Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

Will Major League Football ever get off the ground?

This Twitter banner for Major League Football was created for the 2017 season.

Had things gone as planned, I’d currently be mourning the end of Major League Football’s fourth season and – since MLFB is a publicly traded company – be cashing those sweet dividend checks.

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

Hopefully I’d also be celebrating the Alabama Airborne’s championship, (although I’d still wonder why my team was named after a dietary supplement designed to ward off the common cold and improve immune function).

However, things rarely go as planned when it comes to Brand X football, and this particular league might go down in history as one that lasted the longest without ever having really existed.

An explanation, I assume, is in order.

In January, 2015, the Orlando Sentinel ran a piece about Major League Football, which would debut in the spring of 2016 and fill the unquenchable thirst of football fans who go into withdrawal following the Super Bowl. (At least that’s what every founder of any spring football league always says. If we don’t have a football game immediately following the NFL finale in February, our lives are empty).

Former Florida and NFL standout Wes Chandler was named league president while former Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Vainisi served as CEO.

“We all, after (Super Bowl) Sunday, will be looking for football,” Chandler told the paper. “TV will be looking for content, and there won’t be any. We’ll sit and wait on Alabama or Texas or Florida or Florida State to put on their spring game.”

In its original incarnation, the league was to start with 10 teams as part of a single entity ownership model. There would be a 12-week regular season schedule, a 43-player active roster, and players could participate in the league for no more than four years. Older athletes would “age out” at 32.

Pay would average $2,500 per game except for the franchise player, who would be a year-round employee of MLFB and serve as something of a brand ambassador. Players would also receive “community service and life-skills” training.

It would be a developmental circuit but not a minor league because, hey – it has “Major League” in its title.

“The very first thing we wanted to be was not adversarial to the National Football League,” Chandler said.

A year later, in January, 2016, MLFB signed a two-year TV deal with American Sports Network and held a territorial draft that lasted 70 rounds. Galen Hall, tapped as the head coach of the Florida entry, selected Sunshine State native and South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia as his “franchise” player, and all the picks were set to gather at a Florida-based training camp on February 15.

At the time no teams had been officially named, but MLFB did register trademarks for the Alabama Airborne, Arkansas Attack, Florida Fusion, Ohio Union, Oklahoma Nation, Oregon Crash, Texas Independence and Virginia Armada, so Major League Football was on its way.

Except, of course, it wasn’t.

Four days before training camp was set to start, it was reported that a $20 million investment had been pulled. Four months after that, the league was served eviction papers at its Lakewood Ranch, Florida, offices.

Chandler resigned in the summer of 2017 and the coaches had no teams to coach, so they scattered as well. Aside from Hall, well-known guys such as Dave Campo and Ted Cottrell were set to take MLFB on its maiden voyage.

But no worries … it would work through this hiccup and be back better than ever.

California-based businessman Jerry Craig took over the league in September, 2017, and while it was too late to get a season going for that year, it would debut in 2018. This time the team sites were undecided, but smaller cities such as Montgomery, Alabama, and Round Rock, Texas, had been added to the mix.

Unfortunately (spoilers ahead!), MLFB did not start in 2018 and Craig left after having a cup of coffee.

As late as April of that year officials claimed an abbreviated exhibition-type season would start in the summer, serving as a soft opening for a real, honest-to-goodness campaign that would commence in the spring of 2019.

Spring 2019 sprung, and there was nary an MLFB team in sight.

But bless ‘em, the people involved with the league – and it’s been a revolving door – still insist they’re going to get this thing off the ground. And take heart – late last month MLFB dropped a bombshell via this Facebook post (presented in its pristine state):

Today Major League Football, Inc filed its Annual Report with the SEC as of 4/30/19 (10 K) which disclosed, among other things our plans to commence play in 6 cities beginning with a Florida training camp in April 2020.

Leases have been signed and deposits made for 3 of the cities and our outside broadcasting and marketing firm has complete its initial work. Of even greater significance, we announced that we have acquired approximately 90% of the Alliance of American Football League’s equipment through the bankruptcy court and an indoor football League valued in excess of 3 million dollars.

This constitutes over 32,000 items ranging from 1000 sets of helmets and pads, sophisticated electronic gear (computers, TV’s, XOS systems), basically everything they used to run their 8 team League. on and off the field. Also included were scores practice items, uniforms and medical supplies.

Further information will be made shortly via SEC filings and Press Releases.

Their Facebook page is also full of angry hopefuls who apparently paid a tryout fee for a league that – after four years – still hasn’t hired any players.

At any rate, here’s hoping the Alabama Airborne is one of the six flagship clubs, because I really believe 2020 is the year they valiantly fight off cough due to cold and win it all. And you best believe all systems are go because according to the MLFB website, the league is “Kicking Off Spring 2020.”

