you are in to be over with. That's okay, we understand that. Here are some examples of what you can do in this situation.

1. Sub in backups and get those young guys some playing time. play to run the clock and sustain long drives.
2. chew clock(only in the 2nd half or last minute of first half)
3. Inform your opponent that you are done and/or subbing, so they understand the situation and can do the same.

And here are some examples of what you should NOT do in this situation.

1. Quit out of the game
2. Walk away from the game and stop picking plays or participating.
3. Do anything that might cause a disconnection(open another app, let penalties rack up because you aren't there, “pull the plug”, etc..)
4. Kneel the ball before the game is definitely over.
5. Force feed players to stat pad instead of running your scheme.
6. Start bending rules to try and come back in the game.
7. Tell your opponent you are done, but continue to play like you intend to win.

Obviously it is not limited to these examples alone. Use your best judgment on both sides of the situation. Any issues will be reviewed by the admins.

Losing team: We don't expect anyone to “give up”, however we also don't want people racking up silly stats trying to come back. Throwing a ton of int's into coverage, only targeting certain players or only throwing streaks. Throwing the ball 60 times in one game, etc.. etc.. This isn't realistic in any manner. This is also a chance for you to develop young talent and maybe try a few things you rarely run in your scheme.

The rule of thumb is “if you are still trying to do everything you can to score, your opponent can as well”.

2J. Sportsmanship: This is pretty straight forward. Keep it respectful. We aren't going to force anyone to say good luck or good game if they simply don't want to, but don't create a problem where there isn't one. Follow the rules, Keep all your chat reasonable and respectful, be open to constructive and respectful criticism, and walk away if things become hostile.

2K. Disconnects: Disconnects are a touchy subject in madden. It's complicated to determine what the problem actually was and if it's even related to the players at all, or just sony/EA server issues. So, If a disconnect happens, you have the following options.

1. If both teams agree, you may simply start the game over.
2. If the score difference was enough that one team feels like they “deserve” the win and doesn't want to start over, then you may submit it to the admin team for review. The admins will decide if the game was well enough in hand to give out a forced win.
3. If the admins decide there is a forced win situation, then that player will be awarded the sim win.
4. If the admins do not believe the game was well enough in hand, they will inform you that the game needs to be replayed. If this is the case, and the 2 players cannot get another time set to play, the game will receive a regular sim.
5. We will not be “playing back to score” in this league. This allows too much leeway for favorable stat lines that can harm the integrity of the league. We also will not be playing cpu games so a forced win means simmed with you set to win the game, not play the cpu for the win.
6. Users who have consistent disconnect issues will be subject to review and consequences(including removal). While disconnects generally aren’t the users fault, It should not be a regular issue.

2L. Changing Teams: Users will be allowed to change teams on a “per situation” basis. The admins will review the situation and decide if it's okay.

2M. No switch Rules(applies to Offense and Defense): This is a “no switch while the ball is in the air” league. Once the ball is thrown, the offense and defense must wait until the ball is caught before switching to a different player. Users are not allowed to switch to a defender to try and stop a catch, or switch to receivers to try and make a catch. In addition, the offensive user is not allowed to choose catch types. Defenders may make plays on a ball in the air or on a potential receiver, but only with the player they were controlling prior to the throw. Users may switch defenders to make tackles during run plays, after receivers make a catch, or to attempt a sack with a defender.

2N. Stat Padding: Stat padding is not allowed under any circumstances. Some examples of what we mean are...

1. Targeting a single receiver too often compared to others.
2. Running with a hb too often compared to others.
3. Taking advantage of broken plays or giving up free scores for any reason.
4. Keeping a bunch of starters on the field in a blow out victory.
5. Running the ball at the end of the 2nd quarter instead of kneeling when the field position is not in your favor( pass the ball if you really want to try and score)
6. Keeping starters in the game and attempting to score late in the game in a “hopeless” effort. (EX: you’re down 3 scores with 1 minute left in the game). Use your backups or kneel it out and take the loss respectfully.
7. These are examples, and we are not limited to these specific situations for stat padding.

2P. Broken plays/mechanics: Broken plays and mechanics of any kind will be subject to banning as they are found. When this happens, players will be expected to remove these plays from their playbooks and/or stop using the banned mechanic.

Section 3: Gameplay on Offense

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3A. Hot Routes: Hot routes need to be realistic for the play design/concept. We’ll give some examples to help, but it is by no means limited to these.

1. Streaks should not be changed to anything but a comeback route and vice versa.
2. No hot routes on hail marry plays
3. Outs and ins are interchangeable, but shouldn’t be changed to quick or deep routes, except a “smart route” adjustment.
4. Zigs, slants, flats, hitches are interchangeable.
5. Crosses to slants and drags are okay.
6. Concepts need to remain intact. Floods should still be floods, verticals should still be vertical, quick plays like sticks and slants should remain quick plays, etc.. etc.
7. If you have questions about anything, feel free to ask.

