June 2021 - Adamsonmedia.com

The A-11 Football League

If the new United States Football League gets off the ground, fans of the old USFL might get to move their retro apparel back to the “active” pile.

I have several Birmingham Stallions tee shirts, so if they come galloping back to Legion Field (or the new Protective Stadium) next spring, I’ll be ready to suit up without having to buy new stuff.

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl and instagram @scottscribe60**

But here’s a bit of trivia for you … back in 2015 the Denver Gold, Los Angeles Express, Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Tampa Bay Bandits – brands from the original USFL – were supposed to take the field again.

Instead of reviving America’s gridiron spring fling of 1983-85, though, they would be competing in something called the A-11 Football League.

Founded in 2013 and ultimately abandoned in 2014, the A11FL hoped to bring familiar USFL names to a wide-open league – one in which all 11 players on offense (hence the name) could be eligible receivers.

In its fan guide released on April 16, 2013, the primary game plan was unveiled:

The A11FL makes ONE rule change to the game of football, allowing for all eleven offensive players on the field to wear eligible jersey numbers. This rule change creates a game where every athlete can be interchangeable within any formation depending on the strategy of each play. The offense still needs to have 7 men on the line of scrimmage and 5 of those 7 players will be considered “restricted linemen” if they are not aligned on the end of the line of scrimmage – the same formation eligibility requirement mandated at every level of football.

The A-11 offense is the brainchild of Kurt Bryan and Steve Humphries, who popularized the attack at Piedmont High School in California. The scheme basically turned the kicking formation into a scrimmage play, but the National Federation of State High School Associations closed the loophole after two seasons.

Bryan was the executive vice president of league development for the A11FL and wanted to show that the free-for-all style could not only go national, but go pro.

“As a football coach for 25 years, I’ve seen a lot of things come and go, which I refer to as fads,” Bryan told the San Francisco Examiner for a February, 2014 story. “We started having success in the A-11 offense, and the phones never stopped ringing. Coaches from all over wanted to know about this offense.”

In the same article, A11FL commissioner Scott McKibben said the new league was the right product at the right time. He expected attendance to average more than 30,000 per game with fans paying $30 per ticket.

“This country thirsts for more football and the live action sports content value has never, ever been higher,” McKibben said. “We believe football played in the spring, at the highest level, in the greatest markets, with the greatest players, will be successful.”

ESPN signed on to televise a pair of “showcase games” for the spring of 2014, and by 2015 eight inaugural franchises would play a 14-week regular season followed by three weeks of playoffs. Players were to be selected via a late winter territorial draft.

Alas, the wheels came off quickly.

A couple of months after the Examiner piece ran, the scheduled showcase games were canceled and it was revealed that the L.A. Express (and any other California-based teams) would not be part of the league at the outset due to workers’ compensation issues in that state.

By July, 2014, A11FL officials announced that the league was sticking with the A11 offense but dropping its original name. And when February, 2015, rolled around, organizers had abandoned the idea altogether in favor of forming a different league based on more traditional rules.

That league – whatever it was supposed to be – never materialized.

With or without the USFL nostalgia trip, I would’ve been intrigued by an A-11 pro league. It would be the ultimate representation of a spread offense, and every play would be tricky, if not a trick play.

As I’ve said before, if you can’t be as good as the NFL talent-wise, try to be better than the NFL gimmick-wise. And the A-11 Football League would’ve been about as gimmicky as it gets.

Homecoming

When I left Birmingham on Christmas Day, 2006, I thought I might never again call the Magic City home.

I was set to start a new job the following day in Anderson, South Carolina, marking the first time I’d ever worked outside of Alabama. It was exciting to try something new, and I was ready to embrace my unfamiliar surroundings.

And I did.

After six months living in Anderson I moved to Greenville, and fell in love with the city. Downtown is glorious, most things that interest me are conveniently located (Bon Secours Wellness Arena, home of the ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits, was exactly one mile from my driveway), and we were 60 miles from Asheville, North Carolina – one of this planet’s most beautiful places.

After spending a quarter of my life (so far) living in the Upstate, there was no compelling reason to leave.

Until there was.

The first five years or so that I lived there, trips back to my hometown were bittersweet. It seemed I remembered the bad times more than the good, and it was like visiting an old friend you’d had a falling out with and didn’t really know anymore.

Every time I left, I couldn’t wait to get home to Greenville.

Then there was a slight shift over the next five years. Going to Birmingham was more enjoyable, marked by memories of good times and the warmth of gatherings with old friends. My farewells were much fonder when I headed east, even though returning to G-Vegas was always welcome.

These last five years, though, have been like a nostalgia trip played on a continuous loop. Every restaurant, park or monument I pass in Birmingham has a story, and the plot has thickened as time goes by – with me as a character.

I think about my first football game with my dad and brother at Legion Field.

I recall my first concert at what was then known as the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum (Boston, with Sammy Hagar opening).

And I smile when I recount those times when – in an attempt to be suave – I’d take a date to the observation tower atop the Vulcan statue.

