Spring Football Leagues (USFL and XFL)

[Cor]

Vince McMahon is going to make football great again.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

AAF not learn it takes more than 1 year to organize a league? I get they want to beat McMahon to the punch but this is only going to end poorly.

I think they’ve been preparing quietly behind the scenes for years. I don’t think they just came up with the idea to form a League yesterday.

 

[DanielPlainview]

First batch of team names and logos released this morning. 4 more next week.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I'd grade the names a solid C.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Second and final batch:

 

[DanielPlainview]

 

[GKJ]

All warm weather cities

 

[DanielPlainview]

The Athletic - Penton: AAF Already Causing Headaches for CFL

 

[DanielPlainview]

All warm weather cities

Yep, aside from SLC. Seems the safest bet for a Spring league.

 

[DanielPlainview]

 

[DanielPlainview]

AAF held a "QB draft" last night and released their uniforms.

QB draft:

ROUND 1:

1. San Diego Fleet (Protect): Josh Johnson, San Diego
2. Atlanta Legends (Protect): Aaron Murray, Georgia
3. Memphis Express (Protect): Troy Cook, University Tennessee at Martin
4. San Antonio Commanders (Protect): Dustin Vaughan, West Texas A&M
5. Birmingham Iron (Pick): Luis Perez, Texas A&M-Commerce
6. Arizona Hotshots (Pick): Trevor Knight, Texas A&M
7. Orlando Apollos (Pick): Garrett Gilbert, Southern Methodist
8. Salt Lake Stallions (Pick): Josh Woodrum, Liberty

ROUND 2:

1. San Diego Fleet: Mike Bercovici, Arizona State
2. Birmingham Iron: Blake Sims, Alabama
3. Arizona Hotshots: John Wolford, Wake Forest
4. Orlando Apollos: Stephen Morris, Miami
5. Atlanta Legends: Matt Simms, Tennessee
6. Salt Lake Stallions: B.J. Daniels, South Florida
7. Memphis Express: Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
8. San Antonio Commanders: Marquise Williams, North Carolina

ROUND 3:

1. San Antonio Commanders: Logan Woodside, Toledo
2. Memphis Express: Brandon Silvers, Troy
3. Salt Lake Stallions: Austin Allen, Arkansas
4. Atlanta Legends: Peter Pujals, Holy Cross
5. Orlando Apollos: Austin Appleby, Purdue
6. Arizona Hotshots: Quinn McQueary, Montana Tech
7. Birmingham Iron: Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin
8. San Diego Fleet: Philip Nelson, East Carolina

ROUND 4:

1. San Antonio Commanders: Dalton Sturm, Texas-San Antonio
2. Memphis Express: Zach Mettenberger, LSU
3. Salt Lake Stallions: Matt Linehan, Idaho
4. Atlanta Legends: Justin Holman, Central Florida
5. Orlando Apollos: Kevin Anderson, Fordham
6. Arizona Hotshots: Jack Heneghan, Dartmouth
7. Birmingham Iron: Aleksander (“Alek”) Torgersen, Penn
8. San Diego Fleet: Alex Ross, Coastal Carolina

Source: Results: The Alliance of American Football Inaugural Quarterback Draft - Alliance of American Football

Uniforms and helmets:

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Two of the San Diego picks at QB were with the Blue Bombers last year. Alex Ross started the year as the Bombers #3 QB after losing the battle for the backup role in camp to a rookie straight out of college. He got injured holding a FG in the first game missing 6 games and fell to #4 and was released later on in the year. Philip Nelson was also in camp for the Bombers last year but quickly fell to the bottom of the roster and released.

Two other picks are ex-Rough Riders in BJ Daniels and Marquise Williams. Both were released out of camp by the Riders last year. Williams was their #3 last year.

Just a note neither the Bombers nor Riders are exactly QB factories in the CFL.

 

[GKJ]

Sounds like the first XFL team will be in St. Louis, might be announced already or by tomorrow? Rest of the teams should be next week.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Sounds like the first XFL team will be in St. Louis, might be announced already or by tomorrow? Rest of the teams should be next week.

It was reported here a couple days ago. Official announcement is supposed to be Dec. 5th. Read D.C. was next.

I can’t imagine this actually succeeds....but if I was going to attempt to make another football league, tough to find a better starting point than St. Louis (maybe San Diego). Strong football market that hates the NFL.

Still think this is a longshot at best.

 

[DanielPlainview]

 

[DanielPlainview]

If I had to guess, it'll be NY/NJ, Chicago, DC, St. Louis for the East and Seattle, Houston, LA, and San Francisco for the West.

 

[GKJ]

It was reported here a couple days ago. Official announcement is supposed to be Dec. 5th. Read D.C. was next.

I can’t imagine this actually succeeds....but if I was going to attempt to make another football league, tough to find a better starting point than St. Louis (maybe San Diego). Strong football market that hates the NFL.

Still think this is a longshot at best.

I question how much of the sport we'll actually recognize. Vince is talking about keeping games at 2 hours

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I question how much of the sport we'll actually recognize. Vince is talking about keeping games at 2 hours

I admit I’m mildly intrigued. We’ll see how long that lasts

 

[DanielPlainview]

All XFL Cities Revealed - 8 Teams For 2020 Launch

According to a new listing on the league website, the following cities / regions will host teams in the inaugural season of the rebooted XFL in 2020:

• Dallas
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• New York
• St. Louis
• Seattle
• Tampa Bay
• Washington, DC

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

If I had to guess, it'll be NY/NJ, Chicago, DC, St. Louis for the East and Seattle, Houston, LA, and San Francisco for the West.

There really is no point in putting a team in Chicago

Chicago didn't embrace or support the Fire in 70's, the Winds in 70's , Blitz in 80's or the Enforcers in 00's

They aren't going to embrace a reborn Enforcers or whatever team will be called in XFL 2.0

 

[John Price]

Excited to see XFL in Washington DC. They will play at Audi Field where DC United plays.

 

[DanielPlainview]

There really is no point in putting a team in Chicago

Chicago didn't embrace or support the Fire in 70's, the Winds in 70's , Blitz in 80's or the Enforcers in 00's

They aren't going to embrace a reborn Enforcers or whatever team will be called in XFL 2.0

I have no problems with leaving Chicago out. The league's desire for large markets was the only reason I thought they'd go there

 

[cutchemist42]

I just really have a hard time seeing how the AAFL keeps afloat with those size of contracts with games already being advertised as having minimal ad time on TV.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I think they're banking on a lot of gambling money

 

[Say Hey Kid]

I can't believe someone asked where the players are coming from.