Month: October 2019

When football historians eye October 22, 1975, they probably see little more than a blip in gridiron history.

For fans like me, though, it marked the end of an all-too-brief era – one that gave us pro football one year and snatched it away the next.

On this day 44 years ago the World Football League died, buried under a mountain of debt and largely abandoned by fans who stayed away from games in droves.

Founded in 1974 with 12 franchises and a dream of one day fielding teams in such exotic locales as Tokyo, London and Madrid, the WFL never ventured further than Honolulu. It also burned a lot of goodwill by spending money it didn’t have and folding or moving franchises in the middle of its inaugural season.

By the time it breathed its last only 10 teams were in business – and business in 1975 was never very good at all.

“Our decision not to proceed is due primarily to our collective inability to penetrate markets in WFL franchise cities,” WFL commissioner Chris Hemmeter told United Press International after six of its 10 owners voted to dissolve the league. “The financial control concepts of the Hemmeter Plan have worked and we believe that the future of professional sports lies in a type of revenue sharing plan.”

Ah yes, the “Hemmeter Plan.”

Following the 1974 season that saw many players go unpaid because some of the owners didn’t have the money to match their moxie, original founder and Commissioner Gary Davidson was forced out. Hemmeter – owner of the franchise in Honolulu – was installed as the new commissioner in 1975 and put strict financial constraints in place.

The “Hemmeter Plan” was designed to make as many of the team’s costs as possible variable. And when it came to players, the standard contract was based on each man on the team receiving one percent of the gate – guaranteed.

If owners wanted to spend more money on a “star” player, they would have to put money in escrow to cover it.

So the season began with 11 franchises – the Birmingham Vulcans, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Winds, The (Honolulu) Hawaiians, Jacksonville Express, Memphis Southmen, Philadelphia Bell, Portland Thunder, San Antonio Wings, Shreveport Steamer and Southern California Sun.

Four of the teams (The Hawaiians, Memphis, Philadelphia and Southern Cal) kept their original names from 1974 but only two – Philadelphia and Memphis – maintained ownership from 1974. In fact, the original WFL actually folded and was replaced by “New League Inc.” which assumed the name and did business as the WFL.

Regardless, the rebuilt version of the league might’ve had the best intentions when it came to fiscal responsibility, but it had no TV contract, no team in the No. 1 media market of New York and no long term prospects.

The Winds had hoped to sign Joe Namath – believing a TV deal and renewed credibility for the circuit would follow – but Namath wisely passed and the Winds folded just five games into the season.

After Week 12 it was obvious that the end was near.

In fact, the end came before there could be a Week 13.

“Our gate receipts have been disappointing,” Hemmeter told UPI. “Our league average through last week’s games is 13,371 paid admissions. Furthermore, attendance over the past five weeks has declined 28 percent on a league-wide basis, causing severe financial drains on each franchise.”

Philadelphia drew only 3,705 fans per game and Portland’s last home contest – a 28-25 victory over San Antonio – marked its lowest turnout ever when only 3,818 people showed up at Civic Stadium. Players were getting paid, but at one percent of a very small gate, it was basically beer money.

The ownership groups at Memphis, Charlotte, Jacksonville and San Antonio voted to play out the rest of the season, but when they were outnumbered, the league officially closed up shop.

I fell in love with the Birmingham Americans in 1974, and thought the colorful WFL – with its seven point touchdowns and “action point” conversion – had the best rules this side of Canada.

And when the Ams went under and were replaced by the Vulcans, I embraced them as well – especially after my dad bought $25 worth of stock in the team (making me a kinda/sorta owner).

But while I was a wide-eyed 13-year old when the WFL started, I was 14 and world-weary when it ended. In fact, seeing the handwriting on the wall, I had distanced myself a bit from the team when it became apparent neither the league nor the franchise were built to last.

I still rooted for the Vulcans, but I knew they weren’t going to be around much longer. It was painful to get emotionally involved in something that was bound to break my heart.

It wasn’t until years later when I really started to think about the impact the WFL had on me – putting a pro football team in my hometown for the first time, and providing so many terrific football memories that still make me smile.

So forgive me for getting a bit wistful when October 22 rolls around.

