Author: Scott Adamson

The United States Football League will open its inaugural draft Tuesday, February 22, and the first eight players off the board will be quarterbacks.

Today the league announced the format for its 35-round draft, which will be held February 22-23 in Birmingham. The eight teams will make signal callers the circuit’s first players due to the structure of the draft.

“We’re looking forward to conducting our inaugural USFL Draft and selecting the league’s first 280 players over two days,” Brian Woods, USFL president of football operations, said in a statement. “For the 2022 season, we’re using an analytic modified snake system that’s equitable for all our teams during our first-ever draft. Our teams have needs at every position, so we also chose a unique format that made our teams focus on evaluating and drafting key positions first.”

Known officially as the Player Selection Meeting, the first day of the draft will be held between 6 and 9 p.m. Central Time and consist of 12 rounds. The draft will proceed by position, beginning with quarterback (Round 1 overall), followed by edge rusher/defensive end (Rounds 2-4), offensive tackle (Rounds 5-7), cornerback (Rounds 8-11), and back to quarterback (Round 12). Teams will have two minutes per selection on Day 1.  The modified snake system between positional rounds allows each team to have two number-one picks at two positions.

The USFL Draft lottery draw was conducted on Thursday with each team assigned a selection number (one through eight) for each round. The Michigan Panthers will make the first-ever draft pick of the 2022 USFL, followed by the Tampa Bay Bandits, Philadelphia Stars, New Jersey Generals, Houston Gamblers, Birmingham Stallions, Pittsburgh Maulers and New Orleans Breakers.

Day two of the draft starts at 9 a.m. Wednesday and lasts until all 35 rounds are completed. During rounds 13-23, teams will have 90 seconds to make a pick, and the position order will be: wide receiver (Rounds 13-17); safety (Rounds 18-19); center (Round 20); inside linebacker (Round 21); and guard (Rounds 22-23). The selection time will be one minute for rounds 23 through 35, and the position order will be: defensive tackle/nose tackle (Rounds 24-26); running back/fullback (Rounds 27-28); outside linebacker (Rounds 29-31); kicker (Round 32); punter (Round 33); tight end/h-back (Round 34), and long-snapper (Round 35). Teams are required to draft at least one player from each position group.

If a team’s time expires in any round without a selection, it can still choose a player but risks letting the team on the clock take the player it was considering.

Trades between teams to achieve a different selection order or acquire a player or players will not be permitted. However, a team may elect to pass during any round in exchange for a compensatory pick that may be used at the conclusion of a different position round. If more than one team uses a compensatory pick in a given round, the draft order within that position round will determine the order for compensatory selections.

The draft pool includes up to 500 players who have already signed contracts with the league and are the only ones eligible to be drafted.

A 10-round supplemental draft will be held on March 10 to select 80 more players. This gives potential players more time to opt in with a signed contract. Teams will have two minutes between selections during the supplemental draft, and may select from any position group.

At the conclusion of that draft, each team will have 45 players, for a league total of 360 players. Once the season begins on April 16, with Birmingham meeting New Jersey at 6:30 p.m. at Protective Stadium, each team’s active roster will have 38 players plus a seven-man practice squad.

After the new United States Football League announced that all of its 2022 games would be played in Birmingham, area gridiron fans thought they’d get to see the USFL playoffs and championship in their own backyard.

They learned early today the league’s postseason will actually be held in someone else’s backyard – roughly 700 miles away.

Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, will now host two semi-finals games and the title tilt. The move from Birmingham for the three games was due to a scheduling conflict with Protective Stadium, which is the primary venue for both the fledgling football league and the upcoming World Games. The opening cenermony for the World Games – which requires days of reheasals and setup – will take place on July 7, four days after the USFL championship game.

Legion Field, the secondary venue for the USFL season, was apparently passed over for playoff host duties in favor of the 20,000-seat venue in Ohio. Although Birmingham’s oldest stadium is also part of the World Games, it hosts flag football games which don’t begin until July 10.

“We’re excited to play our first playoffs and championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium,” Edward Hartman, USFL executive vice president of business operations, said in a statement. “It’s a beautiful stadium with all the facilities necessary to host football at the highest level, and we look forward to crowning our first champion in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Following a 10 week regular season in which games will be played at either Protective Stadium or Legion Field, playoffs will begin Saturday, June 25, as the top two teams in each division meet in the semifinals. The winners clash in the inaugural USFL Championship Game on Sunday, July 3.

The league opens play on Saturday, April 16, when the Birmingham Stallions meet the New Jersey Generals at 6:30 pm. Central Time at Protective Stadium in the first of 40 regular season games slated for the Magic City. The eight-team lineup consists of the Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits in the South Division and Michigan Panthers, Generals, Philadelphia Stars, and Pittsburgh Maulers in the North Division.

Birmingham last hosted a professional football playoff contest on June 1, 1991, when the Birmingham Fire lost to the Barcelona Dragons, 10-3, at Legion Field in a World League of American Football semifinal game.

