AAF football operations will be suspended

[Rayman70]

Spring turkey season opened Saturday. I took 2 sunday. Then Monday saw the largest aoudad ever on my property. Only had a shotgun. Could only watch.

lmao..had that happen too! lol.....hate that when it goes like that. All you can do is watch.

 

[Rayman70]

hey cern..I had about 30 Turkey come up behind my back pasture behind my chicken pens the other morning lol..I was drinking my coffee waking up and all I could do was watch and take it all in. My gun wasn't near me at that time. Life is good though.. things like that make it worth it. My 17 year old son was up and he was ready to grab the 22 and go bag a Tom lol. He's leaving us come june heading off to boot camp (ARMY)... Gonna miss moments like that. Pretty cool.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Who cares? 3rd rate football in spring? Meh.

 

[Roadtrip635]

Oh, I agree that PS may not be enough, but they'd at least get some reps in preseason before that, would they not? I mean, Obada seems to have become a decent player. It took him a few stops, but he looked quite good in Carolina. I wonder if we could find someone similar like that in the German league. I think it's worth a go.

It's not impossible, but trying to develop them that way is very slow. To try and develop International players, the NFL has to get more directly involved in cultivating those players, a token spot or two on a PS squad just isn't enough. The NBA is partnering to start an African basketball league, think it starts next season. The NBA is looking not to just market to other countries, but try to develop players in other countries and generate more interest in the game of basketball itself. The NFL is trying to generate interest in the NFL, but not enough to generate interest in the game of football first.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

It's not impossible, but trying to develop them that way is very slow. To try and develop International players, the NFL has to get more directly involved in cultivating those players, a token spot or two on a PS squad just isn't enough. The NBA is partnering to start an African basketball league, think it starts next season. The NBA is looking not to just market to other countries, but try to develop players in other countries and generate more interest in the game of basketball itself. The NFL is trying to generate interest in the NFL, but not enough to generate interest in the game of football first.

Yes, and this is the flaw of the NFL, isn't it? All the other global sports work to gain interest in their particular sports around the world to direct talent to their sport. European football is a brilliant example of this. The World Cup has been a massive reason for football to be as popular as it is. Almost anywhere in the world you go, the common sports language is football. Everyone knows clubs like Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, and many more (I'm a Bournemouth supporter). Also, even if someone knows nothing about football. Everyone has heard of people like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manuel Neuer, and Harry Kane. Basketball, as you noted, is doing well internationally because they took the time to cultivate an interest in the sport. Though, I don't think any sport will touch football.

If the NFL wants to take the next step, it needs to cultivate interest in the same way. The interest is there. The Germans like the sport. The NFL has done well to generate an interest from the UK. Japan has an interest in the sport. Now the NFL needs to do the same. The leagues are there. The NFL needs to be better at encouraging the other leagues and recognizing those leagues. The more interest the NFL shows in international leagues, the more it will grow. I'd love for a proper American Football World Cup to take place. However, the NFL is far behind the curve on making this happen.

They have to do more than play games in London and Mexico City. Munich should be on their radar. Oktoberfest in Munich is a perfect opportunity for the NFL to gin up further interest in Germany. Germans love beer like Americans do. Germans and Americans love an excuse to have a good time. The Allianz Arena in Munich is massive. Perfect for an NFL game. By doing this, they can help gin up interest in the sport. Why else do European football clubs participate in summer tournaments that bring them to the US in friendly exhibitions? Because it builds on the interest of the US in the sport. This is what the NFL should do more.

I'd also like for the NFL to play preseason games against some of these teams. Yes, the NFL would smash these teams at first. However, I noticed that the NBA does that in the preseason to gin up interest. I've seen where the 76ers will play a team from China or Australia in the preseason. Of course the 76ers shred those teams, but those teams clearly enjoy the challenge as they keep participating.

 

[KJJ]

There's more to what happened today. Dundon is making a unilateral move here and making a power play to acquire the tech they have been developing. It's a new league and of course it will have lower viewership. Some people may not watch because of the quality, but there are a ton of really crappy college games/teams too. Fans start developing a rooting interest, town, player(s), coach, or eventual affiliation to an NFL teamwhatever, it would grow, especially as some of these players do make NFL rosters. The AAF just got more games added to CBS, not just their CBS sports channel, one of those just before a Final Four game and to TNT as well. The timing is very suspect considering the newly added larger TV time slots, talks with the NFLPA, by accounts have been positive and increased interest from a number of NFL people.

Of course it's not NFL quality, but that doesn't mean it's not competitive or entertaining. It was never meant to or set up to compete against the NFL in any way, but it needs time to show it does have worth to the NFL. NFL doesn't do anything quickly, so expecting the NFL to jump in with both feet within the first 8 weeks is naive in how the NFL does anything. There has been NFL owners, execs and coaches that have recognized the potential and benefit a league like this could have in the future and not just in developing players. It's also a perfect testing grounds for rule and procedural changes. Putting affiliate teams in smaller city and markets extends a teams marketing range and creates more marketing opportunities. Many casual fans may not be interested, by more diehard football fans may become more interested, especially if a team's practice squad players were playing.

I've made my point. Any football can be entertaining even pee wee league but after a full season of college and NFL football most fans are burnt out and need a break from football. With TV being a 24 hr marathon of programming with hundreds of channels there's plenty of things to watch to keep people entertained.

