DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum AAF - what are your thoughts?

Watching this Birmingham / Memphis game and I’m at a loss to determine what is more sparse, the talent on the field or the fans in the stands.

On the upside, I do like the no kick-offs and no extra points.

Man, I used to love returning kickoffs. It was something I was really good at and I enjoyed. I loved watching guys like Cribbs work his magic on kickoff returns.

The extra points have no emotional pull on me. I would rather that teams have to go for two after they scored a TD than to kick a PAT or have nothing at all.

Salt Lake vs Arizona is the best game so far.

The Arizona QB is willing to sling it.

nice.

If they make it a couple years, the quality may rise. There are some bubble NFL players that are playing the wait and see game.

I'd imagine there are players who would like the opportunity, but the risk of injury may give them hesitation if they think they still have a shot in the NFL.

Richardson scored two TD's last night..

I've heard that this is more or less a last chance league..

A place where those that had a shot at the NFL and for whatever reason, didn't cut it. And then for those that didn't get a shot at the NFL via draft or FA. gives them a chance to show their stuff...

The hope is, some NFL team will see them and pick them up for a clean shot at making it.

I watch a little of two different games. They are playing hard.. so it could be fun to watch.

Phil Savage is involved in one of the teams and Mike Martz is coaching another one.

Well, in his defense...he is very good at following his blockers

I enjoyed it.

I loved the PACE of the game. I watched the San Antonio game, and even though it was low scoring it didn't feel like it to me because the game was moving along so well.

I LOVE the fact they seem to be letting these guys play. As no flag on the hit Swish posted.

I didn't get to see that onside kick 4and10 rule, I want to see a game have that in it.

I enjoy watching it. But I was willing to take a couple of things into consideration before I watched.

1. These teams didn't even begin to practice together until a month ago. So I didn't expect everyone to be on the same page and they're not yet.

2. The NFL has problems filling the OT positions so one would have to imagine that in the AAF it would be a huge problem and it is. As a result you have five rushers getting a lot of pressure. Maybe it's the limited time they've had to work on their blocking schemes but I don't think so.

For those who study the draft in depth, a lot of the names will be familiar. For those who don't, for the most part, you won't recognize a lot of the names.

I still have last nights game on DVR and will watch it a little later. It's not the NFL and for anyone who thought it would be, you will be very disappointed. For those needing a football fix after the Super Bowl? It will fill the need.

That McKay from San Antonio stood out to me. I think he was with the Cowboys if I am not mistaken to start the year????

But I think they said he was 6'4 or something. Has a big body, made a couple really nice catches (one got called back that was a HUGE gainer), but he seems like he will get a call come NFL training camp.

As for your post, I absolutely agree with what you said. You are watching guys a step above college level - but 2 steps below NFL talent for the most part.

I would expect the Olines to improve, but not much.

I loved watching some big hits! Loved the pace of the game as well.

Even bad football is better than no football. IMO.

Playbook must be braille. His poor linemen are wasting some serious time. Glad he is playing, I guess.

This was interesting; saw about 10 minutes, I think. Fast play, and pace was god and fast as well. I was practically interested several times.

This is a great thing for football purists..lets the physicality back in the game. I like the transparency in the booth reviews

When a was younger, a kid, then teenager, young adult etc I watched a lot. Heck I loved the USFL spring league. I really hated to see that go.
For the last 25 years or so I am a Browns fan. I will watch other teams occasionally but generally need a reason. Maybe rooting for a certain player , maybe an ex-Buckeye, a team who struggled for years who are now playing well etc. I think Modell moving the team killed my spirit a bit. I found I could live without it.

I get that. I could live w/out sex, but why in the hell would I want to.

Well, if we are changing the subject, my answer might be different.

j/c

I remember when at someone on this board (forget who) was saying Hackenberg would be a really good NFL QB.

Can't pin that one on me. LOL

In fact, I said that the Jets made the worst choice in the entire draft when they chose him.

Nooooo, I knew it wasn't you.

It looks like all 4 games are on this weekend.

