Last night was the night. The night where a new era in football began. For quite some time we have been hearing about the new Alliance of America Football League (AAF) that is set to kick off in February of 2019. The league is scheduled to start the week after the NFL's Super Bowl. Last night, the Alliance of American Football held its quarterback draft.
The league has put aspiring quarterback through the rigours of a tryout and vetting process and there are 50 that have made the so-called cut and will be available in the draft tonight. This will mark the beginning of the team building for the 8 teams that are set to take part in this first season. The league is being spearheaded by Charles Ebersol, who is the son of Dick Ebersol, one of the most accomplished and influential media executives and producers in sports television history. Dick Ebersol, who is known for his work in organizing the television production of the Olympics and many other sporting events during his time with NBC, will also sit on the board of directors for the new league.
The draft format was a little different than normal drafts. Since teams have already had the opportunity to talk to and even sign players, there was a protected element to the draft. Basically, the league has already signed some quarterbacks and they are technically allocated to the teams that are closest to their last playing spot. That could be NCAA, NFL or even CFL. If a team wanted to protect one of those players then that player would get used as their 1st round pick. Otherwise, they would need to wait until the end of the selections to pick more quarterbacks. The draft was a whos who of the just couldn't cut it in the NFL class led by names like Christian Hackenberg.
The four-round draft has given each of the 8 teams in the league a full stable of signal callers to bring to training camp which is set to begin on January 4th in San Antonio.
At first glance, I can't help but think, "Here we go again with another crap football league that will in no way be able to hold a candle to the NFL." In many ways, I feel that I am right with this statement. History is paved with the carcasses of dead football leagues that tried to compete with the NFL. The USFL, XFL, WFL and a variety of Arena football leagues have all taken there shot at being the next big league and failed. The XFL is actually planning a comeback led by WWE owner, Vince McMahon in 2020.
I have never had any interest in any of these alternative leagues. The biggest reason being that the quality of the football was so far below what the NFL provides. At some points, these leagues have been downright unwatchable. The AAFhowever has peaked my attention at least a little. They are doing some things that could potentially enhance the overall game experience and take away some of the elements of the game that casual fans find boring. The biggest change that we will see with the AAF is the complete removal of placekickers. There will be a big reduction in the importance of kicking in this new league. There have been many people in the football world who have been calling for an end to the point after in football and the AAF has heard the call. There will be no point after kicks but rather, the teams will attempt a two-point convert instead.
They will also be eliminating the kickoff after scoring plays. Instead, the ball will be placed on the 25-yard line. This is the same as a touchback in the NFL. This rule change actually makes sense in terms of logistics. As exciting as a kick return for a TD is, it is very rare and even less so in the NFL with the new kick rules. There is also the feeling that the high-speed collisions that occur during kickoffs are a safety risk and that removing the kickoff will be helping to protect players. One rule difference that I think could be very interesting is the shorter play clock. The teams are going to be forced to play a little faster and won't be able to kill the clock in the same way as in the NFL. This could potentially add some excitement to the games.
What I am intrigued by is the number of high profile former NFL names that are involved with this league. Former players Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward and Jared Allen are just a few former NFL stars that are working in executive positions for the league. Michael Vick is working as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Legends. There are some big name coaches that have thrown their services into the cause. Steve Spurrier, Mike Martz and Mike Singletary are at the head of teams. The 500 players that are currently signed to teams are a mish-mash of ragtag NFL castaways and players who never quite made it but had some success in leagues such as the CFL. Even the once highly touted prospect and NFL bust Trent Richardson has landed on his feet in this new league.
The AAF will likely go the way of every other startup football league in the U.S. A few years of mediocre football and then fold like a cheap tent. At least there is some hype behind the startup with this league and some name cache. The big problem will be the same as it always is. The players are just not good enough to put a quality product on the field. I like the fact that they have decided to completely avoid direct competition with the NFL and the season will be played during the NFL's offseason but at the end of the day, if the quality is not there then people will not watch. Trent Richardson was a massive NFL bust and couldn't even hold onto a roster spot in the CFL so I am not overly encouraged about what he can do here either.
I personally am a football junkie and I will certainly be checking out some of the games which will appear on CBS. It will either be entertaining from a football point of view or it could be just plain comical. Either way, it is worth a casual view but I won't lose sleep over missing a week of games as I do with the NFL. What are your thoughts about this new league or the scheduled XFL? Will you watch or is it a big waste of time? I would love to hear your opinions.
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