The USFL was a great league that failed when it changed schedules to compete with the NFL. The XFL was a great idea that went bust. But what is the AAFL and how will it be any different for football fans?
After the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl end this year, some of America will still be clamoring to watch more hard-hitting, full-on professional football. However, fans of the National Football League won't get a chance to catch another game until August 2008 when the next year's pre-season games begin. That was until the creation of the latest professional football league: The
All American Football League.
The All American Football League hopes to succeed where other professional football leagues in the past have failed: capture the fans of the National Football League and keep them. The All American Football League hopes to do this by incorporating a structure that benefits players who didn't quite make it into the National Football League yet keep it highly competitive and highly organized.
The All American Football League will start with teams located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas. If you noticed, those are big college football states. The All America Football league hopes to recruit players that went to colleges in those states and, if at all possible, keep them on teams in their respective areas.
But not every college player is eligible to play in the league. That is because one of the rules that the All American Football League has is that they will only accept college players who have completed their degree and football eligibility. This is great because a lot of good college players get lost after trying out for the National Football League. This is a chance for fans to see them continue on as professional players. The Florida team already has notables like Chris Leak, Chris Doering and Peter Warrick, all graduates of Florida colleges and both with National Football League experience. During the 2008 draft, Eric Crouch was selected as quarterback for the Texas team.
The pay for these players isn't expected to be much, but it is something. Players will get about 5 grand per game. Others designated as franchise players will receive an additional $50,000 per year.
Some teams will even play in venues hosted by universities; the league will reimburse the university for use of its training facilities and stadium. For instance, the Florida team will play some home games in the University of Florida stadium, located in Gainesville, Florida. Games of the league will begin in April and run through July. And yes, unlike the Bowl College Series, there will be a playoff system.
Will this league succeed better than the USFL or XFL? The chances are good. For one, they are catering to a different audience because they don't plan to compete with the NFL, unlike the USFL and XFL did. Also, many of the players are going to be in cities where they were famous college players or even high school players. If the All America Football League maintains its initial structure, there could be big dividends in its future and big entertainment for its fans.