3B. 2 point attempts: No official situational rules for this at the moment. members should take them when/if needed. This does not mean whenever you want an extra point though. Use this feature if the situation warrants it. Issues will be reviewed.

3C. Sim Running: There are two parts to this rule.

1. Zig zag running and left stick cuts. Keep it realistic. We all know momentum and change of direction are awful in madden. Don’t make unrealistic quick cuts with the left stick. Lay off the speed boost button and use your right stick moves to make proper cuts.
2. Following the play concept. Inside runs should go inside, outside runs outside, etc.. etc. Follow the design of the play.
3. see the following document for a full description of what “Sim running” means. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...TioiUfLvU/edit

3D. Play Calling: In addition to running a proper scheme, members are expected to keep their plays mixed within their style of play. This shouldn't need to be said if the scheme is being run properly, but running the same plays over and over, or too often in a single game, should not happen.


3E. No huddle: No huddle offense will only be allowed in the following situations.

1. Will not be allowed anytime in the first half, except the last 2 minutes
2. Will not be allowed anytime in the 3rd quarter.
3. Will be allowed in 4th quarter under the following circumstances
   3a. down by 1 score – within 4 minutes
   3b. down by 2 scores – within 7 minutes
   3c. down by 3 or more scores – all of 4th quarter
4. No Huddle may only be run after a successful pass or run with the clock running. If the clock is stopped, you are sacked, or the run play went for a loss, you must huddle unless you are within the final 2 minute warning.

3F. 4th down Rules: The following guidelines will be followed for 4th down situations

1. 1st through 3rd quarter - you may only go for it if it is 4th and 1 on the goalline and you are NOT winning by more than 7 points. You may not go for it in any other circumstance.
2. 4th quarter – You may go for it under the following limitations
   2a. With 10 minutes or less to go - need to be down by 3 scores or more(17+ points).
   2b. With 7 minutes or less to go - need to be down by 2 scores(9+ points).
   2c. With 4 minutes or less to go - need to be down by 1 score
3. In all circumstances you must be at or beyond your own 45 yard line.
4. IF there is less than 4 minutes left and you are down by 2 scores or more, you may go for it in any area of the field.

3G. QB Sneak: QB running plays from under center are not allowed(IE: QB draw or QB sneak). You may run designed QB run plays from the shotgun and pistol formations.

3H. FB Dive: FB Dive plays are banned on any play where you have 1 yard or less to go.

3I. Scrambling: QB's may scramble when under pressure or when they cannot find an open receiver. You are expected to go through your progressions and make an attempt to throw the ball if possible. Once the QB has run to the sideline(outside the numbers) they can no longer throw the ball down field(a quick ditch off to a flat receiver is fine). If you scramble within a second or two of snapping the ball and were not under pressure, suspensions are possible.

3J. Screen plays: Screen plays must be thrown to the receiver running the screen, or thrown away. Any other result will be a violation of rules.

3K. Playmaker: Playmaker is banned from the league.

3L. Quick Snap: Players are required to wait at least 3 seconds from the time the entire offense is set at the LOS before snapping the ball.

3M. Drop backs: QB's should never be dropping back 10 yards or more from the LOS.

3N. PA Passes: PA can not be used on 3rd down when you have 6 yards or more to go. In addition, you may not use PA while running a no huddle offense. You may call a PA play, but you must hot route the PA player out of PA. In addition, you cannot run a PA play but cancel the PA mid play in these situations.

3O. Goalline / No WR: The goalline formation is limited to inside the 5 yard line on either side of the field only. Other formations without a wr may be used as normal parts of your offense. This applies to defense as well.

3P. WR and RB play limits: WR's and RB's should never have more than 80% of the catches or rushes on their team. In addition, a RB should not have more than 30 carries in any given game. Unusually unbalanced stats will be reviewed.

3Q. Ice the kicker/FG rule: After being “iced” by the defense, the offense is not allowed to come out in a different formation/play, or call a timeout to circumvent the effects of being iced. This is because it circumvents the entire idea of “being iced” and the defense saving a timeout for this. Calling a timeout on offense wouldn’t “de-ice” the kicker irl.

3R. Banned plays: There will be a list of banned plays provided in the the Discord server for everyone to see. These plays are never to be used unless otherwise specified.

3S. Punting angles: Do not angle a punt out of bounds unless you are confident you can pin it inside the opponents 15 yard line. The only exception to this is if your opponent has already returned a punt for a TD in the current game.

3T. Slant routes: Slant routes are hot reads and should be thrown to as such. Once a slant receiver crosses mid field, they are no longer allowed to be thrown to.

