AAF chairman’s threat diverts focus from football

Arizona Hotshots QB John Wolford throws against the San Diego Fleet during their Alliance of American Football game at Sun Devil Stadium last week. Comments by AAF chairman Tom Dundon this week raised the possibility that the league could fold. (Photo by Norm Hall/AAF/Getty Images)

The next time I have $250 million and decide to invest in a spring football league, remind me to avoid negotiating in public.

Scott Adamson writes about alternative pro football leagues because it makes him happy, Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

It’s really bad for business.

Tom Dundon, the chairman and controlling owner of the Alliance of American Football, threatened to shudder the first-year league if it can’t develop an official working relationship with the NFL.

The AAF wants the NFL Players Association to OK use of “down roster” players in the spring circuit, but apparently the big leaguers have some reservations about the idea.

“If the players union is not going to give us young players, we can’t be a development league,” Dundon told USA Today in a story published on Wednesday. “We are looking at our options, one of which is discontinuing the league.”

There’s nothing unusual about scorched-earth bargaining (I guess … I’ve never done it), but bargaining in the media is a bit … risky.

So now instead of the major league and the upstart league hammering out things in private, Dundon has made a very public mess of things.

He didn’t just shoot himself in the foot, he took target practice on both legs of the AAF and now anyone talking about the league is talking about everything but football.

This is not helpful.

Alliance co-founders Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol have made it clear they want the eight-team league to morph into something akin to an NFL farm system, but they also realize these things don’t happen overnight.

Polian said as much during a teleconference earlier this month.

“We have had no specific talks with the NFL on that subject, but lots of NFL people have bandied about that thought with us,” said Polian, who served as general manager for three NFL teams and has been involved in professional football for more than 40 years. “We all talk about it, but there have been no formal discussions about it at this point. I think there’s enough discussion about it that those discussions are going to continue. Whether or not it bears fruit remains to be seen.

“There are a lot of procedural hurdles that have to be crossed before you can make that happen, but the talk is ramping up, I’ll say that.”

From everything I could tell, Polian and Ebersol were doing things the right way. As a fan of the league, I appreciated the fact that they were willing to walk before trying to run.

Dundon, though – owner of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes and majority owner of TopGolf – wanted to go into a full sprint and get a deal struck yesterday.

It didn’t happen, so he threatened to pull the plug and make those of us who believe in the league believe in it a little less.

As of this writing, the Alliance is still alive and all games are a go for this weekend. Orlando plays at Memphis and San Diego travels to Salt Lake today, while on Sunday it’s Atlanta at Birmingham and Arizona going to San Antonio.

It’s a bit worrisome (at least to me) that the league hasn’t commented or attempted to clarify Dundon’s comments via Twitter or on its website, but perhaps nothing has been cleared up yet.

Many coaches in the league have shrugged off the talk as just that, and Birmingham City Councilor William Parker told WBRC TV he thinks the Birmingham Iron and the rest of the Alliance have plenty of life left.

“The Alliance of American Football needs the NFL,” he said. “The NFL needs the Alliance of American Football. It’s posturing. I look forward to the fact that all parties will be sitting down.”

Ah, but the NFL doesn’t need the Alliance at all while ultimately – if it wants to last – the Alliance might very well need the lifeline the NFL can provide.

Yet while Polian and Ebersol are willing to build a relationship over time, Dundon wants to force one right now. And for a guy whose league hasn’t even completed its first season to give the NFL an ultimatum, well, it’s akin to a minnow threatening a shark.

Personally, I’d love to see the AAF and NFL form an official partnership.

But even if they don’t, I still think there’s a place for an informal developmental league. I realize the AAF is not yet a polished product but I’ve enjoyed it, and it’s given a lot of pretty good football players the chance to keep making money playing the game they love.

And some of the guys you see in this league will get another shot at the NFL in the fall; a few will even turn that opportunity into a roster spot.

Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and Dundon steps back and allows the Alliance’s football people to make all the football decisions.

He might own most of the league, but there won’t be a league to own if he can’t learn to work and play well with others.

And to negotiate in private.

Remembering the NASL

The Fan Cave at my house doubles as a guest room, and considering it’s basically wall-to-wall memorabilia, it serves as quite the conversation starter.

Scott Adamson’s column on soccer appears periodically, usually when he’s feeling especially soccerish.

But memorabilia conjures memories, memories are reminders of the past, and one friend who has occupied the Fan Cave calls it the “Death Room.”

She’s not wrong.

World Football League, United States Football League, World Hockey Association – every wall is a tribute to leagues and teams that no longer exist.

But leading into the museum/mausoleum is a much smaller room that is devoted entirely to soccer – and no league is more prominent than the original North American Soccer League.

There are a pair of NASL game balls, including one autographed by members of the Philadelphia Fury (Mick Jagger, Peter Frampton, Rick Wakeman and Paul Simon were investors). There are programs galore, ticket stubs, even a press pass for the 1968 Atlanta Chiefs.