 

[stiletto]

I liked watching it, it wasn't a bad product but it seems to me (as usual) the players wanted way too much money......now they'll get NOTHING and like it..

 

[KingintheNorth]

but it seems to me (as usual) the players wanted way too much money

where are you getting that?

each player got a three-year, non-guaranteed contract worth $250,000 each

no negotiations. that's the contract

 

[Cowboys22]

where are you getting that?

each player got a three-year, non-guaranteed contract worth $250,000 each

no negotiations. that's the contract

And way too much to sustain. There are a lot of players on a football team.

 

[KingintheNorth]

 

[Keithfansince5]

I didn't like a single uniform of the AAF. I didn't like the abbreviation AAF. I didn't like that the refs were also calling too many penalties. I didn't like being forced to go for 2 point conversions all the time.

The NFL can get away with all of that but not a new league. If the XFL wants to succeed, they need to pay attention.

Do NOT call a tight game. Penalties are NOT desirable for fans. Allow the players to play football more and stop being so nit picky. Hire some designers who can design a good football uniform for God's sake. Whoever designed those idiotic uniforms should never be allowed near a football team again. Also, the names where stupid as heck too.

I was watching but was losing interest. The camera angles were bad, it was sometimes hard to see what was happening on the play. Fix these things and I will watch.

Heck one of our 2rd round draft picks was playing TE for one of these teams (Gavin Escobar). So whoever said none of these guys could play on an NFL team likes to make baseless remarks.....

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I hope we bring in Garrett Gilbert to compete with Rush and White for backup job.

 

[DandyDon52]

its just greed by Goodell and the owners & sponsors. Take money outta the equation, and clearly the product the AAF put onto the field was pretty dang good. The NFL simply felt threatened and didn't wanna give up a piece of the football/profit pie. Its simple math in the end. GREED.

well jerry was for the league, it thought it would help the nfl, I dont know what other owners thought.
The bottom line is TV money is crucial to something like the AAF and if the free networks like cbs, abc, nbc, wont air all the games,
and pay them a decent amount then they wont make it.
Also not enough fans , the san antonio team had 30,000 at some games, but other teams were much less, the stadiums looked almost empty.
So they cant make enough from the games, unless they get good TV money and exposure.

 

[DandyDon52]

I didn't like a single uniform of the AAF. I didn't like the abbreviation AAF. I didn't like that the refs were also calling too many penalties. I didn't like being forced to go for 2 point conversions all the time.

The NFL can get away with all of that but not a new league. If the XFL wants to succeed, they need to pay attention.

Do NOT call a tight game. Penalties are NOT desirable for fans. Allow the players to play football more and stop being so nit picky. Hire some designers who can design a good football uniform for God's sake. Whoever designed those idiotic uniforms should never be allowed near a football team again. Also, the names where stupid as heck too.

I was watching but was losing interest. The camera angles were bad, it was sometimes hard to see what was happening on the play. Fix these things and I will watch.

Heck one of our 2rd round draft picks was playing TE for one of these teams (Gavin Escobar). So whoever said none of these guys could play on an NFL team likes to make baseless remarks.....

I agree, the uniforms should be like the cowboys uniforms and Green Bay, the traditional nfl design, and helmets should all be the same.
The names of the "mascot" for most of the teams was bad.
I remember when miami came into nfl, and I thought dolphins, how stupid is that. It still is.

I think also the games needed to be more offensively oriented so there is a lot of scoring. Fans would like that.
It has to be on free tv one of the major networks.
Penaltys, yeah they should only call obvious flagrant things. except for PI , which would hurt scoring.

I watched a few games, and the first 1 was on CBS and it was a boring defensive game.
The 2 point thing didnt bother me, but I can see where it might be better to have the option and mostly kick extra points.
Also they should have kickoffs.

I liked the idea of AAF .......that has no charisma does it lol, but it was poorly thought out.

also the teams need to be in big cities so more likely to get more people to come see the games.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

The teams are in big cities, many that don't have current NFL teams so I don't think that is the issue.

Uniforms and team names don't bother me and don't have an effect on me watching the game.

The first few weeks were sloppy football but it got better from week to week. It is something the NFL needs to consider if they ever go to fewer preseason game. As far as the talent level goes, the great majority of these players are still in the top third of college players. The talent level would be higher than all but the best college teams.

From a player standpoint I think the only thing that they could do better is a firing better quarterback prospects and to do that it must have some kind of deal with the NFL.

I do think you could have a valid spring league butyou have to have everything in place.

 

[tyke1doe]

They started the league without the support of the NFL. They tried "promote" it as a farm league for the NFL. Then when the league was in the red, they tried to blackmail the NFL into supporting the venture, saying if this fails, it's your fault. The NFL wasn't having it.
Bad marketing strategy.

 

[Beast_from_East]

NFLPA ain’t gonna sign off on their members being used in a D league. So the AAF might as well not even bother asking.

 

[Pantone282C]

bummer.

 

[Jake]

The number of posts in this thread demonstrating the poster put zero effort into understanding why the AAF is in this situation is remarkable, even for CZ.

 

[GenoT]

NFLPA ain’t gonna sign off on their members being used in a D league. So the AAF might as well not even bother asking.

That was the whole problem.

The AAF idiots simply assumed the NFLPA would agree to the idea and so they launched their league before having any type of actual agreement in place.

Stupid is as stupid does.