UFL - Not to compete, but complement NFL

After doing some more research (I've scoured the UFL website, including reading every post on Commissioner Michael Hugyhue's -prounounce it 'hyoog'- blog and reading/listening to articles from ESPN, Sporting News, SI, etc) I have a better take on the UFL - they really are here to complement the NFL, not compete with it.

In fact, Commissioner Hugyhue says almost those exact words in an interview on ESPN's The Huddle the other day (it is posted on the UFL site - ufl-football.com). The goal of the UFL is to allow those 'tweener' players - the 2-4th rounders who get cut after a couple years since they haven't "taken" the starting spot or the guy who has the tools but not the experience to become a starter - and maybe even as a 'second-chance' league for guys like Michael Vick ... he may show-up in this league, depending on what happens with the NFL.

The UFL has put together a TV contract (usually the key to insuring a decent revenue stream) with the Versus network - they have been very successful with the NHL and look like a good fit to televise the 16 league games starting in October and finishing with a 'championship game' in Las Vegas around the Thanksgiving weekend.

Signing-up some former NFL head coaches Jim Haslett (Orlando), Dennis Green (San Francisco), and Jim Fassel (Las Vegas) along with veteran NFL coordinator Ted Cotrell (New York) will make for another great ingredient to helping develop players. These guys are all NFL-level coaches (they don't "need" to be in this league to find work; IMHO these are some dang-good coaches) who will help give the developing players the polish/experience/insight of what is needed to be an NFL player. I expect there will be some great "mentoring" going on in the UFL - the Commissioner has said he wants this league to be the "QB factory" for the NFL.

The league has got the financial "juice" to make a go of it for a couple years - they have investors like former investment banker Bill Hambrecht, former Google Inc. now AOL executive Tim Armstrong, and Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (that may or may not be good - will the government soon be owning a football league? ). This group has invested a combined $30 million into the league. The Commissioner says there is already interest for at least 2 and perhaps 4 more teams next year. There has even been talk of possibly Dallas Mavericks’ (NBA) owner Mark Cuban owning one of those teams. But the Commish has said that growth will be carefully and purposefully slow to insure the league does not overextend itself. The max player salary for the 17-week season is $4 million, with the average slightly above the practice player wage

Each team selected 24 players in the draft held June 19th - many notable names came up such as former Cinci Bengals RB Chris Perry (selected by Orlando), former Indy Colts safety Mike Doss (to Orlando), former Washington Redskins safety Adam Archuleta ( to Las Vegas), and former NE Patriots TE Jermaine Wiggins (also to Las Vegas). Others college notables I recall are QB Brooks Bollinger (Wisconsin to Orlando), former Ohio State standout LB Anthony Schlegel (to Orlando) and former Marshall WR Marcus Fitzgerald (Arizona Card Larry Fitzgerald's brother). The teams will add about 30 more players as they are cut from NFL teams in August - the final rosters will carry 50 players.

Teams will then work at the new $20 million training facility being built in Casa Grande, AZ to prepare for the upcoming season beginning in October.

Next year, the UFL has announced their draft will take place the week before the 2010 NFL draft to be held in early May. The impact of this draft on the NFL draft will be unique ... fortunately we've got about 10 months to figure out what the impact will be!

Good luck to the UFL and I'm hoping they become a permanent fixture in professional football, helping develop 'the next stars of the NFL.'

Keep your eye on the ball ...