Category: Alternative Football

Ever see the episode of The Andy Griffith Show called Stranger In Town?

The plot centered around a character named Ed Sawyer, who arrived in Mayberry on a bus from “up north,” walked into Floyd’s barbershop, and acted as though he was friends with everyone there.

He also knew details about the town and the townsfolk, which creeped everyone out since they had no idea who he was.

Turns out Ed pored over copies of the Mayberry Gazette newspaper, which he borrowed from an Army buddy who hailed from the North Carolina town. Reading about the friendly little city caused Ed to fall in love with it and he saw Mayberry as “his” hometown – even if he’d never before been there.

As was always the case in The Andy Griffith Show there was a happy ending, with the citizens ultimately embracing Ed (even though he was never seen or heard from again in the series).

Regardless, I tell that story to tell this one: I’m basically Ed Sawyer when it comes to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

Raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and currently living in Greenville, South Carolina, I’ve never been to Tim Hortons Field, never had a coffee and doughnut from Tim Hortons restaurant, never done the Oskee Wee Wee cheer with fellow fans, never visited the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Shoot, I’ve never been to Hamilton – or Canada, even though I very much want to visit.

But when the Tiger-Cats suit up from June through November, I might as well be a native because I cheer for the team like I was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital and educated at McMaster University (Go Marauders!).

If you’ve ever read me before you know that I started rooting for the Tiger-Cats back in the 1970s when CFL “games of the week” were rebroadcast on a local station.

My highly scientific reason for picking Hamilton as “my” team was because I liked their logo and black and gold color scheme.

Now in the interest of complete transparency I must confess that I cheated on the Ticats in 1995 when the Birmingham Barracudas were born.

I felt I had a moral obligation to pledge allegiance to a CFL team in the city I grew up in, although Hamilton remained my preferred international club.

And after the Tiger-Cats (almost) hired disgraced coach Art Briles as an assistant in the summer of 2017, they briefly lost me as a fan. To their credit officials almost immediately reversed their decision, admitting they made a “serious mistake” and correcting it.

Hey – family gets mad at family, then you get over it.

I got over it.

So aside from Birmingham’s cup of coffee during the “American experiment” and the Briles blunder, I’ve pulled for the Tiger-Cats in five different decades. And while there were many years where the only way I could keep track of them was to find scores from games buried in my newspaper, now I can watch every game they play thanks to ESPN.

And I do.

I’m not saying that during last Saturday’s 21-18 win over Toronto I was the only person in Greenville wearing a game-used Greg Randall jersey from 2006, but … well, actually I am saying that.

I also have an assortment of caps and T-shirts, and even find myself spreading the Ticats gospel from time to time.

A couple of weeks ago I was at a convenience store when the clerk asked if my Hamilton tee was in support of a high school team that he was unfamiliar with. I had to explain that it represented a Canadian professional squad born of the 1950 merger between the Hamilton Football Club Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats.

All I wanted was a Twix bar, but being able to drop some Tabbies knowledge on the dude was an added bonus.

Of course it’s quite easy to be a fan this year, especially since the team ran away with the East Division with a 15-3 record.

Having an affinity for wideouts (split end and kicker were the positions I played during my elementary school career), I’ve been a big fan of Luke Tasker since he joined the team in 2013.

And Brandon Banks – who has had a breakout year in 2019 – has quickly become my favorite player.

I was bummed when quarterback Jeremiah Masoli suffered a season-ending injury in July, but proud of how backup Dane Evans jumped in and earned his own medals as field general.

And what a debut for Orlondo Steinauer, who tied the CFL record for most wins by a rookie head coach.

Winning their division gives the Ticats a first round playoff bye this weekend, so I’ll be watching the Eastern semi-final between Edmonton and Montreal on Sunday to see who Hamilton gets on November 17.

Hopefully the Tiger-Cats will defeat either the Eskimos or the Alouettes and advance to the Grey Cup on November 24 (where the opponent will be either Saskatchewan, Calgary or Winnipeg). If that happens, my house will become the official CFL Embassy in Greenville as the game – for me – will be just as big as a Super Bowl.

So Tiger-Cats, know that I’m with you all the way and hope you go all the way.

Even though Mayberry wasn’t Ed Sawyer’s home town and Hamilton isn’t mine, it’s where my team plays.

And when you look at it that way, it seems a lot like home.

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.