Shoot, I have a Team America media guide – the Team America that existed before Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Pam Brady turned them into World Police marionettes.

Some of my artifacts were obtained via eBay, a few came from yard sales, and one in particular is an actual purchase that has survived for 43 years now.

It’s the 1976 edition of “The Complete Handbook of Soccer,” edited by the late, great Zander Hollander. It includes more than the NASL, of course, but what was once the biggest soccer deal in North America is given the most ink.

It’s currently displayed in a shadowbox, but now and then I’ll take it out and thumb through it.

Today will be one of those days because it’s the anniversary of the death of the original NASL.

I can’t remember if I heard about it on ESPN or saw a blip in the local paper – and living in Birmingham, Alabama, it would’ve been no more than a blip – but the news that came down on March 28, 1985, was no surprise.

What once was a 24-team league that showcased the “rock star” New York Cosmos had only two teams left when it went teats up.

Thus, the sport that had taken the United States (and parts of Canada) by storm was nothing more than a drizzle by the time the league shuddered.

They were fun times while they lasted, though.

Seeing the World Cup on an episode of “Wide World of Sports” in 1970 made me curious about association football, but the NASL turned that curiosity into a passion.

By the time Pele suited up for the Cosmos in 1975 I was already a huge fan of the Beautiful Game, although I was still working through finding “my” NASL club.

I already liked New York because of Werner Roth and Shep Messing, but Kyle Rote was a homegrown superstar, and that made the Dallas Tornado attractive.

Elton John was part owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs, so the team in SoCal was a cool option (especially after Sir Elton convinced George Best to sign), and the Tampa Bay Rowdies also had a certain charm, mainly because their marketing team had us all believing that “soccer is a kick in the grass.”

Ultimately, it was the arrival of Giorgio Chinaglia in 1976 that convinced me to go all-in with the Cosmos, and a super supporter was born.

I soaked up all the NASL news I could find, and when the league was shown on ABC for a three-year run starting in 1979 I was in front of the TV for every match – didn’t matter who was playing.

As the decade rolled over to the 1980s, however, the bloom was already off the rose.

While the Cosmos once packed the Meadowlands, their attendance began to decline rapidly – and interest in America’s premiere soccer organization was going downhill fast, as well.

By 1984 the NASL was down to nine teams and the Cosmos’ final home match that year drew less than 8,000 fans.

A league that had turned soccer into the “sport of the future” in North America was becoming a thing of the past, and when only the Minnesota Strikers and Toronto Blizzard were willing to be part of the circuit in 1985, the plug was pulled.

I was heartbroken.

Sure, it was mostly a retirement league for international stars looking to cash in on their fame one last time, and it wasn’t built to develop American players.

Yet, I didn’t care.

In the days before the Internet, social media and thousands of television channels, it was a way to actually see players I had once only read about.

It inspired me to forget my dreams of playing American football and embrace my 5-8 frame, which was the exact height of Pele’ and just an inch shorter than Best.

Playing high school soccer was one of my favorite experiences (I wore No. 10, by the way), and I probably wouldn’t have been inspired to work at it so hard if not for the NASL.

Naturally, my fandom has evolved in the 35 years since the league’s demise.

Most of my interest in American soccer is at the grassroots level; I gave a loose follow to Major League Soccer for many years, but now I can take it or leave it. My hope is that the National Premier Soccer League’s new professional venture will grow into something I can truly get behind.

As for international football, it’s so readily available I can watch top-tier competition from around the globe practically whenever I want. (Celtic FC, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund – in that order – are the clubs I support).

But I’ll never forget the “good old days,” and being a North American Soccer League enthusiast were some of the best days of my sporting life.

 

Apollos playoff-bound

Orlando’s De’Veon Smith (24) rushes for a 1-yard touchdown against the Atlanta Legends in an Alliance of American Football game at Georgia State Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Thelen/AAF/Getty Images)

Going unbeaten through the first five weeks of the Alliance of American Football season made the Orlando Apollos look like a probable playoff team.

Now their postseason plans are certain.

Orlando (6-1) laid a no-doubt-about-it beating on the Atlanta Legends (2-5) on Saturday, winning 36-6 and clinching a playoff spot. The victory gave Steve Spurrier’s team a season sweep of Atlanta and came a week after Orlando suffered its only loss.

“We’ll be in the playoffs somewhere, but we’ll try and get home field the rest of the way as we go through,” Spurrier said. “I was telling the guys, I don’t remember the last time one of our offenses scored touchdowns on four of the first five possessions.”

Garrett Gilbert hit 19 of 23 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown, nine different receivers caught balls, and the ground game racked up 152 yards.

“That was by far the best game by our offensive line, pass protection and run blocking, and, of course, our runners ran well,” Spurrier said. “When something wasn’t there, they found a way to make yards. It’s always good when you’re able to run the ball the way we were able to, especially in the second half when we got a lead.”