I’m just missing a friend I didn’t have nearly enough time with.

Six months after its demise, I’d basically forgotten about the Alliance of American Football. Fortunately for some of its standout players, coaches in the rebooted XFL didn’t.

They also remembered guys whose college stardom is becoming a distant memory.

Wednesday was the second and final day of the inaugural XFL 2020 draft, and fans who followed the short-lived AAF will see some familiar faces when Vince McMahon’s do-over spring league kicks off next February.

Early on Tuesday the XFL announced its pre-draft quarterback assignments for the eight team circuit, and three signal callers got their most recent significant playing time in the Alliance.

The Los Angeles Wildcats signed former Birmingham Iron starter Luis Perez; the Tampa Bay Vipers picked Aaron Murray, who started his AAF career as a backup with the Atlanta Legends but finally moved to the top of the depth chart; and the Seattle Dragons hired Brandon Silvers, a product of the Memphis Express.

That trio originally inked three-year, $250,000 contracts with the AAF. Since that circuit made it through just eight weeks of its only season before going laces up, they didn’t get to cash in.

As for what they’ll make in the XFL, who knows?

For months a tiered salary model was rumored, which would include starting QBs making $225,000 for a 10-game season, some skill players getting between $150,000 and $175,000, one group earning between $75,000 and $100,000, and the last tier taking home $50,000 for a few months’ work.

For an American pro football league whose acronym isn’t NFL, that’s good money, especially when it breaks down to per game pay.

However, last week Pro Football Talk reported that, according to an XFL memo sent to player agents, the average salary will be $55,000 per player for the season (which begins December 4, 2019, and ends May 31, 2020).

Regardless, the guys who’ll earn roster spots will make a living wage for laboring less than half a year, and still hang on to the hope that a good season in the XFL might be a springboard to a full-time job in the NFL.

For example, former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2014 and is projected to run the offensive show for the DC defenders. He was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad this year.

Oklahoma standout Landry Jones will rejoin Coach Bob Stoops with the Dallas Renegades. He’s a six-year NFL veteran but appeared in only 18 big league games.

The other three quarterbacks placed with teams on Tuesday are Phillip Walker, Houston Roughnecks (on the Indianapolis Colts practice team from 2016-19); Matt McGloin, New York Guardians (last seen with the Kansas City Chiefs practice team in 2018); and Jordan Ta’amu, St. Louis Battlehawks (signed and released by the Houston Texans this year).

After the QB assignments the five phase draft was broken down by skill players, offensive linemen, defensive front seven, defensive backfield, and an open draft that featured all remaining players plus kickers, punters and long snappers.

Aside from the quarterbacks mentioned here there are many more known commodities at all positions. Take a look at the complete list of picks on XFL.com, and quite a few AAF and NCAA standouts are on it.

Training camp rosters will include 71 players, and the draftees were chosen from a pool of roughly 1,000 hopefuls who accepted invitations from XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck and passed standard background checks.

The fact that many of those invitations were sent to former AAF players makes perfect sense. The XFL targets players good enough to be drafted by NFL teams but (so far, at least) haven’t been good enough to stick around. The latest spring venture to live fast and die young was a mixed bag, but there were many watchable games and good performances.

For AAF veterans, the XFL offers another second chance.

And for those tired of spinning their wheels as practice squad players, it’s the opportunity to get what amounts to a new audition.

Long-term success of the new XFL is a longshot, of course. Its first incarnation back in 2001 was a monumental flop and minor league football has not yet been able to carve out a niche.

Unlike the AAF, however – which we now know was founded on shaky financial ground – the XFL should make it through its inaugural season.

A champion will be crowned and everyone will get paid.

McMahon has loads of cash, and is sinking enough of into his rebooted league to make sure it lasts as long as he’s willing to fund it.

At some point, though, he’ll want a return on his investment.

And by the end of the 2020 season, TV ratings and in-game attendance should provide some pretty good clues on whether or not he’ll get it.

Remember the United Football League?

No?

Don’t worry … I doubt there are many people who do beyond those who put their time, money and effort into a league that played in obscurity for four truncated seasons.

Its commissioner was Michael Huyghue, who was general manager of the World League of American Football’s Birmingham Fire before moving on to NFL jobs with the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.

