#RIP Alliance of American Football

Forum for XFL fans to discuss the Alliance of American Football.
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MarkNelson
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#RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by MarkNelson »

My first thought goes to the folks from Birmingham AL, who have lost so many teams over the years, including the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the original XFL. Why do so many teams come and go from such a football mecca. Hopefully, one day it will work out for Birmingham.

The fans of San Antonio must be hurting, as there were many of them. Also, Orlando, as the team was poised to contend for the championship. Memphis fans finally had something to cheer about, with a QB that was finally making the right moves. I'm talking about Silvers, BTW.

All the players and coaches. Ground crews and officials. Front office staff. Broadcast crew. Hopefully many find jobs in other leagues. Maybe the XFL? Hopefully for some.

PS. I hope this thread is kept respectful.
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by steinerfhc »

mnelson wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:56 pm My first thought goes to the folks from Birmingham AL, who have lost so many teams over the years, including the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the original XFL. Why do so many teams come and go from such a football mecca. Hopefully, one day it will work out for Birmingham.

The fans of San Antonio must be hurting, as there were many of them. Also, Orlando, as the team was poised to contend for the championship. Memphis fans finally had something to cheer about, with a QB that was finally making the right moves. I'm talking about Silvers, BTW.

All the players and coaches. Ground crews and officials. Front office staff. Broadcast crew. Hopefully many find jobs in other leagues. Maybe the XFL? Hopefully for some.

PS. I hope this thread is kept respectful.
I would be shocked if the XFL doesn't hired a lot of them, I hope the XFL works out and those Markets listed gets teams in the near future. Four coaches in the XFL have yet to be announced, makes me wonder if the XFL knew something and waited. There is a lot of talent there that they can use.
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by Tank55 »

Agreed. I know I was frustrated by some decisions, but I appreciate everyone who gives it a go.

I sometimes think about the single peak moment for some of these league. For the XFL 1.0, I'd argue it was the moment the Outlaws' player won the initial scramble and spiked the football in front of a white-hot sold out crowd at Sam Boyd. For the UFL, I think it was the Jeff Garcia to Robert Ferguson touchdown to seal the comeback victory in Omaha's first game.

For the AAF, it was probably the Bercovici hit.

I hope everyone enjoyed the ride. I always say that if I time traveled back to 1984, you better believe I'm going to a USFL game, even though they were destined to fail. I'm glad I made it to an AAF game. The XFL might not make survive either, but that's OK. It's OK to enjoy it while it lasts.
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by XFL_FAN »

AAF players that the XFL should consider (if of course they don't get picked up by the NFL):

Playing AAF Fantasy helped me make this list too ;)

QB:
Garrett Gilbert
John Wolford
Luis Perez
Zach Mettenberger

RB:
Trent Richardson
Zac Stacy
Akeem Hunt
Kenneth Farrow II
Ja'Quan Gardner
D'Ernest Johnson

TE:
Gavin Escobar

WR:
Charles Johnson
Rashad Ross
Mekale McKay
Jalin Marshall
Quinton Patton
Greg Ward Jr.

As for the defensive players I don't know much about them because defensive players aren't used in fantasy football, so I'm just putting the defensive players of the week here:


LB:
Terence Garvin
A.J. Tarpley
Drew Jackson

CB:
Keith Reaser
Kameron Kelly

OLB:
DeMarques Gates

DE:
Karter Schult
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Firecop
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by Firecop »

Although I am a diehard Seahawks fan and am very excited for the new Seattle XFL team, I too feel badly for the AAF cities, players, and fans who must feel abandoned and betrayed. (THINK seattle Supersonics) No one ever seems to comprehend the huge financial effort it takes to launch a successful league. The old AFL and ABA come to mind as a couple of moderate successes. Let's hope our XFL studies the past failures of other leagues very xarefully.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by MikeMitchell »

mnelson wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:56 pm My first thought goes to the folks from Birmingham AL, who have lost so many teams over the years, including the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the original XFL. Why do so many teams come and go from such a football mecca. Hopefully, one day it will work out for Birmingham.

The fans of San Antonio must be hurting, as there were many of them. Also, Orlando, as the team was poised to contend for the championship. Memphis fans finally had something to cheer about, with a QB that was finally making the right moves. I'm talking about Silvers, BTW.