Legion Field also showcased the World Bowl – the lone championship game of the World Football League – on December 5, 1974. The Birmingham Americans defeated the Florida Blazers, 22-21, in that one.

Sure it’s Super Bowl weekend, but a lot of people are already talking about that. So why don’t we talk about the Canadian Football League instead – at least for a few minutes? February 12 has been a fairly significant date for the CFL throughout its history, with league meetings often held on and around that time and rule changes proposed during the gatherings.

And that’s what brings me to today’s topic.

Remember the cussing and discussing that took place when the Canadian Football League and XFL had their brief flirtation? CFL traditionalists feared if there was a merger, the three-down game would become a four-down game, and maybe instead of 12 to a side contests would be 11 on 11.

And even though that alliance is no longer a hot topic, last December TSN’s Farhan Lalji and Dave Naylor reported that the CFL would be reviewing all aspects of the game during the offseason, including the number of downs.

Well guess what?

Back in 1975 the CFL was presented with rules options that would give the circuit a major makeover, and one of them was 11-man lineups.

On January 4, 1975, the Canadian Press reported that “sweeping changes” to the CFL were being advocated by some within the league’s power structure. Once discussed, they would be officially presented to the rules committee during league meetings on January 7.

Rule alterations up for debate were:

* Eleven man lineups instead of 12.

* One or two-point conversions following a touchdown, replacing the PAT.

* Runbacks of successful field goals that would nullify the three points scored if the ball is returned out of the end zone.

* Unlimited blocking on punts and field goals.

* Rosters increased from 32 to 33, adding another Canadian National player.

CFL Commissioner Jake Gaudaur said the rules were discussed during a meeting of the American Football Coaches Association and there were 36 revisions in all, although he wouldn’t elaborate on what they were. He added that all nine CFL clubs would be involved in the decision-making process and whatever changes were made would have to be approved at the league’s annual meeting in February.

Ottawa Rough Riders general manager Frank Clair said he was optimistic the CFL would go to 11-man lineups “soon” and Montreal Alouettes GM Bob Geary told the Canadian Press he was in favor of most of the proposals, especially the change to 11-man football.

“The way it is with the scientific defenses today, they’re so strong that the offense is stumbling in the dark,” Geary said. “The rule would make for a more wide-open game with our wide field.”

Man, I’ll bet this was quite the conversation starter when the news came out. I was too caught up in the World Football League (and didn’t have access to a lot of CFL news in Birmingham) to know about this when it happened, but a couple of the innovations would’ve really excited me.

The most creative, of course, is the field goal negation. That might be one of the most extreme rule changes I’ve ever heard of in tackle football and I absolutely love it.

At the time, CFL end zones were still 25 yards deep, and with the goal posts on the goal line that gave a returner plenty of running room. Now I’m sad I never got see a team kick a game-winning field goal as time expired only to see it wiped out by the lone deep man.

I’m sure I’m in the minority for liking this so much, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

The second change was eliminating the extra point in favor of a run or pass for one or two points.

I like to think they got this idea from the WFL’s “action point,” but even if they didn’t, tiered conversions via a run or pass are exquisite. They’ve become common in modern spring alternative football leagues.

So what happened?

There were quite a few changes – some relatively dramatic – but none as game-changing as dropping a player or wiping a field goal off the board.

The CFL executive committee approved:

* Unlimited blocking above the waist only on punts and missed field goal runbacks.

* Two point conversion option. The ball is spotted on the five yard line and the offense can kick an extra point or run or pass for two.

*A new option following successful field goals. The team scored upon can require the team having just scored the field goal to go back to their own 35 and kick as they would in a kickoff.

* New ball placement after a single. Instead of the ball coming out to the 25, it now comes to the 35.

* New timing rules for the last three minutes of each half. Whenever the ball changes hands during that time period, the clock doesn’t start until the snap of the ball.

“When I saw all the proposals, I thought it was all a bunch of corn,” Edmonton quarterback Tom Wilkinson told the Edmonton Journal. “But the rules they went for, well, they’re good. It’s going to make it more entertaining. No doubt about that.”

Defensive end Ron Forwick agreed, even though they’d make his job more difficult.

“I liked the rules the way they were before, but I think I like these better,” Forwick said. “I’ll tell you one thing, they’ll be tough on the defenses this year..”

The changes were made official on February 20, 1975.

“I really believe that some of the changes, especially the option on the converts and blocking on the punt returns, will have a definite impact on the entertainment aspect of the game,” Gaudaur said.

One of the reasons I enjoy the CFL is because of its rules, but as the league moves forward stakeholders will do what’s necessary to increase fan interest. Proposals large and small are presented every year, and whatever changes are made, I’ll give them a chance.

But If I ever have a chance to see a field goal go from good to no good all because of a runback, that’ll be one of my greatest gridiron thrills.