This will hold the rules and instructions for Madden Fantasy.

• Rosters
• Free Agents
• Trades
• Strategy
• Starters
• Specialist Backups
• Playing Time

The Basics

You are the General Manager of your team making all decisions as described in this entry. Using your instructions I will play the games on the Madden NFL 2003 game on the playstation and then report back with all the relevant details.

If two user teams play each other then I will control both teams in alternate quarters - Away team 1st and 3rd, Home team 2nd and 4th. This will represent some kind of homefield advantage assuming I can usually beat the playstation.

As an incentive to perform well in your general management duties, I will also play the part of each team owner with the power to fire you. So if you hit a year or two of bad performance, you may have to seek employment elsewhere. Of course, the need to fire you may be alleviated somewhat if you fire your head coach - it's a cut-throat world out there!!

Rosters

Your teams roster of players can have up to 55 players included but must not have less than 39. There is also a set minimum number of active players you must have for each position before the next game can be played.

Injured players are not active so if, for instance, you have just 3 QB's on your roster and one is hurt, you will need to sign or trade for another QB before you can play your next game.

If you have the maximum number of players on your roster (55) then a player will have to be released to make room before the new QB can be signed. You cannot release injured players.

Although not part of the JM game, I will also operate a real NFL rule. For each regular season and playoff game, you can only dress 45 players (46 if you designate an emergency 3rd QB). These are the only players who can play with the others inactive for that particular game. It is entirely up to you which 45/6 you dress for each game.

If you play your emergency 3rd QB before the 4th Quarter of a game, then the first two QB's on your depth chart will not be able to return to the game.

Salary Cap

Each season all teams will have to fit all their players salaries at or under the league-wide salary cap (This will be the same for every team). If a potential signees' requested salary will put your wage bill over the cap number then you will be unable to sign that player until you create room for his salary, by releasing or trading players.

If you release a player before his contract has expired then you will receive a cap penalty. The amount varies but is usually between 40-50% of the players full annual salary and your available 'cap room' will be reduced by this amount. This cap penalty will remain in place until another team signs him or the full length of the contract (in years) passes - whichever is sooner.

If you trade a player, that players contract goes with him to his new team and becomes their responsibility.

Free Agents

The full list of Free Agents can be found here. Available free agents are displayed by position along with information and attributes similar to the roster info on the team entries.

Each free agent will be listed with their requested salary. It is up to you to decide how much you wish to offer and over how many years (salaries are listed as annual salaries). The player will then decide whether to accept it or not. The players agent may indicate whether the offered salary is not high enough or whether the contract length is too long or too short. You can then revise your offer if you wish.

In the event that more than one user wishes to sign the same player then I will arbitrate the players decision based on the following criteria in this order:

• Salary
• Length of Contract
• Projected playing time/Role on team
• How successful the team
• Proximity to home town
• Playing surface

I will also keep both users informed of all developments in this situation, enabling you match or exceed any offers.

Restricted Free Agents, Franchise and Transition Players

Restricted Free Agents are players whose contracts have expired but have compiled 3 years or less experience. Although restricted free agents are free to sign contract tender offers with other teams, their current team has the right to either match any offer and retain the player, or they can select to receive compensation. Compensation will be a draft pick equal to the round in which the player was originally drafted.

You can select to designate one player on your roster whose contract has expired, as either a 'franchise' or transition player. The franchise tag means the player is free to sign with another team but that team will have to compensate you with two first round draft picks. The transition tag gives you the right to match any offer tendered and retain the player, however, if you do not decide to match the offer there will be no compensation forthcoming.

Trades

All teams may trade players and/or draft picks with other teams. The JM game only allows up to three players/draft picks to be traded in one transaction and will only allow trading of draft picks for the next colege draft. If you wish to add picks from more distant college drafts I will note and allow this. However, in order for such a trade to take place on the game, I will need to sign a player to the other team in order to swap for your draft pick when it becomes available for trading. It will be a cheap player with a one year contract but if you do not wish to keep him there will be a cap penalty!!

If two users wish to trade I will action this when I receive a post from both players confirming all the details of the trade.

Once the first game of a particular week has been played, the JM game will not allow trading until all games scheduled for that week have been completed. This is to ensure players do not play for more then one team in any given week. There is also a trade deadline imposed at week 6 of the regular season. Once the first game of week 6 has been played there can be no further trading until the following off-season

Real life trades from before the start of the 2002 season will be incorporated. Therefore, Oakland has Tampa Bay's 1st rounder in 2003 and 2nd rounder in 2004 while Miami owes anywhere between a 1st and a 3rd to New Orleans depending on Ricky Williams' performance.

Strategy

You will need to first of all choose your playbooks, one for offense and one for defense.

OFFENSE

Each Head Coach on the game (as of the start of the 2002 season) has their own offensive playbook. The plays are generally linked to the type of system that coach runs. For instance, Mike Martz of the St Louis Rams has a higher propensity of pass plays, particularly deep passes, and a wider variety of multiple receiver formations. Coaches who favour more of a power running approach, such as Dave Waanstedt of the Dolphins, will have more multiple Tight End formations and running plays. 'West Coast' coaches, such as Steve Mariucci of the 49'ers and Mike Holmgren of Seattle have a wider variety of short passes and screens.