Defensively Deji Olatoye returned an interception 65 yards for an Apollos touchdown and Atlanta was limited to 255 yards of total offense.

Orlando holds a two game lead over Birmingham in the Eastern Conference.

OVERTIME DRAMA

The debut of Johnny Manziel got most of the pregame publicity before the Memphis Express (2-5) upset the Birmingham Iron (4-3) on Sunday night at the Liberty Bowl, but he proved to be just a small part of the story.

Quarterback Brandon Silvers, making his first professional start, connected on 24 of 35 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns and helped Memphis rally from an 11-point deficit in a 31-25 overtime victory.

A blocked punt returned for a 50-yard touchdown was a Memphis highlight during regulation, but the biggest play came when Silvers hit Dan Williams on a 10-yard TD pass in O.T., marking the first instance of “free football” in the Alliance’s brief history.

“I’ve led a lot of game-winning drives back in high school and at Troy,” Silvers said. “I’m just happy to get back in there, have some drives and get the opportunity to win the game.”

Although Silvers started the game many of the fans wanted to see Manziel, and they did. The newest addition to the team passed for 48 yards and rushed for 20 more.

Yet it was Silvers, subbing for injured starter Zach Mettenberger, who earned the right to play on.

“Right now, Brandon is our quarterback,” Express coach Mike Singletary said. “I’m very excited about what Johnny does and what he brings to the team, but Brandon is our starting quarterback.”

HERE COME THE HOTSHOTS

The Arizona Hotshots (4-3) have broken out of a three-game tailspin in a big way, winning two straight and taking over second place in the Western Conference thanks to a 32-15 win over the San Diego Fleet (3-4) on Sunday.

Even though San Diego won the yardage battle, 411-391, the Hotshots made big plays when they had to.

The soul-crusher came in the waning seconds of the second quarter when quarterback John Wolford stunned the Fleet “D” with a 35-yard touchdown run that turned a one possession game into a 29-15 Arizona lead.

“The focus of the week was don’t squander what was a terrific win against an undefeated Orlando Apollos team (last week),” Arizona coach Rick Neuheisel said. “Don’t squander that by not playing your best football the next week, especially in a game that was a decider as to who was in second place in the league. And now we get an opportunity to go to San Antonio and play for a chance to be tied for first. That’s all you can ask for when it was hot out there and guys could have easily tapped out and said let me rest a little bit. It was a gritty performance and if I could describe my team in one word it is gritty.

“They do give all kinds of great effort.”

FOOTBALL FEVER IN SAN ANTONIO

It’ll take a four-team playoff to determine the Alliance’s champion, but San Antonio has already shown it has the league’s No.  1 fan base.

A San Antonio Commanders fan cheers during the fourth quarter of their game against the Salt Lake Stallions at the Alamodome on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/AAF/Getty Images)

On Saturday the San Antonio Commanders (5-2) rallied to beat the Salt Lake Stallions (2-5) 19-15 in front of 30,345 paying customers at the Alamodome.

“If everybody else in the league had fans like this, this could go forever,” Stallions coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s San Antonio, it’s the state of Texas … it’s football country.”

The Commanders are far and away the league’s top draw, and have increased attendance with each home game.

They’ve now drawn 87,378 fans in three game at the Alamodome for a 29,126 average.

“It was awesome,” San Antonio quarterback Logan Woodside said. “These fans never disappoint. I was trying to get them to calm down when they were doing the wave while we were on offense, but they were great and it was fun to get back out there.”

Running back Trey Williams says the team has learned to feed off the crowd.

“There’s nothing like San Antonio and nothing like the San Antonio crowd,” he said. “I love this place. Great fans and we love the energy because it helps us out.”

Salt Lake defensive back Jordan Sterns is a San Antonio native and says he isn’t surprised at the support the Commanders are receiving.

“It was just an amazing atmosphere to play in,” Sterns said. “You see all the things they do, all the support they give the Spurs and every other professional team around here. You know, when (The University of Texas at San Antonio) first started, the fans were coming out to support them.

“I just love this city.”

Local fans will have two more opportunities to see them play as they host Arizona next Sunday and Memphis on April 6.

San Antonio holds a one game lead over Arizona in the West.

ATTENDANCE WATCH

Aside from San Antonio, Memphis had the largest turnout of the weekend with 13,758 fans, followed by Atlanta (11,416) and Arizona (9,760).

The paid attendance at Georgia State Stadium and the Liberty Bowl were both season highs for the teams.

UP NEXT

Saturday: Orlando at Memphis, 2 p.m. EDT, B/R Live; San Diego at Salt Lake, 8 p.m. EDT, NFL Network.

Sunday: Atlanta at Birmingham, 4 p.m. EDT, CBSSN; Arizona at San Antonio, 8 p.m. EDT, NFL Network.

STANDINGS