Alliance of American Football - season begins Feb 9

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Boris13c
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Manziel gets his next (and possibly last) second chance :

Manziel to play for Singletary on AAF's Express
Johnny Manziel is headed back to the United States to play football, and it will be in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Alliance of American Football announced Saturday night that it signed the quarterback and that he was claimed on waivers by the Memphis Express after the San Antonio Commanders relinquished his rights.
interesting that the AAF team that had his signing rights declined to sign him
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All @TheAAF football operations will be suspended in the next few hours, per source with knowledge of situation. League is not folding, yet. But it's heading that way.
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A developmental league will never make it long term without being able to tap into the NFL's financial might.
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Boris13c
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I must have mis-read those articles before their season started, because I was pretty sure they did have some sort of NFL sponsorship going for them

I know they were negotiating being allowed to draft players from NFL practice squads, so that would seem to indicate at least an affiliation of some sort

not surprised the NFL would talk nice about a new development league but then have their shitbag greedy owners not want to actually pony up for any real support
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AAF’s status mired in confusion, uncertainty
The Alliance of American Football may or may not be in its final days.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the AAF currently is mired in confusion and uncertainty. And Monday’s comments from majority owner Tom Dundon, who rescued the league from potential implosion early in its inaugural season, have served only to make a confusing situation even more confusing for those operating the league.

Broadcast partners, including CBS, NFL Network, and TNT, are concerned that they’ll suddenly have gaping holes in their programming. CBS, for example, plans to televise a game between Memphis and San Antonio as the lead-in to its final four coverage on Saturday. There’s a chance there will be no game to televise.

Other partners of the AAF are concerned based on Dundon’s comments that the league will go belly up, leaving plenty of people holding the bag, financially and otherwise.

Still, Dundon has the power to walk away, if he chooses. Per the source, the current power structure of the league founded by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian doesn’t know what will happen if Dundon chooses to pull any ongoing funding.

It would be unfortunate to see the AAF disappear so close to the end of its first season. Apparently, it will take $20 million to push the league over the finish line for 2019. Ideally, the AAF would get through its championship game and then decide what to do for 2020.

Through it all, discussions continue between the AAF, the NFL, and the NFL Players Association regarding an arrangement that would result in bottom-of-roster NFL players being loaned to AAF franchises. Dundon believes this could save the league; others wonder whether having access to NFL players with low name recognition will be the silver bullet that Dundon seems to believe it will be.
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Hmm. I doubt name recognition is what Dundon is going for on this.

Such an arrangement would give the NFL automatic buy-in to the AAF because it can help develop their players. Speculating, it seems like the league has relied on the NFLPA to sell that angle to the NFL rather than trying to sell it themselves. That appears to be a tactical error.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
:shocked:
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Boris13c
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interesting that the week after Johnny Manziel makes his AAF debut, the league folds :-P

AAF Week 7 scores, updates, highlights: Johnny Manziel debuts, but other Express QB wins it in OT
Week 7 of the AAF has come and gone, and Johnny Manziel has seen his first action for the Memphis Express. With the crowd in Memphis growing louder, Manziel had a decent debut ... but it was a different Express quarterback who ended up being the hero.

Meanwhile, some teams are separating from the pack. The Orlando Apollos got back on the winning track a week after their stunning first loss, and they acted like a team with something to prove Saturday. Steve Spurrier's bunch thumped the Atlanta Legends to improve to 6-1, becoming the first team in the Alliance to clinch a playoff spot. Then, the San Antonio Commanders won a thriller over the Salt Lake Stallions to improve to 5-2.

On Sunday, the Arizona Hotshots beat the San Diego Fleet to take sole possession of second place in the West, before the Express kept their playoff hopes alive with a comeback victory.

AAF Week 8 scores, highlights, updates: Hotshots win to grab share of West lead; Iron earn playoff berth
Saturday's action in the AAF had a little bit of everything. Orlando-Memphis went down to the final minute and the Apollos needed to stave off an upset bid to get their seventh win of the year. That was followed by San Diego-Salt Lake, an ugly Stallions win that had a combined six turnovers and 11 points.

Sunday's schedule had two important games in the playoff race. The Birmingham Iron secured the second playoff spot in the East with a win over the Atlanta Legends. The nightcap between the Arizona Hotshots and San Antonio Commanders was a dominating performance by the Hotshots to emerge as the top team in the West -- at least for the time being.

CBS Sports was with you every step of the way, so check below for the all the scores, highlights and updates from Sunday's games.
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The needs to be some type of development league. Hell the NBA has it. I don't know what these players make, but it doesn't have to be a lot. There just has to be a huge expense with payroll, rent for where they are playing, uniforms, trainers, not something someone can take on by themselves.
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Otis Day wrote:The needs to be some type of development league. Hell the NBA has it. I don't know what these players make, but it doesn't have to be a lot. There just has to be a huge expense with payroll, rent for where they are playing, uniforms, trainers, not something someone can take on by themselves.
from what i read all AAF players had the same contracts if they made a roster, $70k a year in year 1 in the league, $80k year 2, $100k if they were still on a team year 3 in the league. Saw it on twitter, so take that as you will.
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it is now official

AAF suspends operations; Polian 'disappointed'
After eight weeks of games and less than one season into Alliance of American Football's existence, league owner Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all operations, league co-founder Bill Polian confirmed to ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Tuesday.

"I am extremely disappointed to learn Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all football operations of the Alliance of American Football," Polian said in a statement Tuesday. "When Mr. Dundon took over, it was the belief of my co-founder, Charlie Ebersol, and myself that we would finish the season, pay our creditors, and make the necessary adjustments to move forward in a manner that made economic sense for all.

"The momentum generated by our players, coaches and football staff had us well positioned for future success. Regrettably, we will not have that opportunity."
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things."
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