OT: All-American Football League

[TheNorthCydeRises]

If you haven't heard about this, it's the new spring football league.

The teams basically go by state names. The inagural 6 teams are from Alabama ( play in Birmingham ), Arkansas ( play in Little Rock ), Florida ( play mainly in Gainesville ), Michigan ( play in Detroit ), Tennessee ( play in Knoxville ), and Texas ( play in Houston ). I'm shocked that Georgia doesn't have a team in this, even though the supposed league office is in Atlanta.

The interesting thing about this league, is that vast majority of the players on each team, has to come from the state in which the team represents. The goal is to create interest amongst each state's potential fan base, by selecting players that played college ball in that state, that people may already familiar with. For example, Tee Martin will probably be the QB for Team Tennessee and Clint Stoerner will probably bethe QB for Team Arkansas. They ought to call this the Alumni Football League.

They can select select a limited number of guys from outside their home state area. I'm not sure if this the league that Mark Cuban was investing in or not. I think it is though. I read somewhere that the salaries of players will run somewhere between $50K and $100K a season. 42-man roster is hella thin though.

LOL @ this draft they're having right now. It's cheezy as hell and nothing like the NFL draft. They're announcing their selections from their home cities and not a central location like the NFL does.

Interesting though, they have some pretty big names announcing the picks from each state. Braylon Edwards and Tommy "Hitman" Hearns have announced picks from Team Michigan. Craig James for Team Texas. Daivd Keith is announcing all the picks for Team Tennessee. And with the speed that they're picking players, it's obvious that the players were told in advance that they'd be selected.

While the football version of this might fail, I'd love to see a basketball version of this as a summer basketball league. Imagine a Team Indiana going up against a Team North Carolina, with former players from those states making up the teams. Of course, that would mean Duke and UNC players would be on the same squad. Don't know how well that would set with their fan bases.

As for the football version, they'll need a big time corporate sponsor, attendance of at least 30K a game, and a decent TV contract to survive the first few years.

[DJlaysitup]

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...I read somewhere that the salaries of players will run somewhere between $50K and $100K a season...

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Thanks for the info NC. I think it's a great idea. I used to go watch a semi-pro team out of Norfolk VA and really enjoyed it. As a rugby player (in my youth) I like being close to the field. get down - get dirty.

[codyatl]

I hope it pans out as it is another avenue for players to get exposure in hopes of making the big league. I coach a semi pro team here in ga. south georgia stars and i know from experience that nfl teams rarely give semi pro guys a look. there have been a few but it is rare. this league could be a nice stepping stone for some guys. You would be surprised how many talented guys slip through the cracks for whatever reason.