UtahUtesFan Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Quote Another professional football league -- the Freedom Football League -- has been created by former NFL players, including Ricky Williams, Terrell Owens and Simeon Rice, with the intention of "reimagining, rethinking, reinventing and reforming" the game, it was announced Thursday. Williams, appearing on ESPN's Outside the Lines on Thursday, said there are 50 former players among the approximately 100 stakeholders. Other early founders include former NFL players Byron Chamberlain, Jeff Garcia and Dexter Jackson. "The purpose of this league ... is about community and the development of players," Williams told OTL. "... In thinking about creating this league, I wanted to create a league that I could have stayed in and been comfortable and really thrived. "The NFL started a long time ago, and since then a lot of things have changed. And we want to create a league that's ready for that change and invite some more of it." The FFL said the league would initially have 10 teams -- with plans to expand into additional locations -- and games would take place during the spring and summer. The league did not say when it would begin play, though it did say the first 10 teams would be the San Diego Warriors, Oklahoma City Power, Portland Progress, Texas Revolution, Ohio Players, Florida Strong, Birmingham Kings, St. Louis Independence, Connecticut Underground and Oakland Panthers. The FFL said in a statement that its mission is "to attract football players at their highest level of athletic ability, including those defecting from the NFL, graduating college or high school or playing in international or alternative professional football leagues." The league said it would be financed through a combination of private funding and public offerings in 2019, meaning fans would be "true owners and legally-committed business partners." As for players, the FFL said it would ensure they would receive "permanent and reliable holistic health and wellness support on and off the field." In addition, the league said it would encourage athletes to address societal challenges and other "hot button" issues. "We're trying to develop young men," Williams said on OTL. "You can't take away their voice and expect them to develop. ... When I grew up watching football, I really wanted to be like Jim Brown, not because of what he did on a field, but because he could take that platform and have a voice. "And so, when I got to the NFL, expecting that to be the case, anytime a big social issue came up, we were told, 'Be quiet. ... It's a distraction.' And so, really, [we're] changing the conversation." http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25470052/former-nfl-players-plan-launch-freedom-football-league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibrown Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 bet this doesnt go far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 Isn't the AAF already in danger of folding? Not sure how another league will be successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahUtesFan Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 On 3/29/2019 at 1:41 AM, Kiwibrown said: bet this doesnt go far Me neither but who knows. I'm guessing this league wants the AAF to fold so they can put a team in some of those markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahUtesFan Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 On 3/29/2019 at 1:07 PM, NYRaider said: Isn't the AAF already in danger of folding? Not sure how another league will be successful. I'm pretty sure people were thinking the FFL would fail when it was announced. There's also other new leagues starting up... Pacific Pro Football (2020 - 4 teams playing in SoCal, 8 Summer Games, has some former big name NFL guys involved): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Pro_Football American Patriot League (2020 - 8 teams, some weird markets, don't think this will make it) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Patriot_League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahUtesFan Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 Looks like if there's any sign of life for the FFL, it's with the AAF folding.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 On 1/12/2019 at 5:24 AM, UtahUtesFan said: Ohio Players they forgot to change the default name on the e-form Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.