RMFL MANAGING BOARD APPROVES “FREE MOVE WINDOW” PLAN FOR PLAYERS CHANGING TEAMS

RMFL -  By a vote of 14-2 (4 teams not voting), the RMFL Managing Board approved a new, revised Player Movement Plan for the league.

A chief tenet of the plan is a “Free Move Window” which allows any player to change teams, even to a nearby team, without penalty for a certain period of time after the season ends.  After that window closes, a sliding scale of penalties may be appropriate depending upon when the player officially informs the RMFL that he is leaving his current team.

IN ANY CASE OF A PLAYER MOVING FROM ONE TEAM TO ANOTHER, A PLAYER MUST RETURN ANY TEAM EQUIPMENT AND SHOULD SETTLE ANY DEBTS TO HIS PREVIOUS TEAM.

“The rule is to encourage players to decide quickly if they are wanting to leave, therefore, allowing their previous GM plenty of time to be aware of who they will have returning and plan according,” RMFL Commissioner, Jared Neumeier explained. “We’ve had plenty of complaints under the current rule that GM’s suggest that they might have been a lot more amenable to allowing the player to leave had he just informed him earlier.  Some GM’s claim that they were counting on the player not only as a player, but also for the player fees that they would collect from the player.”

The previous player movement rule in the RMFL was to call for a “minimum 3 game suspension if a player leaves one team to play for another (in cases where he did not move to a new market area OR in cases of a simply transfer of a player from one existing team to another) AND his previous GM did not grant the player free release.   In most cases, free release may be just given as many GM’s and in other cases, agreements or “deals” were struck between GM’s to allow for the release.  The overall intention of free player movement restrictions was to avoid illicit recruiting practices of GM’s to lure players from other teams.  The goal of the rule was to prevent any GM to be allowed to freely “Stock up” on quality players thru incentives or other means not available to other franchises.

With the new movement rule in place, players however, must e-mail the RMFL at rockymountainfootball@yahoo.com and state their intention to leave their current team as soon as they are certain they want to go.  Depending upon the date of the request, the player may be required to miss games for his new team… or not.

“One of the problems with the old system,” Neumeier explained, “was that if a player wanted to change teams and a GM wanted to exercise his right to not let him freely go, either because he still wanted the player or because he simply wanted to support the concept of protecting franchise integrity, that GM would get persecuted in the public forum.  Under this system, the GM would have no say. It would be the responsibility of the league to enforce the rule and the rule would be enforced.”

One other tenet of the new system, however, is that not ALL players would have the same window. “Role players” for a team (i.e. players that were not starters or key contributors) would have a much longer free move window… extending all the way to training camp for the next season.

For most seasons, the free window would start right after the season ends and extend thru August 31st.  From September 1st thru October 31st he would receive a ONE GAME suspension for a local team to team transfer. From November 1st thru December 31st, he would receive a 2-game suspension. From January 1st thru March 1st, it would be a mandatory 3 game suspension… IF AND ONLY IF, that player was on a “protected list”.  For the 2007-2008 off-season, however, the dates have been truncated to phase in the rule.  Players can freely move from NOW UNTIL OCTOBER 20th, 2007.  From October 21st thru November 30th it will be a ONE GAME suspension (for protected players only). From December 1st thru January 15th it would be a 2 GAME suspension (for protected players only) and from January 16th thru February 29th it will be a 3 GAME suspension (for protected players only).

GM’s for each team, if they chose, shall submit a list of 25 “Protected” players to the RMFL.  By rule, these players MUST BE STARTERS OR GUYS WITH STARTERS PLAYING TIME from the PREVIOUS season.  The RMFL would reserve the right to pare that list down if it is determined that a GM is listing “extra” players, while not listing key starters in order to effectively protect more than 25 players.  This initial list this season is due by September 21.  If a GM does not submit a list, then ALL of that GM’s players may freely move until March 1, 2008.

“The object of the stipulation,” Neumeier explained, “is so a GM can’t sit down and say… okay, I don’t need to include players x, y and z because they are retiring anyway.  I don’t need to protect player a, b and c because I know there is no way in heaven or earth that they would ever leave this team, so I’ll just list 25 other guys.  We have an honor system in this league and I feel if a GM is trying do that, I’ll either just pare down his list or declare it invalid entirely.  There will be little tolerance for GM’s trying to abuse the system.”

Neumeier, however, feels there will be a number of teams that will not submit a “protected” list.

“In the Managing Board discussion of the issue,” he said, “there seemed to be a growing number of teams, even in the market saturated Utah and Boise areas, that believed in free movement anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if less than ½ of the teams even submit lists.

So with the rule in effect, if you are a player that wants to change teams, e-mail the league as soon as you can. If you are a GM that is getting a player from another team, you will want to remind the player to do it.