Just saw this:

Report: Colin Kaepernick wanted $20 million to play in AAF - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/20...m=.2bb0b1085e9e

When the Alliance of American Football began play last week, some wondered why Colin Kaepernick was not part of the league, given the former 49ers quarterback’s much-noted inability to sign with an NFL team for the past two years. According to a report Thursday, Kaepernick was, indeed, approached by the AAF while it was in development, but his asking price was too high.

That price? At least $20 million, according to the Associated Press’s Barry Wilner, who said he got that information from a person with “knowledge of the conversation” between Kaepernick and the fledgling league.

That kind of sum would have been far beyond the salary structure of the AAF, which is giving each of its players, regardless of position, a three-year contract worth $250,000. Neither Kaepernick nor his representatives have publicly commented on the AP report.

“We have always been open to anyone who wanted an opportunity to begin, extend or revitalize their career to come play under our system,” said AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol, in a statement provided to The Post.

A person connected to the AAF told The Post that the league “did not chase after” Kaepernick but did “let all high-quality” football players “know we were starting the league and it could be an opportunity for them.”

Earlier on Thursday, The Athletic’s Lindsay Jones reported that Ebersol had “reached out” to Kaepernick about his possible interest in joining in the league. The AAF’s other co-founder, Bill Polian, told Jones, “I don’t know what transpired, but he’s obviously not playing."

Polian, a longtime NFL executive and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who is also an analyst for ESPN, added that he had spoken with Tim Tebow, a fellow ESPN employee and ex-NFL quarterback who “declined” to join the AAF. Steve Spurrier, coach of the league’s Orlando Apollos, said earlier in the week that he had also gotten in touch with Tebow but was told the former University of Florida Heisman Trophy winner was focused on his baseball career.

In addition to potentially restarting his football career, Tebow would have given the AAF a useful jolt of star power as it looks to gain a toehold among sports consumers. While the league has several players who spent time in the NFL, it is mostly lacking in players with name recognition, apart from quarterback Christian Hackenberg and running back Trent Richardson, among a few others.

If the report of Kaepernick’s financial demand is accurate, it could reflect an awareness of how much interest, not to mention revenue from apparel sales, his participation in the AAF would generate. In originating the practice of taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, he became a lightning rod for controversy and a target of criticism from President Trump.

Kaepernick is suing the NFL over his ongoing free agency, alleging that team owners have colluded to punish him for his social activism. His plight has made him much more of a household name than he ever was as a player, even while leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2013.

Nike made Kaepernick the centerpiece of a national ad campaign last fall and he has won awards such as Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois medal, Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award. In addition, pop-music superstars such as Rihanna and Cardi B have cited support for him as reasons they have declined to participate in NFL events such as the Super Bowl halftime show.

In his most recent NFL season, over 11 games for San Francisco in 2016, Kaepernick went 1-10 but notched a 90.7 passer rating while throwing for 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he added 468 yards and two touchdowns as a runner.

$20M? LOL.

I doubt he'd get 20M from an NFL team as a starter...

20M sets the bar high enough that there is no chance of participation, or failure. I don't think Colin wants to play again - it would ruin his martyrdom.

Tim Tebow was asked to play as well....

20 million? So we "know" his price, there are 32 NFL owners, it's not a very big sum to them collectively, if they get motivated enough to make the story go away.

More seriously though, I think it might be the 20 million mark is to hedge that he doesn't jeopardize a later court settlement, because a judge or jury could rule, he wasn't deprived of making a living in the way he wished, or blacklistted out of football altogether,

if he plays football, even for a league as likely to fail as a flash in the pan as the AAF.

Seriously if they're going to do a league like this, I want to see it my way.

I want to see teams where one is allowed to play with 13 players on defense.

Another team that is allowed to just get close on fg tries, anything within 3 yards (give or take) of the goal post, is 3 pts, hit the cross bar at all, it's 3 pts.

Another thought.)