Of course that statement is the only thing currently on the website, so …

Campbell a special place for Coach Azem

**Samar Azem begins her third year leading Campbell women’s soccer (Bennett Scarborough photo)**

Jos, Nigeria, and Buies Creek, North Carolina, appear to be two places worlds apart. And if all you’re doing is looking at a map, they are.

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

But when you plot Samar Azem’s journey from the West African trading hub to Campbell University, it makes perfect sense.

Association football, after all, has a way of shrinking distances while broadening horizons.

Azem, head coach of the Campbell Camels women’s soccer team, found her way to the United States – and the Tar Heel State – via the College Board handbook.

Finding her way in soccer was more organic.

“I grew up in Nigeria and in Nigeria soccer is played by most the minute you can walk,” said Azem, set to begin her third season at the helm of the program. “My recess breaks and after school pastimes included playing the game, and my Saturday mornings included watching the game.”

Nigeria’s men’s team – the Super Eagles – have a high profile thanks in large part their World Cup appearances. And the Nigerian women – known as the Super Falcons – are eleven time winners of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Exposure to the elite level of the sport was there from the beginning, although inroads to becoming a player were difficult.

“I was very fortunate growing up to be around the game as often as I was,” she said. “Opportunities to play on an organized team were somewhat limited and not at all like the great opportunities youth players have here. I had great influencers that allowed me to grow in somewhat structured environments starting at the age of 12 and 13.”

But why Campbell?

And perhaps the better question, how did the private school founded by a Baptist minister even enter the picture?

“Growing up in Nigeria, I didn’t know much about American universities,” Azem explained. “I looked through this massive College Board handbook one of my teachers brought back, and knew I wanted to be in North Carolina and knew I wanted a school that was strong academically and with an athletic program that had potential. My coach at home had heard a lot about Campbell University and encouraged me to apply and contact the coach.”

The international student proved to be a perfect fit.

By the time Azem graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting in 2007, she had excelled on the playing field as well as the classroom.

Azem, a goalkeeper, helped the Camels to the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2004, and the following season she was named to the All-A- Sun Conference Tournament Team for her performance in goal. An A-Sun All-Academic selection and two-time Coaches Award winner, she is fifth all-time in saves (183) by a Campbell keeper, tenth in solo shutouts (five) and seventh in goals against average (1.39).

“I had an unbelievable experience at Campbell University,” she said. “We were very successful for three of my four years and we haven’t had that success since, but are working back up there. I built some incredible relationships, and I left with extremely positive relationships.

“I did go through three coaches in four years. That taught me a lot about understanding team dynamics. I also was part of an incredible culture of driven players, and that taught me that players have an incredible ability to be resilient and successful.”

Azem began her coaching career as an assistant at Brevard College in 2007, and worked at Mercer in 2008-09.

She moved on to Presbyterian College in 2010, concentrating on goalkeeper training, and got her first head coaching job at Anderson University in South Carolina, where she guided the Trojans from 2011-13. He 2011 squad reached the South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history.

She returned to her alma mater as an assistant in 2014, and in 2017 was elevated to the top post.

Azem’s first edition of Camels finished 10-7-2 (5-2-2 in the Big South), while the 2018 team was 7-11-1, 5-4-1.

Odd as it seems now, coaching wasn’t her first career choice.

“I was interested in working in the non-profit world, and had an opportunity as a graduate assistant soccer coach at a small NCAA Division II school in the mountains to get my Master’s,” said Azem, who earned a master’s in education from Mercer in 2010. “My former assistant coach at Campbell University had taken a position there and helped me with a great opportunity. However, within eight months, I had become captivated with every aspect of the career and wanted to learn more. My former assistant coach, Juan Mascaro, really encouraged me to get into coaching. Grant Serafy, who was the head coach at Mercer University, taught me a lot as well. He took a chance on me and challenged me in a lot of ways.

“I’ve been extremely fortunate to have some incredible mentors since then and along the way – most of which are college coaches or athletic directors. I think we can all learn so much from each other.”

Naturally, Job One for Azem is helping her Campbell team excel in the Big South Conference. But she also wants to make sure her players get opportunities to compete beyond college.

“I think coming off the Women’s World Cup we’re seeing more people take an interest in the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League),” Azem said. “The NWSL is an incredible league, but not enough people know about it. As coaches it’s our job to get our players to see why watching the game can advance their game, but how it’s also entertaining. Youth coaches can encourage the same. I do think it goes back to supply and demand, and right now we are seeing the right sponsors with enough of an impact get involved. Hopefully that pushes more promotion of the leagues. But day-to-day, person to person promoting it could make a difference.

“Those players are talented and they are entertaining, and the more we watch the more it will grow and the more it grows the better it becomes. The better it becomes the more opportunities we have from the grass roots.”

Also helping the cause is the fact that while men’s domestic soccer lags behind many other countries, American women’s soccer has set the standard.