The Final Vote Count on the Proposal was as follows:

FOR NEW PLAYER MOVEMENT RULE:

Cache Valley, Utah Wolverines, Morgan, Bear River Valley, Muddogs, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, Glacier, Eastern Idaho, Pocatello, Boise, Idaho, Snake River.

AGAINST NEW PLAYER MOVEMENT RULE:

Rhino-Raiders, Vipers

NO VOTE RECORDED:

Idaho Falls, Bitterroot, Utah Heat, Magic Valley

NOTE: Salt Lake Seminoles assumed to be folded with respect to the RMFL.

NEW PLAYER MOVEMENT RULES

 

1. The previous constitutional exclusions remain in tact.  If a player moves into a new RMFL area, regardless of the rules below, he is free to change teams.  He will have to submit an e-mail to the RMFL League Office declaring his move and it will be up to the league office to grant the exclusion based upon whether the move is significant enough to fall within the rule. He should plan on being required to submit proof of the move.  Also, the exclusion for a new team forming in a non-saturated market area also applies.  However, a rule of no more than 10 players may transfer from an established team to a newly forming team, regardless of where the team is forming.  If more than 10 players submit for transfer, the RMFL League Office will have the sole descretionary right to determine which 10 shall be allowed to transfer (i.e. this may not be based on first applied/first transferred).  Currently, the only Saturated Market area is defined as the boundaries of Provo thru Salt Lake City to the boundaries of Ogden.  A re-definition of the Saturated Market area, if done in January, would not be retroactive to any player moves submitted before that time.

 

***2.  ANY player is allowed to FREELY change teams via an e-mail sent directly from that player to the Commissioner of that teams league after the teams last game up until August 31st.  HOWEVER, no more than 5 players from one team may move to another team without the express permission of the Commissioner.  If there are more than 5, only the first 5 would be free to change to the same team, based on e-mail dating.  The "Maximum of 5" rule applies to ALL transfers of one established team to another, regardless of which time frame any of them occur.

 

***3. EVERY RMFL team that wants to protect its right to retain players MUST SUBMIT a list of their primary 25 players from the previous season to the RMFL no later than August 31st.  The Players shall be referred to as "PROTECTED" Players. These would HAVE to be their primary starting players or players getting starting playing time.  These lists would be posted on the RMFL web site.  It will be at the discretion of Commissioner to remove any names from a teams list if the Commissioner deems that the player listed does not meet the criteria required to be on the player list. The team submitting would not be allowed a substitute if a player(s) is removed by the commissioner. This would be to protect from a GM protecting more than 25 players by not including key players that he/she is certain don’t need to be listed, but were starters and feels certain they will return.

 

3. Between September 1st and October 31st, "PROTECTED" players that submit an e-mail to the league to change teams WOULD BE REQUIRED TO SIT THE FIRST REGULAR SEASON GAME WITH THE NEW TEAM.  THE TEAM THEY LEAVE WOULD HAVE NO AUTHORITY TO WAIVE THE SUSPENSION. THAT AUTHORITY WOULD REMAIN WITH THE RMFL LEAGUE OFFICE ALONE.

 

4. Between November 1st and December 31st, "PROTECTED" players that submit an e-mail to the league to change teams WOULD BE REQUIRED TO SIT THE FIRST TWO REGULAR SEASON GAME WITH THE NEW TEAM.  THE TEAM THEY LEAVE WOULD HAVE NO AUTHORITY TO WAIVE THE SUSPENSION. THAT AUTHORITY WOULD REMAIN WITH THE RMFL LEAGUE OFFICE ALONE.

 

5. Between January 1st and February 28th, "PROTECTED" players that submit an e-mail to the league to change teams WOULD BE REQUIRED TO SIT THE FIRST THREE REGULAR SEASON GAMES WITH THE NEW TEAM.  THE TEAM THEY LEAVE WOULD HAVE NO AUTHORITY TO WAIVE THE SUSPENSION. THAT AUTHORITY WOULD REMAIN WITH THE RMFL LEAGUE OFFICE ALONE.

 

6. Non-protected players (i.e. not on the list) would be allowed free movement via an e-mail to the RMFL league office.

 

7. Beginning March 1st, ANY "PROTECTED" PLAYER (see 3.) that wants to change from his previous team to another team MUST wait until after his current team has played 3 regular season games and then can make a request to change based on lack of playing time with his current team to the RMFL Commissioner's Office.  ANY OTHER PLAYER must wait until after his current teams' first game and then can submit a request to change teams based on lack of playing time. This will necessitate an early initial roster deadline for ALL TEAMS of March 1st of each season.

 

8. A team that knowingly plays a suspended player for any reason SHALL ultimately FORFEIT the game the player participated in.  There is no "Statute of Limitations" on this rule. A FORFEIT SHALL BE AWARDED by the RMFL league office if proof is submitted or witnessed by the commissioner of this violation.