Onside kicks? NO way, One player, (just one, from the kicking team, is an eligible receiver who starts in the end zone of the receiveing team, on all kickoffs,

and the receiving team is not allowed to smother them, or interfere with him as like pass interference, (in fact) no member of the receiveing a kickoff team should be allowed into that end zone, before the kicked ball crosses the 10 yd line,
then they could go back and knock the ball down for a touchback, but

if that kicking team player catches the ball in the end zone, it's a touchdown for the kicking team.

It would be possible to be down by 20 with less than a minute to go and still see a team win the game.

Since it'll inevitably be a lousy product, give me a reason to watch, something I hadn't seen before.

And who cares about fair and level playing field, the whole league is meaningless and won't be around 5 years to begin with.

I've never seen a game where 11 on offense have to deal with 13, or 14 on defense, on every play. Maybe that team would be a shoe in to win their super bowl.

Maybe one team, or the whole league, (i.e. "falls count anywhere"), could be allowed to catch a pass however far out of bounds they want.

Or the Canadian team, which would get to use a 20 yards deep end zone while everyone else has to stay in the regular 10 yards.

This kind of thing would give me a reason to watch. Put this into a video game too.

$20 mil a year is what Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Phillip Rivers make. He wants to be paid elite starter money, when he's only really had one and a half season(s) of good play (back in 2012 and 2013). I'm kind of with FATE on this one. He doesn't really want to get a job, because it would ruin his martyrdom.

He's "sacrificing" everything.

Just watched the Arizona/Memphis game. It was a *bit* sloppy, but entertaining.

Christian Hackenburg isn't an NFL QB ..... and after 2 weeks, there have to be questions as to whether he's even an AAF QB. Man, he's terrible.

It’s football when there is no football, I like the transparency of their replay process.

I missed last week's games, so I decided to watch at least 1 this week. So tonight I watched the Arizona Hotshots vs. the Memphis Express. When the game started I saw, for the first time, the Arizona logo, a fireman's badge with 2 crossed fire axes.

Hotshots, in the firefighter's world, is a 20-member inter-agency team of firefighters who train for, and fight wild fires. They are generally considered to be elite teams, like a SWAT team in the police world. On June 30, 2013 the Granite Mountain Hotshots, out of Prescott Arizona, had their escape route cut off when the wind shifted direction. 19 team members died. The sole survivor was deployed as a lookout at a different location. All their safety equipment was properly deployed, the fire was just too strong.

I don't know it for fact, but it sure feels like the Arizona team took the name Hotshots and adapted that logo to honor the Granite Mountain Hotshots. That is reason enough for them to be my favorite team in the AAF.

Oh, and ex-Brown Scooby Wright III plays linebacker.

There’s a Marvin Lewis sighting, he was part of the TV team at the Salt Lake vs Birmingham.

Maybe he can get his buddy a job as a spotter.

Painful watching Spurrier hobble around on the sideline at 73, six months after a back surgery.

I caught a little of the games this weekend,, I kinda thought they improved a little overall.. Not a horrible watch, still like the NFL Better

I imagine the AAF will eventually go the way of the USFL, the XFL, and the WFL. The phrase "lipstick on a pig" comes to mind.

Certainly off to a dicey start.

A snippet from the The Athletic ...

NHL owner rescues fledgling AAF with much-needed cash infusion
By David Glenn 2/18/19

....Less than a week later, multiple sources told The Athletic, the new league’s existence was in jeopardy.

According to the sources, there was one enormous problem, one that became obvious even before the AAF’s second weekend (Feb. 16-17) of games: The league was running short on cash, and quickly. Without new investors, there was a good chance it was going to miss payroll last Friday.

“Without a new, nine-figure investor, nobody is sure what would have happened,” one source said. “You can always tell people their checks are going to be a little late, but how many are going to show up on the weekend for games when they don’t see anything hit their bank accounts on Friday?”....

It’s not what you want.

The AAF is a complete novelty. If it wasn't live football then no one would interact with it. I watched the first weekend and came to a conclusion that if I'm watching football in the off-season, I'll have a much better time watching NFL prospects.