User Guide
18
Rookie Watch – Rookie Watch follows the league’s rookies through their first season and posts their
performance on the gridiron. This is a convenient place to see how well your prospects (and those from
other teams) are panning out as they work through their inaugural seasons in the NFL.
Team Standings – The Team Standings screen posts the season records of every team and displays the
current divisional standings.
Pro Bowl Votes – Pro Bowl voting takes place near the end of the season, and the results will be posted
here. The players who receive the most votes are invited to play in the NFL’s all-star game the week after
the Super Bowl.
Options
(See Options on page 25.)
Load / Save
If you have a memory card inserted to your Nintendo GameCube™ console, you can save your Franchise
progress at any time. (See Load / Save on page 26.)
Quit
Quit playing. If you have not saved your game progress, you are prompted to do so. After confirming your
decision, you will return to the Main Menu.
OFFSEASON TASKS
At the end of NFL season, your job as the general manager is only just beginning. You need to re-sign
players, check the free-agent wire, scout rookies at the combine, and draft those prospects who you think
will bring your franchise to national prominence.
Retirement Negotiations
The wear and tear of multiple NFL seasons takes its toll on your players, and eventually, they'll opt to hang it
up. But all is not lost. Occasionally, you can encourage one last tour of duty from a retiring veteran by giving
them the right kind of encouragement (read: “big bucks and minimal years”). If your offer is good enough,
you just might be able to keep a player around long enough for that last big Super Bowl push.
To try to talk a player out of retirement:
1. Enter the Contracts menu during the Re-Signing Period of the offseason via the Front Office.
2. Press the X Button on a highlighted player whose status is listed as “retiring.”
3. Try altering dollar amounts and contract length. If there's a chance your player will come back to the team,
you will see his interest increase.
4. Press the START Button to make an official offer and see if the player is indeed willing to give it one more
go.
Re-Sign Players
See Re-Negotiate a Player’s Contract on page 14.
Free-Agent Wire
Every year on June 1st, the NFL opens the Free Agent floodgates, and during the 45 days leading up to the
NFL Draft, teams across the league compete for players whose contracts are up. If you want to build a
dynasty, nabbing the players that best suit your team's needs is a must. But, like the old saying goes,
nothing in life is free, so be prepared to outbid the rest of the league if you want to acquire the most coveted
players out there.
1. Use the L/R triggers to toggle between positions.
2. Use the Control Stick or +Control Pad to highlight the player you're interested in signing.
3. Press the A Button to make an offer.
4. Contract negations here work identically to Player Contracts in the Front Office (see page 14), with one
twist. Instead of signing right away, players will hold out for the best offer they can.
On The Table: