USFL who?

              I love the VH1 show, “where are they now?” It always intrigues me to see what the former drummer from Poison is up to. Or maybe we take a peak in on the life of Ralph Macchio. I guess you can call it a sort of sick voyeurism, but none the less it is intriguing. I like to play this game with former college football stars. Does anybody know what national championship winning Florida quarterback Chris Leak has been up to? How about his Heisman winning counterpart at Ohio State, Troy Smith? Where is 2000 Heisman Trophy winning FSU quarterback Chris Weinke? These former football players have gone from being full-on stars in the college ranks, to being undrafted fourth string benchwarmers in the NFL or they completely fall off the radar.

                    If you are taken in the professional baseball draft, you are being paid on the assumption that after several years in the minor leagues you can work your way in to a prominent position on the big league roster. This gives guys that have not necessarily grown in to their potential, the chance to be coached and nurtured on their way to be coming great players. A system like this doesn’t exist in football. You are given four years in college to become the best possible player you can, then you are booted out and forced to fend for yourself in the world of professional football. If you aren’t drafted in one of the seven rounds of the NFL draft, you are forced to earn a spot in a tryout or you are relegated to one of the smaller professional leagues. The number of players that make the leap from the Canadian Football League (CFL) or the Arena Football League (AFL) to the NFL is miniscule to say the least. A minor league-type system has been lacking for sometime, but that will hopefully all change in April, 2008.

            In April, we will be treated to the kick off of the inaugural season of the All American Football. Teams will be centered in areas with large college football programs and followings (Alabama, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas) and will only recruit players that have achieved a four year degree from a university. The league itself will employee the individual players (instead of the franchises—which will help control spending) and will pay players an average of $100,000 to attract the best non-NFL talent. The league has already signed former BCS MVP and Florida quarterback Chris Leak, former Heisman Trophy winner Eric Couch, and former number 4 overall NFL pick Peter Warrick from FloridaState. Great idea.

                 I know you are all sitting around grumbling to yourselves about how you have heard this before. The XFL, NFL Europe, and the USFL are all former independent football leagues that folded after a few short years. Why is this one any different? Here is why:

1) The people in charge of this league have done things the right way. They are not competing against the NFL like the XFL and USFL openly did. The NFL is the most power and influential league in sports and if you come out trying to compete with guns blazing, you will go down in flames.  

2) Their season runs from April until July. This means that it is nestled between the end of college football, NFL, and college basketball seasons and it finishes before the baseball season takes off and the basketball playoffs get going. Genius! Don’t compete against the big boys in televised athletics.

3) It is run by smart people with experience in sports. The board of directors has a former President of NCAA athletics, several college athletic directors, a couple sports lawyers, and several financial advisors. Other leagues have been run by CEOs and rich guys who don’t know squat about football, but have a competitive streak that makes them do dumb things.

4) There is a real push to get these teams affiliated with individual NFL franchises. This is the real genius of this league. If you can get the NFL teams to use this league as a “farm system,” you can afford to draft talent and give them time in the farm system to develop before they are moved to the NFL roster.

             To ensure that the All American Football League thrives and grows, they need to study what made the USFL and the XFL fail. The USFL had several major blunders. The first was in 1984 when they decided to play games in the fall, coinciding with the NFL season. You can’t possibly compete head to head with the NFL (see #1). Second, the USFL had a salary cap of $1.8 million dollars which would ensure financial stability and an even spread of talent throughout the league. A great idea, until it was broken to sign Herschel Walker (which was understandable given his once in a generation-type talent). This signing created a floodgate of spending by owners which ultimately caused several teams to collapse under financial stress. Finally, and ultimately the biggest blunder, was when the team owners began to outgrow the league. Donald trump, a very business savvy person in his own right, started to throw his weight around and called out the NFL. He filed a lawsuit claiming that the NFL had a monopoly on television rights and access to stadiums. Once again, don’t slap the big dog in the face…it will bite.

            This is a chance to watch some great players get a chance to play, who otherwise might never get the a look in the NFL. The league has already taken some great steps to sign talent and names, managed to instill franchises where there is already a serious football following, and been smart enough not to go toe-to-toe with the NFL. I think as long as they stick to their principles, they will be successful for the foreseeable future.             

            It would be irresponsible for me not to mention the United Football League which is starting play this year as well. It has already lined up owners like Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks owner and the most entertaining guy in sports) and Tim Armstrong an executive with Google. They have franchise deals pending with Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mexico, and London. The NFL Europe worked in the UK, right? Wrong.

Comments

[Dave Edwards]

Great article. I didn't know about this new league. How come we haven't heard about this before. Keep up the good work.

[Jason Argile]

This sounds like a great idea! Any plans for an LA franchise or one in New York? Those seem like good football areas.

Great article. Keep it up!

[Patty Johnson]

You might be right, but one drawback, the AAFL are recruiting big name guys to get the league started. How is a guy without a big name ever going to get true chance to play for the AAFL? There is a lot of talent that gets missed out there, just because they did not play for a big name college. The question is, will the AAFL succeed like you think it should. I don't think so!

[Doug]

So you think the AAFL is avoiding the pitfalls of those other leagues? The AAFL has already done on of it'S biggest failures - a two week training camp. This will impact the level of play on the field. It's the same mistake the XFL did.

[Sean]

How can you promote a leauge that hasn't showed us a product There's nothing for us to see...Logos,Nicknames, Uniforms.. Wheres the Marketing strategy?

Nothank you I'll pass this time.

[Zachary]

I don't give a damn how crappy this league might be. I just can't wait to see orange-and-blue clad bodies flying around The Swamp....in frickin' April!!!

[Rudone]

Tell me more about the United Football League

[Kenny]

Will any games be shown on Television? What network ?