There are also 5 generic offensive playbooks. Run Heavy, Run Balance, Pass Heavy, Pass Balance and West Coast, all of which should be fairly self explanatory. Your teams Head Coach will obviously have their own playbook as the default, however, if you wish to change the teams system, you can. A change can be made game to game, for instance if you wish to incorporate a more run oriented offense against an opponent with a poor run defense. As an aside, however, the more familiar I am with a particular playbook and a teams personnel, the more efficient I would be in getting the right personnel in good matchups for paticular plays, so consider well before attempting to change every game!!

DEFENSE

Defensive playbooks number 4 in total. These are 4-3, 3-4, 46 and Cover 2. Again each Head Coach will have a default concurrent with that HC's real life preference, ie Tony Dungy of the colts employs a cover 2. Whilst each defense is available during the game, the type you use will mean a greater variety of options for that defense in the game. In other words, if your playbook is a 4-3, there will be more 4-3 options during the game than there are if you have a 46.

4-3 refers to 4 down lineman and 3 L=linebackers. Good for run defense and fairly sound in pass defense.

3-4 refers to 3 down lineman and 4 linebackers. Better at pass defense than the 4-3 with a wide variety of blitz options.

46 refers to the defense made famous by the '85 Bears. A high pressure defense which crowds the line of scrimmage and even more blitz options than the 3-4. It is a high risk, high reward defense which causes turnovers with good personnel and gives up the big play with bad personnel. If you want to use this it is advisable to have very good defensive backs who can handle one on one coverage.

Cover 2 is a 4-3 that generally has the corners playing up to the line of scrimmage with the 2 safeties covering deep halves of the field. It is very effective against the short passing game but can be destroyed by a good tight end if your linebackers are weak.

GENERAL

If your knowledge of American Football is a little lacking, don't worry, tell me as much as you can in your weekly gameplan and I'll play the game as best as I can, trying to stay within the style of your Head Coach as much as I can. However, the more you can tell me the better. Do you want me to run and play action pass, all-out pass, run to set up the pass or the other way around? Do you want me to move your best receivers around, from wide to the slot and incorporate motion to achieve desirable matchups? What kind of matchups do you want, TE out wide on a corner, WR on a LB? Do yu want your best DB on their best WR or to play the same spot on the field. Who do you want double covered and by whom? Should I play run first or pass? How often do you want me to blitz and in what circumstances? Do you want bump and run or a soft zone? When would you like to go for two point conversions? Do you want your runningbacks to pass protect or run patterns? Do you want particular defensive lineman lined up over particular offensive lineman? Anything you know about the game and you would like me to incorporate, let me know and I'll stick to your instructions as much as I can.

Depth Chart

One thing you will need to tell me is your depth chart for each game. You should make this 3 deep, ie starter, backup, 2nd backup, so I know who to play in the event of a rash of in-game injuries. Only the players on your 45/6 in-game active roster can be placed on the depth chart. You will need to inform me of the predominant formation you will use (single-back two tight end, four wide receivers etc) and the designated starters will be credited with a start.

You will also need to designate the players for the following positions

• 3rd Down Back
• Nickel Back
• Dime Back
• Holder
• Long Snapper
• Gunners (on punt plays) x2
• Kick Returners x2
• Punt Returners x2

You can also designate any other specialists if you so desire

Do you want your kick coverage teams to be made up of backups, starters or a mixture?
Do you want any specialist pass rushers inserted on passing downs?
Do you want a blocking Tight End on during running plays?

Again, as with your strategy, anything you want to incorporate, let me know.

It is possible to play players out of position although their rating is likely to drop when doing so. The most easily interchangeable are:

• All five Offensive Line positions
• Defensive Ends and Tackles
• Cornerbacks and Safeties
• Offensive Skill positions (except Quarterback)

For these positional changes, the drop in a players ability will be considerably less than if you tried to play a kicker at the QB position, for example. Therefore, if, for instance, one of your starting guards is injured, your back-up may have an overall rating in the 50's. You may, however, have a reserve tackle whose overall rating is in the 80's. It is likely your reserve tackle can play guard better than your reserve guard.

If you are considering such a change to your line-up and want to know a players rating in a new position, just ask and I will let you know.

Playing Time

Player ratings have two chances to improve (or get worse) per season. Once after the preseason and then after the regular and post season. Those most likely to increase are younger players whilst older players or those coming off long term injury are most likely to drop.

The more a player plays and the better he performs (linked to his statistics) the larger the increase in his attributes. Therefore, if you have a young reserve who you wish to groom for future stardom, it is important to play him. The best opportunity for young and poorly rated players is the pre-season where the result of games is not all that important. If you want your rookies to get a head start then you could play them continuously through all four pre-season games. Established stars in the middle of their careers are unlikely to be affected much by the preseason whether you play them or not and of course, extended playing time increases the risk of injury.

If an established veteran does not get much game time during the regular season, he is likely to face a drop in his attribute ratings.

During the pre-season, your opponent will automatically play it's starters in the first half and backups in the second. You will need to consider this if you want to compare performances of players fighting for a starting spot on your team.