Oh, you just want a minor league because nobody plays football in your state!

Giving other players a chance to play only helps the NFL talent pool. The XFL certainly didn't pull anyone away from the NFL, but it put people back in it. I really don't think the UFL would be able to pull an AFL/USFL kind of rivalry. I can only see it as being a lesser league that the NFL would poach talent from.

A minor league, though, would be a massive boon for NFL talent. The problem with NFL Europe was that players allocated there were unable to participate with their NFL team in minicamps and OTAs, and showed up to training camp having already taken the pounding of a season of football. So they were beat up AND having to learn from scratch while their competition was fresh and had been learning the team's schemes for months. Players were actually refusing to go to Europe in recent years, as doing so basically meant they would have little chance of making the real team.

By having your extra talent in camp and OTAs with the team, and having them play at the same time as the NFL plays, an NFL team would be able to call up players from the minor leagues during the season to fill in for injured players, or call up guys that are playing great and send underperforming players down. It would give teams great flexibility and we'd never have to see NFL teams relying on off-the-street free agents in the middle of the season ever again.

Look at a guy like Jimmy Smith. He was completely out of football and would have stayed there had the NFL not added expansion teams in 1995 that were so desperate to fill a roster that he got to try out for one. Then he became a 5 time Pro Bowler and 8th in NFL history in receptions. With a minor league, guys like that would have somewhere to keep playing.

There are a lot of guys whose stories start like Smith's - they get into the NFL, then get injured a couple of times, and nobody looks at them again.

Also, a minor league would allow the lower tier of veterans to stay playing football. Today, if you're a veteran that's OK but not going to become a starter, you're likely to get sent packing in favor of a new draft pick that may develop. When that happens, you're screwed if another team doesn't grab you immediately. You still have skills, but as soon as you're out of football, nobody's going to look at you But with a minor league, those veterans could continue to play ball and stay on top of their game (and visible to NFL teams).

Finally, NFL teams could send high-priced but under-performing players (1st round picks that haven't panned out yet, or guys with big contracts but are maybe coming off injury or something) down to the minors to provide some cap relief without having to sever ties with the player.

I think the hardest part of a minor league will be finding the cities to put teams in.

You've got to find large enough DMAs that aren't having their football needs met with college teams. You can't drop a team in, say, Austin and expect much, every football fan has UT tickets.

San Antonio would unquestionably be a market that a minor league team goes in, after their ticket-selling performance hosting the Saints. Where else? Salt Lake? Las Vegas? Albany?

Portland definitely makes sense, especially with the two big-time college programs each being over an hour away.

We should probably just go down the list of cities that had USFL teams, as Portland and San Antonio both did. Memphis and Birmingham jump out as a couple of non-NFL cities.

Oh, and Los Angeles.

Yeah I don't really agree that talent is thin, more like overlooked. Look at how plenty of guys shine coming of the bench. Look at a team that has a great player that never gets hurt, let's just say Tomlinson. That team may pick back after back just to have a back up or 3rd option and that guy may never gets a chance to really play. Look at Priest Holmes, not used often for so many years till he got most of the carries in Baltimore. Plenty of stories like that.

I think plenty of quality players get booted from the league because when they are drafted quality players are already locked into positions and they never get a chance to showcase their talent. Hopefully this will allow these players to stay in football and maybe get a chance.

I saw an interesting article (not the one I initially saw, but here's one) about the All American Football League. The general idea is to get players that didn't make it in the NFL and put them on teams that play at or near their previous colleges. Florida, FSU, Iowa, Purdue, NC State and some other South Eastern schools had agreed in principle to let them play at their college stadiums. They will play by college rules. So, it'd be like giving players an extra few years in college, but with $100k/year to play (regardless of position, BTW).

Oh, and the players have to have a college degree to participate.

So no actual NFL-caliber players then?

I think Rex Grossman could probably have used some time in the minors. Kyle Orton would make a career out of it.

Locations? Joliet, Gary, Rockford, Kenosha, Milwaukee

Zing!

I think your missing my point.. I've got a hard enough time watching some of the BAD NFL teams play eachother.. what makes you think anyone but the most degenerate football fans would watch (and more important pay money) to see even WORSE talent play eachother.

Sure I agree with you that it gives some late bloomers or players that were even overlooked for whatever reasons a place to play and maybe get a 2nd chance at the NFL.. but unless this league exists solely for that purpose and basically isnt being looked to make a dime I cant personally imagine many people watching it.

Definitely Portland. Most people here are Seahawk crazy. A minor league affiliate would cement that.

I disagree. I think part of the reason football's so popular is because of its relative scarcity. The season is only 4-5 months long, unlike the NBA (Nov-June) or Nascar (Feb-Nov). That allows individual regular season games make a tangible difference to a team's playoff chances, as opposed to baseball or basketball where a team can go on a 10+ game skid and still make it. Fans feel like there is more of a stake in every game that is played, as a result. And since it's only played on the weekend, it becomes a true event that people plan around. Plus, it just leaves everyone wanting for more. Doubling the number of regular season games would negate all that (except for the weekend part, I guess).

Sounds like someone isn't a Bears fan.

A lot of people pay money to watch college ball, and the talent pool in a minor league NFL team should be a cut above that... if it's the only game in town (I'm thinking of cities like Portland, Sacramento and Las Vegas) there really shouldn't be a problem filling the seats.