So What About The New 'Alliance of American Football' League??

[brianmcfarlane]

They give scholarships to players, 1 year scholarship for every year playing. I don't know if that means they are from H.S. but it would imply that they have not been in college.
My grandson plays hockey and played a couple of years with the Fargo team of the USHL that gave him a scholarship and now is playing Minnesota st at Mankato.

[Joshua2585]

I believe they are letting kids come from HS. The idea being that 2 years in this league would equate to college.

I thought a big idea of this league was the farm component, where the NFL would have 2 avenues to pull in players... the NFL has been fairly involved. It looks like many of their games are actually playing on the NFL network.

[broncolee]

They’ll never be a true farm system as long as the NFL continues to draw its players mostly from the college ranks.

They will have to become a better option than college for high school seniors. I don’t know what the AAF’s policy is on who can play in their league, but they need to let players come straight from high school.

[brianmcfarlane]

Alliance Of American Football, possible "farm league" for the NFL?

In the past there has been some talk about the NFL needing a "farm league/s", maybe similar to what MLB has.
Could the AAF become something like that? Their contracts allow for an out to the NFL. They have a scholarship program; I am not too sure what the details of that is? They also are regurgitating failed NFL players which would not help the NFL as far as farming players but probably need to stay appealing to some fans. Can they be successful as a "farm league"?
The XFL is coming back in 2020 as well.

[Bootleg]

Just watched a qb get blown up with the helmet flying off and no flag. I'm impressed lol

I saw that too; great hit.

Edit:

[#87Birdman]

Just watched a qb get blown up with the helmet flying off and no flag. I'm impressed lol

[#87Birdman]

Just reading between the lines here but, that sounds like a... he wants to start a NFL JV League...

That's pretty much what they said. It's a developmental league which should be good for the sport. Because they did go and get coaches that coaches in the nfl. Hopefully they can develop those players that had issues that they didn't have time to fix in the nfl.

[Saddletramp]

What's the overall talent level?

The thought is that this could be comparable to what would happen if backups on NFL teams played against each other. Multiple players, coaches and Polian himself said they believe their starters could be competitive with the "twos" in the league.

"What I want the fans to say is that it's real professional football," Polian said.

Just reading between the lines here but, that sounds like a... he wants to start a NFL JV League...

[DenverBlood]

I won’t be watching. As much as I love football the older I get the more I appreciate the break in between seasons to do other stuff.

[#87Birdman]

Looks like the salt lake stallions get first dibs on bronco players. A few former broncos playing on that team and Rahim Moore is playing for Arizona.

[Peanut]

Here are the main reasons I like the idea. If the NFL works closely with this league, they can use it as a hamster for tweaks to the NFL's rules. This, instead of just changing things, and then having major backlash in the preseason or even regular season. I also like the idea of potentially having a real farm system for the NFL. The overtime rules are almost exactly what I want the NFL to go to, so I hope that plays out well.

I kind of feel like this league could be the NFL's answer to the XFL in a way. The NFL brand is a big deal. The NFL markets it's history, and even pretends everything before the merger never happened. Just look at the NBA, for example. The NBA's history is more player oriented than team oriented. Nobody cares about the basketball Hall of Fame (well, most people don't), and it's not a league based distinction. It's closer to the College Football Hall of Fame by comparison. Unifying their brand under one league, marketing the teams and history, and creating/maintaining competitive balance are to me the biggest discerning factors that separate the NFL from the NBA. So, the last thing the NFL wants is another league screwing with that. Not that I'd say the NFL is worried about the XFL, because they squashed the XFL like a mosquito last time around. I think the XFL could have a place, if they put emphasis on "entertainment", and make their league a spectacle very dissimilar to the NFL game. The closer their product is to the NFL, the lower their chance of success, I think. I think all parties can coexist if the NFL recognizes the AAF as a supplemental entity.

Interesting way to look at it. A trial run before putting it into the NFL. That could work. Farm system --- Some college players are ready for the the NFL, some could really benefit from a year in a league like this to help them transition to the pros.

I like that it's not in competition with the NFL, but more of a complement.

I get the Atlanta at Orlando game. I'll have to check it out.

[Spice 1]

I don't think the XFL had any intention of competing with the NFL. I think it's competition is going to be the AAF. So it will come down to who can make a better farm league and they will be competing against who can pay more also. It will get interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if these two leagues end up merging in the future if they both prove to work. Because I believe both these issues will fall in the winter and spring.

From a ratings perspective, yes. What I'm saying is if the XFL is successful, and gets to a point where it's competing with the NFL for players, you wind up with a USFL situation. That's not likely to happen, of course, but I can definitely see why the NFL would want control over a secondary league.

