PFT: Elway to push for AFL to become new Europa

[WoodysGirl]

POSTED 7:44 a.m. EDT; UPDATED 8:09 a.m. EDT, July 2, 2007
ELWAY TO PUSH FOR AFL TO BECOME NEW EUROPA

With NFL Europa being flushed down the thing that sits next to the bidet, an indoor football source tells us that former Broncos quarterback John Elway plans to push for the Arena Football League to become the new NFL developmental league.

To get there, the word is that Elway, co-owner and CEO of the Colorado Crush, first plans to target AFL Commissioner David Baker for removal, due to the fact that plenty of the teams are consistently losing money. Per the source, Elway and Baker don't see eye-to-eye on anything. Last year, Elway and Philadelphia Soul co-owner Ron Jaworski were instrumental in pushing through the scuttling of the league's signature "ironman" rule, which limited substitutions and required most guys to play both ways, on offense and on defense. (As a practical matter, this new rule better prepares players for a potential jump to the NFL by having them focus on only one position.)

If/when Elway can get Baker out of the way, we're told that the next step will be to renegotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and the players, locking them out if necessary after the expiration of the current deal in 2010. The goal will be to get the wages more in line with the pay scale provided by NFL Europa. Currently, the AFL has a rookie minimum of $1,500 per game plus housing. Stars like quarterback Tony Graziani are making $15,000 per game, plus housing.

If/when the wage scale is changed, Elway is expected to work with other AFL owners who also own NFL teams to position the AFL to become a developmental league, with a new name that would include the NFL brand (e.g., NFL Indoors or NFL Arena Football or something to that effect).

But we still think that a developmental league that plays in the spring hurts the guys who otherwise would be participating in his NFL team's offseason program. So we believe that the final step in Elway's expected power play should be to move the AFL to an August launch, taking advantage of the anticipation for "real" football by dropping some games in the run-up to the commencement of the NFL regular season. If/when the two leagues are ever linked up, the NFL should look for more ways to cross-market the indoor version of the sport, by for example dropping the AFL championship into the weekend before the Super Bowl, and possibly by playing the AFL title game in the same city where the Super Bowl will be held, using the AFL event as the official kickoff to the week before the NFL championship game.​

 

[Alexander]

This still does not make much sense.

The game might be fine for grooming Ks, QBs, WRs and DBs, but it is not going to help develop much else. It simply does not translate well because there is a difference skill set involved because of the rules and smaller field.

The NFL has an interest in the CFL. That would make more sense to allocate to those franchises. At least there is some translation.

A developmental league would make sense. Just not like this.

The concept was very good, but the reasoning behind Europe was doomed to start. A domestic minor league system would be viable IMO. There are enough football junkies around who would go for a spring league, particularly one that has the NFL brand attached to it.

If it is done right, and that means each team taking it seriously for its intent, a minor league can work. I don't think Europe was a good faith effort by all teams to stock it with developmental talent.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Hmmm, it doesn't say much about expanding the size of the playing field or moving the games to bigger venues... To be a true NFL developmental league I would think they should be playing on regulation size fields. You don't see the NBDL using half courts and 7 ft basketball goals...

 

[adamknite]

This still does not make much sense.

The game might be fine for grooming Ks, QBs, WRs and DBs, but it is not going to help develop much else. It simply does not translate well because there is a difference skill set involved because of the rules and smaller field.

The NFL has an interest in the CFL. That would make more sense to allocate to those franchises. At least there is some translation.

A developmental league would make sense. Just not like this.

The concept was very good, but the reasoning behind Europe was doomed to start. A domestic minor league system would be viable IMO. There are enough football junkies around who would go for a spring league, particularly one that has the NFL brand attached to it.

If it is done right, and that means each team taking it seriously for its intent, a minor league can work. I don't think Europe was a good faith effort by all teams to stock it with developmental talent.

Hmmm, it doesn't say much about expanding the size of the playing field or moving the games to bigger venues... To be a true NFL developmental league I would think they be playing on regulation size fields. You don't see the NBDL using half courts and 7 ft basketball goals...

My thoughts exactly.

 

[WarC]

A domestic minor league system would be viable IMO. There are enough football junkies around who would go for a spring league, particularly one that has the NFL brand attached to it.

If it is done right, and that means each team taking it seriously for its intent, a minor league can work. I don't think Europe was a good faith effort by all teams to stock it with developmental talent.