Section 4: Gameplay on Defense

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4A. Hit Stick: Hit stick is allowed to be used, but only if it was the player you were usering at the snap, or you have given the receiver/ ball carrier a few steps before switching to the nearest defender to deliver a hit. As the defender you switch to, you also need to take a few steps before hit sticking.

4B. Manual positioning: You are not allowed to manually move a defensive player unless madden has placed them in a bad position to begin with.(IE: madden puts a deep quarters safety at the LOS for no apparent reason, a DE gets stuck at the LB level, etc..)

4C. Run commit: Run commit may only be used if your opponent is in a formation with no WR, running the clock out with less than 2 minutes left in the game, or have a yard or less to go on the goalline.

4D. 3 man rush: You must always be rushing(blitzing the QB) with at least 3 players on every play. The only exception to this is late in a game, when a team is attempting a comeback and has a known “dual threat” type QB. In these situations, you may put 1 of your 3 rushers into a spy only to attempt to contain all the offenses weapons.

4E. Manual rushing: You can only manually rush with a player if they are supposed to be rushing on the play called. If you audible a zone or man player to a rush, you cannot user that player. In addition, you need to rush at the snap. You cannot sit and wait until the blockers will ignore you before rushing.

4F. Defensive adjustment limits: We ask that you keep your adjustments realistic, just like we expect on offense. Don’t make adjustments that don’t make sense for the play. Don’t completely change the concept of the play. Don’t send a bunch of none blitzers on blitzes and vice versa. Don’t change a bunch of zones to man, etc.. etc. In addition, You cannot keep adjusting players until the ball is snapped. Continuing to show blitz and back off more than once, or pressing and backing off db's more than once, or shifting linemen/linebackers back and forth more than once is not allowed. (example: if you come out in cover 3 press, and choose to back off a corner, you cannot then press them again.)

4G. Base Defense and personnel matching: We’d like to encourage all members to not only try to create an experience similar to real life, but to run their team like they are truly the coach. With that said, we will be allowing ANY reasonable base defense to be selected by owners. This means not just 4-3 or 3-4, but also 4-6, 5-2, 4-2-5, 3-3-5, etc. etc.. So long as you understand what it means to have these as your base defense. We will have a +/- 1 rule for matching personnel along with this. No more than 1 less or 1 more CB on the field per receiver. Play your down and distance realistically. A good example is, there is no need to have 3 corners on the field against 12/21 personnel on 1st and 10. Use your best judgment, and ask if you aren’t sure.

4H. Ball hawk spot checks: The league will be randomly doing spot checks on players post game to make sure that users are following the ball hawk rules. This is because there is no way to know if a player has this turned off or not. Players may randomly(or not so random if the stats warrant it) be asked to start a stream at the end of a game(before they leave the end game screen) and check their settings for the admins to see. While sometimes inconvenient, it is the only way to ensure that players are following this rule. Players who are found in violation of this rule, or refuse/forget to comply with the spot check, will be subject to long player suspensions, as well as possible removal from the league.

4I. Defensive User assignments: Users are expected to play their assigned roles for the player they are controlling on defense. This means that if you are playing the spy, you must “spy”. If you are assigned to man coverage, you must play that man coverage. If you are in zone, you must play that zones assignment. User’s are not allowed to abandon their assignments to make unrealistic plays or run around like it’s an arcade game in order to wreak havoc of the AI’s lack of awareness. We don’t allow the offense to get carried away with user control, so we want to see the same balance on defense. If you read a play happening, and make a break for what you think is coming, that is fine, as long as you were playing your assignment up to that point. IE: no running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, jumping from assignment to assignment.

4J. Defensive line shifting: Users are NOT allowed to “shift” their defensive line. This causes AI blocking issues that allow for defenses to play very light boxes and still have unblocked linebackers. If you don’t like the alignment of your defensive line, we suggest you either audible to a different set, or “flip” the defensive play to move them. You can still “crash” the defensive line as you see fit though. There are 2 exceptions to this rule, as follows.

1. You may shift the defensive line if they shift on their own due to another adjustment you make. (IE: you put a DT in spy and the DL shifts to their side. In that case you can shift them back only).
2. In 3rd and 6+ situations, you may “spread” your defensive line to a wide 9 look. This is only allowed because the wide 9 sets are limited, and it does not cause any known issues in blocking assignments. However, this is subject to change if an issue is found.

4K. Base Align: Using base align is only allowed against compressed and bunch formations. Under no other circumstances can it be used.

Section 5: Roster management

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5A. Practice squad rules: The following rules must be followed when signing practice squad players.

1. preseason week 4: 10 man practice squad is set. This may be done with players already on your team or free agents not already on a practice squad.
2. Regular season Weeks 1-2 - You may sign up to 2 players from a teams practice squad to your regular roster. They must remain on your regular roster for the entire season(the only exception is being placed on IR).
3. After week 2 - A player may only be signed from another team's practice squad if you place a player of that position on IR and must replace them on your active roster. Again, the PS player must remain on your active roster for the entire season. However, we do encourage you to look for players from your own PS first, as that is what it’s there for.