All the players and coaches. Ground crews and officials. Front office staff. Broadcast crew. Hopefully many find jobs in other leagues. Maybe the XFL? Hopefully for some.

PS. I hope this thread is kept respectful.
Love your line about Silvers by the way...… Birmingham never should have let him go. The Iron ended up averaging about 14k per game attendance wise. Just ok, but In comparison to the other markets, that number is not too bad. I liked their all black look. Probably in the minority on that one.

I really like the onside try in the AAF. The NFL should have adopted it and I think that the XFL needs to look into it. The onside kick itself is way too dangerous, if we are really concerned about safety. All for the kickoff staying, I like the onside try. That was a very good idea.

All these leagues have a certain personality to them, that's endearing. I feel bad for the fans of the AAF. The ones who supported that league hardcore. There could be a tornado in their living room, and they would just brush it off as just some extra wind. I love the way they defended the league. Sad to see it go. Travesty that they didn't finish out the season. That one stings and you can't get it back.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by MikeMitchell »

Tank55 wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:09 pm Agreed. I know I was frustrated by some decisions, but I appreciate everyone who gives it a go.

I sometimes think about the single peak moment for some of these league. For the XFL 1.0, I'd argue it was the moment the Outlaws' player won the initial scramble and spiked the football in front of a white-hot sold out crowd at Sam Boyd. For the UFL, I think it was the Jeff Garcia to Robert Ferguson touchdown to seal the comeback victory in Omaha's first game.

For the AAF, it was probably the Bercovici hit.

I hope everyone enjoyed the ride. I always say that if I time traveled back to 1984, you better believe I'm going to a USFL game, even though they were destined to fail. I'm glad I made it to an AAF game. The XFL might not make survive either, but that's OK. It's OK to enjoy it while it lasts.
Well stated Tank. Just launching one of these types of leagues is a success in and of itself. There are so many obstacles against the games even being played.
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MikeMitchell
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by MikeMitchell »

youngorst wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:23 pm
Firecop wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:50 pm Although I am a diehard Seahawks fan and am very excited for the new Seattle XFL team
This is basically me.

I hate (honestly not sure that is a strong enough word, he is literal human trash) Vince McMahan but I am in the XFL camp because they chose Seattle and appear to have the money to make this work.

Had the AAF gone to Portland (which was never happening) I probably would have been all about the AAF (family from Seattle, born and raised in Oregon) but since they didn't and the XFL went to Seattle I am on board despite my total lack of respect for Vince McMahan as a human being.

Hopefully McMahan treats XFL players better than he treats WWE stars.
The McMahon thing is a debate for another time. I’ll say this. There have been a number of former WWE employees who have been out of company for years, for whom he has paid for their rehabilitation out of his own pocket.

One thing about him though is he always honors his financial commitments. When the XFL folded. He didn’t go after the 50 million that NBC legally owed him. He honored all contracts and paid everyone months after the league folded. From players to coaches to vendors etc. McMahon didn’t pull a UFL or what the AAF is currently doing.

I understand the narrative attached to him. He’s an evil billionaire, but his checks are never late.
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by GDAWG »

In regards to Vince McMahon.....

His booking decisions about WrestleMania have been questionable, from the complete burial of Asuka to making the main event of WrestleMania a convoluted storyline to taking too long to put Kofi Kingston in the WWE Title match and making Baron Corbin instead of John Cena the final opponent of Kurt Angle. He has the tendency to book on the fly, causing mass confusion backstage.

However, Vince is pretty much hands off in the WWE Developmental system known as NXT, which always gets praise for the quality of the matches and it's long term story telling at their PPV events. NXT is considered one of the best shows produced by WWE and his son in law, Paul "Triple H" Levesque is the one who is hands on with NXT.

I would tend to believe that the XFL is more like NXT with Oliver Luck running things on a day-to-day basis and being the public face of the league and Vince the money guy. I hope I am right because if he starts to get antsy and becomes hands-on this revival of the XFL could be an epic disaster.
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Re: #RIP Alliance of American Football

Post by Sounder »

:cry: If there is any thought that this is not permanent...... rest assured it is...... cuz even if they did try to come back...... nobody will watch. There were good games......ratings and attendance stayed fairly consistent.....at least at a level consistent of a minor. Too bad.

And you can play fantasy using defensive players..... I've done it for years.
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