The USFL Is Back

[ORD_Buckeye]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/19027116/usfl-will-restart-next-march-not-as-a-competitor-to-nfl-but-as-an-ally

As one who has long advocated an NFL D-League for those athletes who don't want to be on a college campus and/or don't belong on one, this is a hopeful development. Give these guys a league where they can play for a couple of years, make forty grand a year and not have to go through the "student-athlete" facade, and colleges will get rid of 95% of their problems.

As currently constituted, players still have to complete their college "eligibility," but that could hopefully change down the road.

Devil's in the details though.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Re: According to the AP, the cities that are being considered for USFL franchises are: Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio or Austin, Texas; Columbus or Akron, Ohio; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Neb.; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Memphis, Tenn.

?These are cities with underutilized facilities at that time of year,? Cuadra said.

The idea behind placing teams in those cities is to try to cash in on communities who have strong college football leanings. That could mean a player from the University of Texas who's on the NFL bubble could find work at the USFL team in Austin. The same goes for Ohio State players in Columbus or the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt players in Memphis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wonder if this would help recruiting. i.e. come to Ohio State and have a "good chance" at the professional USFL team after graduation, etc.

 

[Jake]

The United Football League could've attempted to fill this void, but inexplicably chose to be a nobody gives a damn fall league. This variation of the USFL could kill it, which would be a positive step.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wonder if this would help recruiting. i.e. come to Ohio State and have a "good chance" at the professional USFL team after graduation, etc.

I don't know that we're recruiting kids who see themselves as d-league prospects, but I think that would definitely help KSU and AU recruit if the team was in Akron.

I'm assuming they would play in Crew Stadium because it's pretty presumptuous on their part to assume that they'll be allowed to use Ohio Stadium.

Personally, I hope that such a league would end up costing us a few recruits down the road.

 

[ScriptOhio]

I don't know that we're recruiting kids who see themselves as d-league prospects, but I think that would definitely help KSU and AU recruit if the team was in Akron.

I wonder if this would help recruiting. i.e. come to Ohio State and have a "good chance" at the professional USFL team* after graduation, etc.

I guess I should have added the *

* if in the highly unlikely event that you don't make a NFL team.

The reality is that a very small % of Division 1 football players make an NFL team. In addition, the average NFL career is only (approx) 3 years.