And of course no trip down memory lane would be complete unless I mentioned my college days when I’d walk in the Upside Down Plaza at midnight and then stumble out in daylight.

I found myself wanting to stay a little longer, and feeling a real sense of sadness when I left.

Over the last few months Mary and I talked about eventually moving back, but there was no timetable and no sense of urgency; it would happen when it happened. In a span of just a few days, however, a couple decided they wanted to buy our house, and we discovered a condo for sale in Vestavia Hills, which is a suburb of Birmingham that sits atop Shades Mountain.

Next thing you knew, my hometown became the town I call home once again.

Don’t get me wrong … these last 15 years have been wonderful. I learned that after three decades in the newspaper business – covering everything from the NFL to Olympic soccer to the Masters – my favorite thing was telling stories from Division II athletics (thank you, Anderson Trojans).

Later I discovered that writing for fun instead of profit is the most rewarding kind of writing, even if there’s no money in it.

And I realized that home is where your heart is, and Greenville, South Carolina, certainly had mine.

I’ll always treasure those years in one of my very favorite towns.

But on Friday I began a new chapter in my old city – excited about reconnecting with friends and family and reestablishing my roots. And since sports has always been an important part of my ongoing journey around the sun, I found a sweet landing spot.

The distance from Bartow Arena, home of the UAB basketball Blazers, is 6.8 miles from my front door. Protective Stadium, where UAB will play football, is also less than seven miles away. The Birmingham Barons AA baseball team at Regions Field (6.8 miles), UAB and Birmingham Legion soccer at BBVA Field (6.6 miles), G League basketball at Legacy Arena (7.4 miles), Birmingham Bulls hockey at the Pelham Civic Complex (10.2 miles) – I couldn’t ask for a more perfect pinpoint on the map.

It’s a homecoming that feels real and joyous, and one long overdue after being gone for a decade and a half. The fit is snug and comfortable.

Turns out that even though I left Birmingham, Birmingham never really left me.

The CFL returns

The last time I watched an August 5 CFL game from the comfort of my Birmingham home was back in 1995 when I tuned into ESPN2 and saw the Shreveport Pirates dismantle the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 65-17.

The next time I watch an August 5 CFL game from the comfort of my Birmingham home will be 26 years later when the Blue Bombers once again grace my TV screen. And in the annals of my CFL fandom – which is now in its sixth decade – this will surely be a date to remember.

After having the 2020 season wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic and faced with the prospect of seeing the Canadian Football League drown in the maelstrom of a second consecutive lost work year, the CFL is back. August 5 kicks off a 14-game regular season and in a happy coincidence my favorite team – the Hamilton Tiger-Cats – will provide the opposition for the reigning Grey Cup champions.

The Canadian game is my preferred brand of tackle football, and I truly couldn’t be more excited to have it back on the field.

“To say this is a happy day for the CFL is a monumental understatement,” commissioner Randy Ambrosie said during a video conference on Monday. “Obviously we’ve all been waiting for this for a very long time. It’s taken an awful lot of hard work to get here. Perhaps it’s best to say being disappointed in 2020 just doubled and redoubled and redoubled again our resolve to get back on the field in 2021.”

Of course as pleased as we armchair quarterback types are, it’s nothing compared to how the players must be feeling. The CFL is a brief stopover for some, yet for many more it’s their career.

And while working remotely is highly desirable in some professions, professional football is not one of them.

“CFLPA members are looking forward to getting back to the game as well as the communities they proudly represent,” the Canadian Football League Players Association said in a statement. “We will continue to closely monitor decisions made by the various levels of government to understand how we can meet pandemic safety protocols and get players back to work.”

In CFL parlance, I’m what you’d call an “import.” Neither Canadian by birth nor naturalization, I still claim membership in the league’s family of fans. Teams have ratio rules that limit the number of international players, but there’s no such restriction on who cheers or where we cheer from. And while on game day foes of the Ti-Cats are my “enemies,” I like to think supporters of any of the nine franchises are my friends.

It’s a bond I can’t explain, other than to say many of us – most of us, I hope – want the entire league to succeed. I like nothing more than seeing Hamilton defeat Toronto, but that doesn’t mean I somehow want the Argonauts to list.

If it were up to me, every single CFL stadium would be packed to the rafters for every game. It’s one of those “rising tide lifts all boats” kind of deals.

I can honestly say of all the leagues that were locked down, shut down or limited during the height of the pandemic, it was the absence of the CFL that I felt the most. And when word came Monday that it was less than two months away from returning, I felt real joy.

“We’re so excited to kick off this season,” Ambrosie said. “Excited for our players, our coaches, our partners and especially our fans, who have stuck with us and stood by us. It’s going to be a great season leading to a Grey Cup that promises to be an incredibly special moment in history for our game, our league and our country.”

I’m anxiously counting down the days to August 5. And when the Tiger-Cats and Blue Bombers storm onto IG Field at 7:30 p.m. CDT, it’ll be like seeing old friends again. Man, have I ever missed them.