Even though yesterday there was some indication of a labor dispute resolution coming soon, several influential members of QFL Nation have been asking tough questions about the QFLs official contingency plans for various NFL labor dispute scenarios. The truth is COMCOMM is still reviewing many proposals and hasn’t released any kind of guidance for 2011.
Under Consideration.
The leading proposals have come Paul. Back in December 2010, lame duck Commissioner Pope Paul-I outlined his ideas which are being reviewed by COMCOMM. However, the progress of the review process is unknown.
Proposals From Pope Paul-I.
Please see the following lockout/labor strife proposals and
let me know what you think:1. If an NFL lockout seems inevitable on August 1, 2011, the
Commissioner will declare “lockout rules.” Under lockout rules, on
August 20, 2011, all owners must cut to 8+QFLE players on their active
rosters, as usual. At some point in September, the league will conduct
its auction and draft, as usual, (I imagine many will be phoning it in
since its tough to convince wives and significant others that they
need to travel to DC for a fantasy draft when NFL football has been
tentatively cancelled. If we don’t hold a auction/draft in September,
however, we run the risk of the NFL and players reaching a settlement
and starting play before all of the QFL owners can schedule a
draft/auction).2. Replacement Players and the QuIntense Football League: Following
the conclusion of the rookie draft, each team has the option of
declaring up to 4 “replacement players” and placing 2 players in the
QuIntense Football League. In the event that there is a significant
lockout that cancels the 2011 NFL and/or QFL season, the 4
scabs/replacement players can be kept during the 2012 season under
their 2011 contracts (protecting teams have been building from
within). The QuIntense Football League works just like QFLE, allowing
teams to protect two additional players in 2011 that can carry over to
the 2012 cut to eight deadline. A player may have both a scab tag and
a QuIntense tag, but any player who is not designated as a scab will
have their 2012 contract determined as if the 2011 season had occurred
(e.g. a 2010 L1 non-scab will be a L3 in 2012; a 2010 L1 scab will be
a L2 in 2012). Usual cut to eight rules will apply in 2012 (the Scab
rule only deals with the non-escalation of certain players’
contracts).In the event that the NFL labor dispute ends so that the 2011 QFL
season does not have to be cancelled, the locked-out players will
reconcile with the players who crossed the picket lines and the
QuIntense Football League will fold. Quite simply, we already have
conducted the draft/auction, we waive any transaction fees/practice
squad designations, and start the season as usual, except for the
shortened season rule below:3. Shortened season: In the event that the NFL schedules 14-16 games,
the QFL playoffs and the Superquince formats will not change (except
perhaps, the scheduling of fewer QFL regular season games). In the
event that the NFL schedules 10-13 games, a shortened QFL season will
occur where the teams will be seeded as usual before the final two
weeks of the NFL regular season. During the final two weeks of the NFL
season, individual leagues will compete in three Round Robin
tournaments (seeds 1-4, seeds 5-8, seeds 9-12). The first two picks in
the 2012 rookie auction will be awarded to the 5th and 6th place teams
after the round robbin tournament. The third pick in the 2012 rookie
auction will be awarded to the winner of 9th place. All other picks
will be handled as usual (5, 6, 9. . . ). The Superquince will
basically be the same, except obviously, shorter. If the NFL schedules
fewer than 10 games, the QFL season will be cancelled 🙁4. Longer season: In the event that the NFL schedule 18 games in 2011,
everything stays the same except the QFL will add 4 weeks to its
regular season. An exploratory committee will be formed to see if any
roster or playoff rules need to be tweaked.
 Hopefully none of these options will have to be implemented, but it would be nice if COMCOMM would let us know where they stand.
Shades