57 posts
  • 4 / 6
  • 1
  • 4
  • 6
 by moklerman
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   7680  
 Joined:  Apr 17 2015
United States of America   Bakersfield, CA
Hall of Fame

Elvis wrote:As much as i'm personally excited about Mike Martz being back in coaching and as much overlap as there will probably be with the NFL, this new league is not Rams or NFL so moving the thread to Other Sports...
Mike Martz, Jackie Slater, Larry Marmie...still seems kinda Rams related.

 by Elvis
5 years 9 months ago
 Total posts:   38381  
 Joined:  Mar 28 2015
United States of America   Los Angeles
Administrator

moklerman wrote:Mike Martz, Jackie Slater, Larry Marmie...still seems kinda Rams related.


True. Maybe this forum will be hopping once they start playing...

 by Elvis
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   38381  
 Joined:  Mar 28 2015
United States of America   Los Angeles
Administrator

https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighstein ... 13499d3051

AAF: The League That Fills The NFL Offseason Void

Leigh Steinberg
Contributor
Jul 26, 2018

Are you ready for some football? America's answer is a resounding yes as NFL teams are opening training camps. The NFL has emerged as the nation's most popular form of entertainment. The nighttime Nielsen television ratings during the season are dominated by nighttime NFL games and pre-game shows. Once the Super Bowl ends, there is a six-month gap with no football. An innovative new football League, the Alliance of American Football, plans to fill this gap with eight teams and a ten game schedule.
The League is the brainchild of television producer Charlie Ebersol, who I interviewed this morning. Two years ago, Ebersol called his iconic sports television executive father Dick and pointed out that there were 80 million football fans who stopped watching much sports television after the Super Bowl. Also stranded were the 30 million fantasy football players. When Charlie proposed a new football league to fill this void, his father suggested validating the idea with Executive Bill Polian. I think Polian is the most brilliant talent evaluator and franchise builder in the history of football, having built the Buffalo Bills that went to four Super Bowls, as well as the expansion Carolina Panthers who went to the playoffs and the Super Bowl Indianapolis Colts.

Polian embraced the concept of a new League and agreed to serve as Co-Commissioner. The League is a single entity which allows centralized planning and execution. A new football league requires four elements

1) Available players
2) Legitimacy as "real" football
3) A television contract and
4) Football-starved cities.

Once the NFL final cutdown occurs in September, some 1200 players are left without teams. This will be the primary source of AAF players, and the League has already signed a number of players. Each team will carry 53 players, where each of them will be offered three-year, $250,000 contracts. NFL practice squads pay $120,000 a year. The difference is that AAF signees will get a chance to actually play and showcase their skills and be seen by the NFL, while in action.

The rules will be NFL rules with a few twists. Ebersol has addressed the problem of long NFL games with delays and no action by paring the expected game length to 2.5 hours. The goal is to eliminate the boring TV timeouts or endless replays. There will also be a 30-second clock between plays. Kicked extra points are eliminated and all teams must go for two. To add to the credibility of the League, most of the Head Coaches were also NFL Head Coaches at one point. Mike Martz, Steve Spurrier, Brad Childress and Mike Singletary are all coaches. In Atlanta, Michael Vick is an assistant coach. The General Managers like Phil Savage and Billy Devaney, also are NFL veterans.

The League was able to partner with CBS to create a game of the week. Every game will be telecast locally through other stations. The League looked for football-starved cities, which also were located near good collegiate football programs. This will allow for the ability to place players from local schools in their affinity areas. Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Diego have the initial franchises.

Ebersol plans to take advantage of the new forms of content supply, building out a digital presence for the League. Fans will be able to interact with players and be involved with their fantasy Leagues all week long. Ebersol is developing creative ways to use cell phones in conjunction with the league, which will appeal to millennials.

Every time a new football league develops, it is met with skepticism by journalists and fans. Ebersol and Polian have carefully thought through all of the challenges. The AAF is not proposing to compete with the NFL, but to supplement and cooperate with it. For off-season starved football fans and talented players who need a chance to develop, the AAF is a welcome development.

  • 4 / 6
  • 1
  • 4
  • 6
57 posts Mar 29 2024