FutureBillsGM Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 are any of those guys CURRENT players? As I stated in my post the only current player I could find is Antonio Gates who did not play NCAA football (did play basketball). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaBill Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 As I stated in my post the only current player I could find is Antonio Gates who did not play NCAA football (did play basketball). so Gates did go to college then, therefore currently EVERY NFL PLAYER attended some form of college, prior to being in the league, right? ok, just checking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIVE Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I think an NFL sponsored spring developmental league would be very successful. People love college football and it's a huge moneymaker, so the "inferior product" argument doesn't hold water. The NFLDL would essentially be staffed by practice squad players, UFAs, and kids who decide that they would rather make $50k-150k a year in the NFL minors than play for free in college. It may turn out to be a better way to groom kids for the NFL, especially for QBs. From a marketing standpoint, each NFL team could have a minor league team with the same uniforms and name and superfans could follow their team's stars of the future yearround. Some games could be played in other cities to expand the parent franchise's fan base. I really see no downside for the NFL. The SEC might be pissed though. What do you guys think? I mentioned this in another thread but I think it could be an intresting topic on it's own. Because the bills would be in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Economics. They can't make enough money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Dear Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Where have you been? They tried one years ago & lost too much money. 1st they called it the World League of American Football (WLAF) and had teams in the USA, Canada & Europe. Eventually it became NFL Europa (NFLE). It is now dead. It was exactly as you describe & they failed. Each team had to allocate a number of players to European teams. It was a great way to groom QBs, with 2 Super Bowl winning QBs (Kurt Warner & Brad Johnson) among the QBs. A former player was Gibran Hamdan, he was MVP in 2006. The league also produced several successful punters & kickers. The Bills Chris Mohr played for the WLAF's Montreal team before he was with the Bills. Adam Vinatieri played in NFLE before he was with the Patriots. Current Bills RB Fred Jackson played there in 2006. The UFL is on their own with no NFL affiliation, trying to fill the void left by NFLE. They have a sweetheart TV contract that guarantees their existance the 1st 2 seasons. They'll probably fold after the TV deal expires, unless an NFL lockout gives them enough of a market to keep going. I'm aware of those failed leagues. What I am proposing would be different in that each NFL team would have it's own farm team that had the same name and uniforms. That would give you an imediate fan base, something these other leagues lacked. I also envision the "NFLDL" taking alot of college underclassmen. Given the option I'm sure alot of kids at the football factories (the ones who aren't intrested in the free education) would turn pro after a year or 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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