[#87Birdman]

Here are the main reasons I like the idea. If the NFL works closely with this league, they can use it as a hamster for tweaks to the NFL's rules. This, instead of just changing things, and then having major backlash in the preseason or even regular season. I also like the idea of potentially having a real farm system for the NFL. The overtime rules are almost exactly what I want the NFL to go to, so I hope that plays out well.

I kind of feel like this league could be the NFL's answer to the XFL in a way. The NFL brand is a big deal. The NFL markets it's history, and even pretends everything before the merger never happened. Just look at the NBA, for example. The NBA's history is more player oriented than team oriented. Nobody cares about the basketball Hall of Fame (well, most people don't), and it's not a league based distinction. It's closer to the College Football Hall of Fame by comparison. Unifying their brand under one league, marketing the teams and history, and creating/maintaining competitive balance are to me the biggest discerning factors that separate the NFL from the NBA. So, the last thing the NFL wants is another league screwing with that. Not that I'd say the NFL is worried about the XFL, because they squashed the XFL like a mosquito last time around. I think the XFL could have a place, if they put emphasis on "entertainment", and make their league a spectacle very dissimilar to the NFL game. The closer their product is to the NFL, the lower their chance of success, I think. I think all parties can coexist if the NFL recognizes the AAF as a supplemental entity.

I don't think the XFL had any intention of competing with the NFL. I think it's competition is going to be the AAF. So it will come down to who can make a better farm league and they will be competing against who can pay more also. It will get interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if these two leagues end up merging in the future if they both prove to work. Because I believe both these issues will fall in the winter and spring.

[Spice 1]

It will be interesting and I will probably turn it on but like butler said that blitzing style isn't going to help the QBs make a jump to the nfl. In a sense that could really hurt them and the league, but they did mention it was due to trying to get the offense up to speed so hopefully it is a1 year rule. Because if not I don't any qb will ever come from this league because even colleges can do more on the defense. And who knows maybe they figure out a way on defense to still disguise the defense.

The kick offs aren't a big deal as they do cause a bunch of injuries and hopefully cutting the game time down will be useful. The overtime rules are interesting and getting rid of the ability to kick fg was smart because now both teams know they have to score and get the 2 point conversion and there is no settling for a fg if your defense stopped the other team.

And the ref thing will be big to see how well it works because if it works the nfl will steal it to use in its league which would be great and help get things correct and help the flow.

Next year will be another interesting time with the XFL coming into play. Will be looking to see how they modify it to become a feeder league.

Here are the main reasons I like the idea. If the NFL works closely with this league, they can use it as a hamster for tweaks to the NFL's rules. This, instead of just changing things, and then having major backlash in the preseason or even regular season. I also like the idea of potentially having a real farm system for the NFL. The overtime rules are almost exactly what I want the NFL to go to, so I hope that plays out well.

I kind of feel like this league could be the NFL's answer to the XFL in a way. The NFL brand is a big deal. The NFL markets it's history, and even pretends everything before the merger never happened. Just look at the NBA, for example. The NBA's history is more player oriented than team oriented. Nobody cares about the basketball Hall of Fame (well, most people don't), and it's not a league based distinction. It's closer to the College Football Hall of Fame by comparison. Unifying their brand under one league, marketing the teams and history, and creating/maintaining competitive balance are to me the biggest discerning factors that separate the NFL from the NBA. So, the last thing the NFL wants is another league screwing with that. Not that I'd say the NFL is worried about the XFL, because they squashed the XFL like a mosquito last time around. I think the XFL could have a place, if they put emphasis on "entertainment", and make their league a spectacle very dissimilar to the NFL game. The closer their product is to the NFL, the lower their chance of success, I think. I think all parties can coexist if the NFL recognizes the AAF as a supplemental entity.

[#87Birdman]

It will be interesting and I will probably turn it on but like butler said that blitzing style isn't going to help the QBs make a jump to the nfl. In a sense that could really hurt them and the league, but they did mention it was due to trying to get the offense up to speed so hopefully it is a1 year rule. Because if not I don't any qb will ever come from this league because even colleges can do more on the defense. And who knows maybe they figure out a way on defense to still disguise the defense.

The kick offs aren't a big deal as they do cause a bunch of injuries and hopefully cutting the game time down will be useful. The overtime rules are interesting and getting rid of the ability to kick fg was smart because now both teams know they have to score and get the 2 point conversion and there is no settling for a fg if your defense stopped the other team.

And the ref thing will be big to see how well it works because if it works the nfl will steal it to use in its league which would be great and help get things correct and help the flow.

Next year will be another interesting time with the XFL coming into play. Will be looking to see how they modify it to become a feeder league.