And, when the UFL was in its formative stages in 2007, Birmingham was mentioned as a possible franchise location.

Granted, Birmingham is always mentioned as a possible franchise location when a new football league pops up, but this league caught my attention because – at the outset – it had designs on becoming a second major tackle football league.

And also, because I was homesick.

I started a newspaper job in South Carolina on Dec. 26, 2006, marking the first time I had lived and worked outside of Alabama. I found myself longing for touches of home, and having a pro football team in Birmingham might help reconnect me a bit.

In December, 2007, Huyghue visited the city to tout the fledgling league, which was set to start play in October, 2008.

Of course he knew it well from his time in the WLAF, and talked of Birmingham’s rich football tradition. (What he didn’t talk about was the Fire’s attendance during its final season of 1992, which was last in the 10-team league).

Incidentally, 2008 was also supposed to be the inaugural season of the All-American Football League, which had already announced “Team Alabama” as a charter member.

The gimmick of that spring minor league was that the players had to be college graduates.

That’s admirable, but when people watch football they don’t particularly care if a guy who rushes for 180 yards and three touchdowns has an engineering degree or got a DNF from University Tech.

Ultimately the AAFL signed coaches and players, but never made it to the field.

The UFL, on the other hand, seemed to have its ducks in a row. And what piqued my interest in it originally was its audacious plans.

Instead of playing in the spring or serving as a developmental league, officials wanted to actually compete with the NFL.

By starting in October, UFL teams could sign late cuts from NFL rosters. Even better, the eight inaugural franchises would have $90 million payrolls.

That kind of money could land some star power. No, they probably weren’t going to lure Tom Brady and Brett Favre away, but they might have a shot at some “B-list” NFL starters that first season.

Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was expected to be involved, and the league already had multimillion dollar investors on board.

This venture seemed quite serious, especially with all the serious money at its disposal.

Once the UFL got established, it could then go hard after All-Pro-level players and top draft picks, and the real battle with the NFL would commence.

It would probably be a losing proposition, but stepping into the arena took guts and that made me an early supporter.

The arrival of the UFL would mark the first time since the days of the USFL that a new league with major league aspirations had been formed in the United States.

I thought for sure Birmingham would be part of it, especially since Huyghue said the league was targeting “underserved” markets. When the Football Capital of the South doesn’t have a pro team, that counts as underserved in my book.

Sadly, no such luck.

Delayed until 2009, the UFL jettisoned most of its big ideas before it was ever fully organized. It had only four teams in its first year – the California (San Francisco) Redwoods, Florida (Orlando) Tuskers, Las Vegas Locomotives and New York Sentinels.

As for rule innovations, there were none of any significance.

Its games were shown on the Versus cable network, and I can’t imagine any league in the history of athletic competition doing a worse job promoting itself.

I don’t have access to Neilson records from the time, but I might’ve been the only person to have actually watched the games on TV.

Year One was billed as a “soft launch,” with a six-game regular season that kicked off on October 8. With no Birmingham team to cheer for I threw my support behind the Sentinels, who finished 0-6 and thus continued my hard luck (since January, 1969) with New York-based gridiron teams.

The games were fairly entertaining, but they certainly weren’t NFL caliber. And soon Huyghue and everyone associated with the league walked back their major league challenge.

Still, after the opening season more than 30 UFL players were snatched up by NFL teams and Jim Haslett, who led the Tuskers to an unbeaten regular season, was hired away as defensive coordinator of Washington’s NFL team.

Yet the October start, which I thought would be an advantage, was actually a big disadvantage. Since the NFL and college ball were well under way, fans had already settled into a viewing routine and the UFL generated zero buzz.

Crowds were pathetic, especially in the big TV markets of New York and San Francisco.

During its four-year lifespan, it had name coaches such as Marty Schottenheimer, Dennis Green and Jay Gruden, and QB Daunte Culpepper was arguably its best-known player.

It lasted until 2012, but never had more than five teams in a single season, never managed to sign any real superstars, and never lived up to its original billing as a possible alternative to the NFL.

Obviously, Birmingham was not part of the circuit, denying it the chance to compete in another failed outdoor football league.

It also denied me the chance to show a little long distance love to my city.