5B. Depth Chart: You must have 53 active players on your depth chart at all times during the season.

5C. Contracts: When signing(or resigning) a player, you must adhere to the following contract rules.

1. 1 year contracts – Minimum bonus: 0%, Maximum bonus 50%
2. 2 year contracts - Minimum bonus: 10%, Maximum bonus 50%
3. 3-7 year contracts – Minimum bonus: 25%, Maximum bonus 50%

In addition to this, there will be a point bid limit of 125 for free agents during the offseason.
Players may be signed to +/- 1 year of what they are asking for, with two exceptions: that players may never be signed to more than 5 years, unless they are asking for more than that, and that players over the age of 30 may be signed to any amount less than what they are asking for.
You will be required to take a photo of your contract offer screen when resigning players, to ensure that the proper rules are being met.

5D. Waiver wire: At the beginning of each season, we will have a point based waiver system to claim and sign free agents. Points will be allocated based on seeding from the previous season. Teams will use these points to bid on free agents, and use their seeding position to win tying bids, at which point, they would drop to the lowest seed. Details about this system and the points will be provided in discord each season.

5E. Trades: You are required to submit all trades to a committee to be approved before making them. Rookies and Players in the first year of their contract may not be traded(except players under the franchise tag). Each team will get 2 trades in season and 2 trades in the off season. Trades that only include draft picks will not count towards these limits.

5F. Draft based trading: We do not trade Players during the draft under any circumstances. They hold up an already long process. You may trade draft picks during the draft to move up and down the board, but to keep things moving quickly, they will be approved by the commissioner only, and will be based on the real life point value chart for draft picks. Anything within 500 total points will be considered a reasonable trade. If you are trading picks next season, for picks this season, then the picks the following season will be worth only 75% of their normal value.(IE: Pick 16 is worth 1000 points this year, but next years is only worth 750) In addition, we will allow a team no more than the following early draft picks.

1. No more than 2 first round picks
2. no more than 4 total first + second round picks.

This means you can have 2 first round picks and 2 second round, 1 first round and 3 second round picks, or 4 second round picks. This rule is about keeping the league and team talent a little more balanced.
It is the owners responsibility to know how many picks they have in each round before submitting a trade for an early pick during the draft. We will not be checking the limit every time, as we want to move the draft along quickly. Should a team knowingly trade for more early picks than is allowed, the drafted player may be subject to be released and placed on waivers for someone else to sign(at full rookie contract length).

5G. Player Resigns: We will be using a 2+2+1 rule for resigning players. Teams may resign up to 2 players who are an 85 overall or higher, 2 players who are 84 ovr or lower, and tag 1 player of their choice at any ovr. You may use your higher ovr resigns on lower ovr players if you wish, but you cannot use lower ovr resigns on higher players. Kickers and punters may always be resigned without counting towards this limit. In addition to this, If you release a player that is an 85 ovr or higher AND 30 years old or younger, you will get an extra regression fix at the end of the season.
5H. Free agency bids: Couple of things to note when bidding on free agents during the offseason.

1. Be sure to abide by the 125 point limit
2. If you are the highest bidder on a player, you may not remove your bid unless there are no other bids on them.
3. If you outbid someone and they remove their bid, you cannot lower your bid afterwards.
4. During the first 2 stages of free agency, you cannot bid lower than 50 points on a player.
5. During the last stage of free agency, there is no minimum bid
6. During the season you cannot release a player and then resign them. During offseason free agency you must allow at least 1 advance before attempting to sign a player back. For example, if you release a player during stage 1, you cannot bid on them until stage 2 starts.

5I. Position minimums: Teams will be required to Keep a minimum amount of players at each position. Minimums are as followed:
QB - 2
HB - 3
FB+TE* - 3
WR - 4
OL - 8
DE - 4
DT - 2(3-4), 4(4-3)
OLB - 4
ILB - 4(3-4), 2(4-3)
CB - 4
S - 4
K - 1
P - 1
*Teams that do not enlist a FB on the roster, will not be allowed to use any formation that requires a FB except the Goalline formation.

5J. Position changes and requirements: Details about position changes are provided in the discord server.

5K. Regression fixes: Due to madden handling regression on aging playing too early and too much, the league will be “fixing” a limited number of players for each team. What this means is that we will go in and manually re adjust the chosen players ratings back to certain levels. Specifics of how this is handled as follows:

1. Speed, acceleration, and agility will not be fixed at all.
2. Players who are younger than 32 years old will get their other attributes fully fixed.
3. Players who are 32 years or older will get their attributes 75% fixed.
4. Each team will get to select 2 players to have fixed each season.