There’s More Football? An Alliance?

If you haven’t heard, football is still hanging around even now past the super bowl which, let’s face it, was a total bummer of a game and gave a team NOT TO BE NAMED another championship. The Alliance of American Football (AAF) is a new football league that is focused on developing players for the NFL.

Alliance of American Football Logo. Image from aaf.com media page.

The AAF was formed be by Bill Polian, former General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts, and other top minds in the football world. The AAF is playing an inaugural 10-week season with 8 teams located in the southern parts of the United States.

The teams are:

Arizona Hotshots

Atlanta Legends

Birmingham Iron

Memphis Express

Orlando Apollos

Salt Lake Stallions

San Antonio Commanders

San Diego Fleet

The AAF features some former NFL players such as Trent Richardson, a former top draft pick for the Cleveland Browns, and names you may recognize like Charles Johnson, Zac Stacy, Jalen Marshall and others. Johnson spent time with the Vikings and Jets, Stacy spent time with the Rams and Marshall spent time with the Jets as well.

BIRMINGHAN, ALABAMA- FEB. 10: Trent Richardson #33 of Birmingham Iron. (Photo by Joe Robbins/AAF/Getty Images)

There are also some more unknown players like Luis Perez who has essentially come out of nowhere. Perez had not played football until college at the Division II level. I believe he continues to improve and he seems to be impressing many around the AAF.

The rules in the game have some slight adjustments to what we are used to in the NFL. There are no kickoffs, the ball is placed at the 25 to start on offense. When a touchdown is scored, the team must attempt a 2-point conversion. Onside kicks have been replaced with a 4th down conversion from 12 yards away and has been named an “onside conversion”. There are a few other differences to be noticed when you tune in to watch these games but it is still football and I love it.

Games for the AAF are being featured on multiple platforms throughout the inaugural season such as CBS, CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, TNT and Bleacher Report. I think this wide array of channels that games are being shown on gives a great opportunity for exposure to catch the eyes of those that do not know about the AAF up to this point.

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Let’s get past the facts now though, as this is STRICLTY OPINIONATED. I’ve been waiting for another league to try to make it through to show more football throughout the year and finally I have what I’ve been asking for! These are the players that aren’t quite to a professional level or couldn’t quite cut it at the NFL or simply have never had an opportunity to show that they have what it takes to play in the game and I am eating it up. The fact that this is football, it is entertaining, it has players that fans know, there are limited commercials is great. It seems the AAF is putting fans at the front of importance which is making the game very enjoyable with mic’d up players and coaches, sideline interviews and some great merchandise and logos to back. This is football that fans should be getting.

TEMPE, AZ - FEB. 10: Quarterback John Wolford #7 of the Arizona Hotshots. (Photo by Norm Hall/AAF/Getty Images)

So far, I think I’ve seen about 3 or 4 games and I’ve been keeping up with the highlights when I can. From what I’ve seen in the AAF there is good competition, however, the quarterback play needs to be improved upon, and some of these offensive linemen make me want to cry. Some quarterbacks are missing targets and reads and some lineman are missing blocking assignments. The lack of experience of the offensive linemen is making some the defensive players in the AAF look like superstars in their own right. Players are showing up and doing their job and working to get better and it has shown across 2 weeks.

I really do believe in this and maybe it’s because I love the game of football and love to see it year-round but the past all points in the opposite direction. Many leagues have failed in the shadow of the NFL and the Alliance was close to coming up short as well until a saving grace by an NHL owner, Tom Dundon, in the form of $250 million to pay the players. It is going to be rough waves ahead, but as with anything, if you can survive, it’ll be worth it. I will tell you, I so want this to work.

Thanks for checking out my post about the Alliance of American football! I’m hoping you enjoyed it and gained something from this post. If you want to learn more about the AAF and when/where to watch games, go to aaf.com.

Facts and photos throughout this blog post were found on aaf.com in both articles and within the media page on the website.