As the NFL season begins to wind down and Patriots fans get louder, it’s refreshing to hear about the startup of the All American Football League (AAFL). Its not the first national league to compete with the NFL, but its requirements seem to intentionally draw a different crowd.
The league is currently building its fan base out of huge college football markets like Knoxville, Alabama, Florida and Michigan. Why? The most interesting twist with the AAFL is its requirement for players to have a college degree. So, all the players on the field will have exhausted their eligibility in college and the organization will undoubtedly be seen as a pick-up league of old college players who couldn’t cut it in the NFL draft.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The players will presumably be more educated, so we won’t see the antics of any Michael Vicks. The athleticism may stand at a lower level, since many fresh NFL players did their minimum college sentence before hopping into the league.
With the recent collapse of the NFL Europe league, the AAFL should be greeted by Americans with open arms. The games should appeal to hardcore college fans since they’re in the offseason and the rules seem to cater to the collegiate crowd.
Other noteworthy rules of the AAFL are:
- Four-year degrees are required to play.
- Teams will have 46-man rosters.
- The season will run from April 12 to July 5.
- Games will be played on Saturdays.
- A college size football will be used.
- The league will have NFL officials.
- Some of the rules are based on the college game, such as receivers needing to have one foot in bounds and a live ball on PATs.
- Overtimes will be played like the college game, but offenses will start on the 35-yard line.
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AAFL will appeal to college crowd and bored NFL fans
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