What is this... UFL?

We've had our bouts with alternative football at times - the USFL, the XFL, and the World League.  The Arena Football League closed up shop in 2009, but may make a return in 2010.  There is also the Canadian Football League that seems to stick around year after year somehow.

I wrote an article a few weeks back about how the NCAA gives its players a raw deal and that if schools were smart they would think about privatizing their football programs.  Well, maybe instead of waiting for the slow, plodding, NCAA bureaucracy to change, we need another option altogether -  someone to fill in the gap between college football and NFL football who can take advantage of all the fallacies in the game today.

One league popping up recently is the UFL.  I had heard of this new league last year, but never really thought much of it.  They have just completed their first season with four teams - San Fran, NY, Orlando and Vegas.  One of those teams has since relocated (NY moved to Hartford), but they appear to have survived the season in good enough shape to make it to a second season.

Since I run The QB Club, what else would I do but take a peek at the signal callers on the rosters.  I didn’t really expect to find many recognizable names.  But I was pleasantly surprised:

Brooks Bollinger, JP Losman, Mike McMahon, Tim Rattay - all former NFL starters looking to work on their game and earn a second chance at "The Show". 

Beyond that there were big names at other positions as well – RB’s Cory Ross, Tatum Bell, Michael Pittman, LaBrandon Toefield and Marcel Shipp, WR’s Craphonso Thorpe, Doug Gabriel and TE Jermaine Wiggins.  Defensive players included Teddy Lehman, Odell Thurman and former Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson.

I had heard there was little talent in this league, but to me this is an impressive list!  I mean come on - you can't tell me that you never had one of the above names on your fantasy team in the past.

More football is never a bad thing.  Baseball has multiple minor league levels yet football, the more popular sport, doesn't have any!  Why is that?

The UFL offers an alternative to the NFL.  Not that they are providing a competing product in terms of on-field action, but with a looming lockout possibility in 2011, a die-hard football fan may find some solace in knowing this little known league is out there.  It's somewhat satisfying to know that at least there will be some type of alternative so that you can get your football fix should the insufferable billionaires battling millionaires over thousands of dollars cost us the 2011 NFL season.  And who knows, if the NFL can't iron out their CBA contracts, maybe the UFL gains a little momentum.  We might see UFL Fantasy Football, UFL gambling in Vegas, EA's Madden Featuring UFL Rosters, UFL the t-shirt, UFL the Coloring Book, UFL the Lunch Box, UFL the breakfast cereal, UFL The Flame-Thrower (the kids love that one...). 

So what if I'm channeling my inner Mel Brooks.  I'm excited!

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.  I mean, there is definitely reason for fans to be cautious of the UFL.

Owners of new leagues have disappointed us over and over again in the past.  The old AFL owners (the Al Davis' AFL, not the Bon Jovi AFL) eventually succumbed to the merger and became just another bunch of wealthy NFL owners that wouldn't mind locking out their players if it meant more money in their pockets.  If you saw the ESPN 30 for 30 special on the USFL, you know that it was widely believed that Donald Trump's greed was a major reason for the league's demise.  The XFL was a publicity stunt by Vince McMahon that might have worked if he stuck to a simpler football-concentrated business model instead of injecting WWF-style drama into the game's presentation.

What's to say the UFL isn't the next bunch of rich guys trying to cash in on your love of the game?  They'll put some teams out there, give a few hundred players reason to dream, give a few thousand fans a reason to buy ugly jerseys and then pull out of town faster than Jim Irsay's Baltimore Colts. 

But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt – at least for now.  As season two rolls around, let’s pray that the UFL scouts continue to find high caliber players and put out a competitive product.  Let’s try to support this product by buying some tickets, watching it on TV or at least setting your DVR’s.  Let’s hope their marketing guys get it together and give us some better logos and wearable jerseys we can purchase. 


Don't listen to pundits who are in the tank for the NFL tell you that the lack of talent in the UFL somehow makes it unworthy of your attention.  We need this league to stick around until 2011 and beyond.   Even if there is no work-stoppage.  Because in the end, there is no such thing as too much football.