“Sometimes when we critique the men’s game in the U.S. we forget that while European and South American leagues, for example, were pouring all their resources into men’s soccer the United States was pouring those resources into men’s basketball, baseball, and American football,” Azem said. “When the United States started pouring funding and resources into women’s soccer, the rest of the world wasn’t (as much). So the advancement and structural build of both sports was very different.”

The tipping point, she says, came 20 years ago.

“I think the women’s team winning (the World Cup) in 1999 inspired a generation on a global stage to notice the game,” Azem said. “The more people noticed it, the more they played. The more they played, the more demand. The more demand, the more supply. I think we’re seeing that in some European countries now, too.

“The English National Team had more viewers on their broadcast network watch the U.S. women play the English women in the World Cup this summer than any other broadcast event in the country. Demand has grown. Something tells me that means more funding, which means better structure, which means more success. I believe that’s what happened with the USWNT sooner than other countries, and the people who invested in the sport early should get credit for it.”

Although the big picture is important, for the next few months Azem’s primary focus will be on her team.

The Camels open exhibition play on August 12 when they travel to Durham to take on Duke, and after a home preseason match on August 16 against The Citadel, the regular season starts on August 25 when UNC Greensboro comes to Buies Creek.

It’s a long way from Jos, but Samar Azem will feel right at home on the sidelines.

“Campbell University is unlike anywhere else I have ever been,” she said. “I want to mimic the institution’s goals in my coaching career. The people here care about people, the administration here is dedicated to more than just the bottom line, everyone here cares about the product, and the product is successful students and student-athletes.”

The CFL’s interleague triumph

Does August 8, 1961, mean anything special to you?

It should … I mean, it was a pretty big day.

The Atlas-F missile was launched from Cape Canaveral.

The Fantastic Four were introduced by Marvel Comics, available to comic book fans for the first time.

“The Edge” – U2 guitarist – was born.

All three have varying degrees of significance, depending on what you think is important.

For me, though, the biggest story of that fateful day took place in Hamilton, Ontario.

Why?

Because for the first time – and only time – a Canadian Football League team defeated a team from the “modern” American Football League.

It was also the only time a CFL and AFL team played, but still … pretty, pretty cool.

Playing by CFL rules (three downs to make a first down, 12 players to a side, etc.), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Buffalo Bills, 38-21.

According to the game report in United Press International:

Hamilton quarterbacks Bernie Faloney and Tom Dublinski, both Americans and former NFLers, riddled the Buffalo defense with a consistent passing attack. Faloney connected for three of Hamilton’s five touchdowns, while Dublinski kept the Ti-Cats rolling along when he was sent in to spell Faloney. Just to add icing to the cake, Frank Cosentino, the Ti-Cats’ No. 3 quarterback, flipped a 50-yard TD pass to Ralph Goldston in the final minute of play to put the game completely out of reach.

While just an exhibition played in front of 12,000 fans, it still was a point of pride for the Canadians.

Buffalo was one of the founding franchises of the AFL in 1960, and for a CFL side to beat a major American pro team was significant; the league was winless against NFL competition.

Its only other conquest of a United States-based pro team was in 1941 when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Columbus Bullies, 19-12. (Columbus played in an earlier iteration of the AFL that lasted from 1940-41).

Looking back years later, the Tiger-Cats should’ve won considering the talent on their team.

Faloney was an All-ACC performer at Maryland who went on to help three different CFL teams win the Grey Cup. He’s enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

His jersey was retired by the Tiger-Cats in 1999.

Cosentino was also elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and was a two-time Grey Cup champion, while Goldston was on a pair of Grey Cup teams himself and named to the CFL All-Star team four times.

Dublinski was the first Utah player to sign a pro football contract, and threw for 30 TD passes and 3,561 yards while playing for the Toronto Argonauts in 1955.

The Ti-Cats finished their 1961 season 10-4, losing to Winnipeg in the Grey Cup, while the Bills struggled to a 6-8 mark.

There was talk after Hamilton’s exhibition triumph that the CFL – which was 0-8 against the NFL over the years – would concentrate solely on playing exhibitions against the AFL going forward.

Turns out, this game was the last interleague matchup ever played.

Bud Adams, owner of the AFL Houston Oilers, proposed a game between CFL and AFL All-Stars in which Canadian rules would be used when the CFL team had the ball and American rules would apply when the AFL All-Stars were on offense. (That would’ve been a logistical nightmare considering how much longer and wider the CFL playing field is).

There was even some discussion about the possibility of the CFL and AFL champions meeting in a two-game set at the end of each year, with the rules of the home team in effect for each game.

Ultimately, nothing came of either plan.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle was timing; the CFL season ended roughly a month before the AFL played its championship game.

So call it an experiment, a gimmick, or whatever you like, August 8, 1961, was the end of a professional football era.

It’s just a footnote to the game’s history, but an interesting one.