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A few of those points are why I think it still won’t work. The best talent is already in the NFL. With COVID-IR and extending seasons leading to more injuries these close ones may already start getting chances.
Marketing aside (the AAF was still an unknown to most people), they need cities that will really support the market. The current teams aren’t in big enough markets apart from Philadelphia, but I could see the quibble with not having New York because NJ isn’t going to count—which is why the Giants and Jets continue to market as NY teams despite being in NJ. The average viewer not from these markets isn’t going to care about Birmingham, Michigan, etc.
As for minor league, College is generally considered the de facto equivalent. Football being so physical, athletes already have a shorter career than the average MLB star. At 29 an infielder could still break the majors, and be productive into their mid-late thirties. The average running back at that age is likely to slow down within the next 2-3. An extra league will waste productive years. Drafting from college is still cheaper than a fee and they’re younger and faster than taking someone another football league.
I guess I’ll believe it when I see it, but this isn’t the first first rodeo for the USFL, AAF or XFL. Here’s to hoping.
That's the thing. This has been tried so many times- even just in my lifetime. With rare exception, the AFL of the 60s being one of them- they have all failed.
The NFL, NCAA, and perhaps the CFL (which itself failed to expand into the US) seems to satisfy the demand for football.
I was surprised to see it is returning. Seemingly the same logo and team names. Like a time warp.
The original USFL was kind of a ragtag league but that is what people liked about it--it was a breath of fresh air and not the stuffy old NFL. There are plenty of good players to go around that the NFL won't sign for the dumbest reasons possible, an inch too short/tall, a year too old, lost a step, or badmouthed Goodell or an owner, personality clash, they were cancelled, or are injury prone. But they can still ball at a paid-professional level. Guys like Antonio Brown, Johnny Manziel, Marshawn Lynch would be good USFL players. Combine those players with free agents and draft picks, then POW, a newly viable league.
Antonio Brown, Johnny Manziel and Marshawn Lynch? That trio would do nothing to make the USFL a viable league. The best of that group is Lynch, who is 35 and hasn't played in 2 years.
Antonio Brown, Johnny Manziel and Marshawn Lynch? That trio would do nothing to make the USFL a viable league. The best of that group is Lynch, who is 35 and hasn't played in 2 years.
Tom Brady is 41. Aaron Rodgers is 38.
AB is one of the best WRs in the game and he's on every major media outlet. People would 100% tune in.
Last edited by MercedesBoy; 01-08-2022 at 03:29 PM..
The original USFL was kind of a ragtag league but that is what people liked about it--it was a breath of fresh air and not the stuffy old NFL. There are plenty of good players to go around that the NFL won't sign for the dumbest reasons possible, an inch too short/tall, a year too old, lost a step, or badmouthed Goodell or an owner, personality clash, they were cancelled, or are injury prone. But they can still ball at a paid-professional level. Guys like Antonio Brown, Johnny Manziel, Marshawn Lynch would be good USFL players. Combine those players with free agents and draft picks, then POW, a newly viable league.
Johnny Manziel? Yeah, fans are just clamoring to watch a Canadian Football League reject. They're just demanding that...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MercedesBoy
Tom Brady is 41. Aaron Rodgers is 38.
AB is one of the best WRs in the game and he's on every major media outlet. People would 100% tune in.
The comparison to QBs is completely irrelevant (also, Brady is 44, not 41). Several NFL quarterbacks have played at a high level after turning 40. This is not true for receivers or running backs. Jerry Rice is the only wide receiver in NFL history to have ever caught so much as a single pass in his 40s. There have been only five 100-year-rushing games in NFL history by a 36-year-old; no one older has ever done it.
I see no reason to think this league has any chance. The last 'alternate' (to the NFL) leagues that had any chance were the original USFL and the WFL (of the 1970s). Now the sport is just too big, the capital layout is simply too great. The only remotely feasible strategy is not to compete with the NFL and that's just not going to work. No one is going to care. These leagues don't keep failing because they did this or that wrong - they fail because the concept just doesn't work, period. At any rate, it's obvious that resurrecting franchise names from a league that died more than a third of a century ago and playing all our games in a bubble in Alabama is not a logical business model. This league will fail, too.
But on the very remote chance that it doesn't and somehow succeeds, it won't be because they signed a bunch of washed-up NFL players whose glory days were many years in the past.
Johnny Manziel? Yeah, fans are just clamoring to watch a Canadian Football League reject. They're just demanding that...
The comparison to QBs is completely irrelevant (also, Brady is 44, not 41). Several NFL quarterbacks have played at a high level after turning 40. This is not true for receivers or running backs. Jerry Rice is the only wide receiver in NFL history to have ever caught so much as a single pass in his 40s. There have been only five 100-year-rushing games in NFL history by a 36-year-old; no one older has ever done it.
I see no reason to think this league has any chance. The last 'alternate' (to the NFL) leagues that had any chance were the original USFL and the WFL (of the 1970s). Now the sport is just too big, the capital layout is simply too great. The only remotely feasible strategy is not to compete with the NFL and that's just not going to work. No one is going to care. These leagues don't keep failing because they did this or that wrong - they fail because the concept just doesn't work, period. At any rate, it's obvious that resurrecting franchise names from a league that died more than a third of a century ago and playing all our games in a bubble in Alabama is not a logical business model. This league will fail, too.
But on the very remote chance that it doesn't and somehow succeeds, it won't be because they signed a bunch of washed-up NFL players whose glory days were many years in the past.
I'll bet you did not even read the USFL's mission. Clue: it is not to compete with the NFL. So, DUH, they're not going to steal current NFL players. That seems to have gone way over your head like a punt from Ray Guy himself. As I have stated, there are still many other football players who could make a new spring league viable. Since I probably need to spell this out for you, no, Manziel does not have to be part of the league. He was only 1 very random example--who by the way, was a heisman trophy winner and a very popular college player. Which leads to my next point. Your ridiculous assertion that fans would only pay to see NFL players in their prime is a canard. College football is a multi billion dollar a year configuration and again, very few play in the NFL. The CFL brings in another $500 million a year. To claim there is no room for anymore leagues comes from somebody who has a bone to pick. lol Well, the USFL is happening whether you like it or not and many fans are going to watch. I am hearing they plan to expand in 2023, so that will be fantastic! I will be breaking out the popcorn, while you supposedly aren't watching and spewing nonsense.
Last edited by MercedesBoy; 01-10-2022 at 03:33 AM..
We'll see about that after he is banned from the league.
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