I think thats the way to go, an NFL sponsored domestic minor league following NFL rules on a regulation outdoor field.

I think there is a ton of interest in football to carry it over into a minor league that plays during the NFL's offseason. There are such existing leagues in this country that could be assimilated into it anyways.

Who wouldn't want to watch some right now? Wouldn't it be great to go home tonight and watch a team of off the street athletes, third stringers, and practice squaders playing on a Cowboys Lite team? Like an Austin Peacemakers or something like that. :laugh1:

 

[CrazyCowboy]

They will only be one NFL.......

 

[Alexander]

Who wouldn't want to watch some right now? Wouldn't it be great to go home tonight and watch a team of off the street athletes, third stringers, and practice squaders playing on a Cowboys Lite team? Like an Austin Peacemakers or something like that. :laugh1:

I would watch.

Honestly, that is the only time I ever watched a Europe game was because of the Cowboy players that might have been involved.

If financial viability is a concern, one idea that certainly would work not even having a single minor team for each franchise. You could partner up teams geographically and have allocations. Those not allocated would be free agents and could also be subjected to a pecking order similar to the waiver system.

For example, if we shared a team with say three other teams (New Orleans, Houston, Arizona), all teams would allocate a certain number of players and the remainder could be claimed during the season if needed with the team with the worst record having the first chance at them.

The biggest challenge is that in a team sport, week to week gameplanning would suffer if played concurrently. That is why I would prefer a spring or summer league, not one in the fall.

 

[WoodysGirl]

POSTED 11:05 a.m. EDT, July 2, 2007

AFL ASKS US TO TAKE DOWN ELWAY STORY

Though this site is called ProFootballTalk.com, the only pro football we ever really talk about is the NFL. But since the blue-suited sharks from Covington & Burling would be devouring our appendages (and, as a card-carrying hammerhead, I say that with only admiration and respect) if we were to include the "NFL" acronym in the name of our site, we opted for a more generic title.

With that said, we feign interest from time to time in "other" pro football leagues, but usually only if/when there's a real connection back to the NFL.

On Monday, we posted for the first time (that we can remember) an item regarding the AFL. Based on a source who has solid connections within the indoor version of the greatest game ever invented, we reported that John Elway ultimately wants to make the AFL into the NFL's developmental league.

We also mentioned that, along the way, Elway wants to oust the current Commissioner of the AFL, and potentially lock out the players in order to drive down costs.

Understandably, the report grazed a nerve or two within the AFL's league offices.

We received within a couple of hours after posting the item an e-mail from Chris McCloskey, the Executive V.P. of Communications for the AFL. Said McCloskey: "I'm writing you about your front page story on Elway turning the AFL into NFL Europa. Although you and I don't know each other, I'm writing to tell you that it's in your best interests to take the story down because it is so full of absurdities that it puts the entire credibility of your Web site in jeopardy."

In order to gauge how "full of absurdities" (or other substances) our story is, we asked McCloskey to identify for us the erroneous portions.

His response? "Everything. I know you are a rumor site and do not use the same journalistic standards as the mainstream press, but if this ran in a newspaper it would be the worst story I'd have read in my 15 years of sports PR. One example, Commissioner Baker appointed John as Co-chairman of the Competition Committee and was fully in favor of free substitution. It's just all wrong."

Oh well. We've got no reason at all to doubt our source. And, as we see it, McCloskey has every reason to help keep the current Commissioner on the job, because a new Commissioner installed as a result of an Elway-led coup might want to hire his or her own Executive V.P. of Communications.

The fact that Baker appointed Elway as Co-chairman of the Competition Committee is meaningless to us. In business, folks in a position of high leadership have all sorts of motivations for the decisions that they make. Maybe Baker saw Elway as a threat, and wanted to appease him. Maybe Baker follows the old adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Or maybe Baker was pushed to appoint Elway by a group of owners who were ready to revolt against Baker's leadership.

And are we really supposed to take at face value the notion that the Commissioner of any sports league was "fully in favor" of a landmark rules change? What's Baker going to do, hold a press conference announcing that he thinks that free substitution will destroy the game?

We're circling back with our source for more information on this one. But we're not taking down the story, especially not at the suggestion of a guy who has a vested interest in seeing it go away.

 

[Danny White]

Well the last thing I'd want is for the "entire credibility" of PFT to be in "jeopardy."