Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sports
Everybody’s All-American?
New Atlanta-based league to combine best of pro, college football
Former Florida quarterback Chris Leak (shown here celebrating the Gators’ victory in the BCS National Championship Game in January) is slated to call the plays for the AAFL’s Florida team.
CREDIT: Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesAll American Football League File
- Atlanta native and University of Georgia graduate Marcus Katz has committed $75 million to the new pro football league built on college colors and stadiums and former collegiate stars.
- Six teams, including ones in Florida, Alabama and Tennessee, will play a 10-game schedule from April to July 2008.
- Most players will be paid $5,000 per game, plus benefits. Six designated franchise players will be eligible for an additional $50,000 per year.
All players must have earned a four-year college degree to be eligible.
Ticket prices will range from $15 to $50, with special membership packages available.
- Alcohol will not be sold at games played in college stadiums.
The AAFL projects attendance figures of 40,000 to 50,000 per game.
By Scott Sergent
The arrival of spring signals the beginning of a new baseball season while other sports such as basketball, hockey, golf and auto racing are already fully engaged. To that list you can add football—and not just the Georgia Force, or practice rounds on college campuses. That’s right: Spring 2008 heralds the arrival of a highly organized professional football league headquartered right here in Atlanta.
“Another spring football league?” you might ask with a snicker. Well, before all you Debbie Downers start spewing doomsday prophecies, understand that this new league is kicking off with a plan that’s easy to embrace. Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the All American Football League and its vision to capture the magic of college football in the pro game.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
The AAFL is scheduled to begin play in April with players whom fans will remember from their favorite college schools such as Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Michigan. Those are the states where the six AAFL teams will play, each near a college football hotbed. And each team will be made up of players who played for colleges in the area. Imagine cheering on the same players you rooted for back in the day, playing in the same stadiums where they left their legacies. Sounds like “Back to the Future” meets “Everybody’s All-American,” doesn’t it?
In reality, the AAFL is the brainchild of University of Georgia graduate Marcus Katz, a San Diego businessman who made a fortune in the student loan business. Katz got the idea more than 20 years ago: What if you could get all the great players from the SEC who couldn’t make it in the NFL and have them play professionally in their college stadiums?
To realize that vision, Katz is leaning heavily on Keenan Davis, who spent the past seven-plus years working for the NFL in a variety of capacities, including player personnel; these days, he’s the vice president of AAFL operations and responsible for managing the day-to-day operations from the league’s Atlanta office.
“We want to do the right things for the right reasons,” Davis tells The Sunday Paper. “Our league wants to promote a family atmosphere, have low ticket prices, and put pro/college level talent on the field.”
A SHOWCASE FOR TALENT
Is this just another football league for subpar players destined for financial failure? Davis doesn’t think so. He says the AAFL has learned from the mistakes of other defunct leagues such as the USFL and the XFL. Of course, there are still many obstacles to be overcome, but Davis is optimistic, because he knows the AAFL will be respectable from top to bottom.
“Every player must have completed his degree from a four-year university,” he says. “These days, the public sees football players as being bad guys, so we want to be a vehicle for the players to showcase their talents.”
Players who have signed on to be a part of the inaugural league include former college stars Tee Martin (Tennessee), Peter Warrick (Florida State), Chris Leak (Florida) and 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch (Nebraska). League tryouts are currently being held throughout the country, with no spots currently available for the Dec. 6-7 tryouts in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Alabama team will play its games at Birmingham’s Legion Field, while Michigan will suit up at Detroit’s Ford Field and Tennessee is set to compete at the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Team colors will resemble those of the collegiate team each squad is most closely associated with. Former Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey, who serves as vice chairman of the AAFL’s board of directors, has indicated that the $3 million stadium rent the league is paying the universities will go into each school’s athletic budget. The ability to fund other school sports makes the league a win-win situation for everyone.
The AAFL also plans each team to sell memberships to its fans, entitling them to such benefits as renewable season tickets and preferred parking. The league is also exploring the possibility of broadcasting games through a private network that might eliminate TV timeouts for commercial purposes, although there’s no television contract just yet. Gaining television access is just one of many hurdles left to clear, but clearly the AAFL is optimistic about its future.
“This is a feel-good story,” Davis says enthusiastically. “Let’s be honest. This is not a gimmick. This will not be a minor league, but a place where the NFL can look at our talent. You couple that with the games being held in the spring in places that long for year-round football—it should be well received.” SP