A new football league with Eric Crouch and Tee Martin? This has to be a good idea.

When Vince McMahon created the XFL in 2001 he was naive enough to believe that the league could compete with the NFL. Less than a month after the conclusion of the first season, the league folded after being dropped by NBC and is considered one of the biggest jokes in sports history. Seven years later, a new league is about to begin play this spring...get ready for the All American Football League! (AAFL).

In case you haven't heard by now (and you probably haven't), the AAFL is a six-team league that will play a 10-game schedule running from April 19 to the championship game on July 3. The league consists of teams from Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Michigan. And the teams will be playing their games at college stadiums. Wait a minute, I've heard of this league before...it's called the SEC.

Michigan is the only team out of place being the only one from the north...don't worry though, they will be playing indoors at the climate-control environment of Ford Field. I don't know where Michigan (with their economy in the shitter) found money to waste on this league. Speaking of where they will be playing...can you imagine the capacity of the stadium on AAFL gameday. Think about it...six thousand people sitting in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville that holds just over 102,000. Yeah, that'll create a raucous environment for the visiting team.

The inaugural draft was held last weekend and if you hurry to the AAFL website you can watch the taped version of the draft with all 50 rounds hosted by Frank Frangie! (who?) There are some interesting rules to follow for the teams as they can protect players from their own region. For example, players that graduated from the University of Arkansas would be protected by Team Arkansas. No other team is permitted to take them. Players that graduated from LSU and weren't gifted enough for the NFL are also protected by Arkansas. Georgia players fall into the Alabama region and so on. An excerpt from the AAFL website states,

"The League teams will feature grads of the local university. For some players, the All American Football League will be a stepping-stone into, or back into the NFL. For many, it will be a chance to continue playing football on the campus of their alma mater in front of the loyal and enthusiastic fan base that has grown to love them."

Yeah so the theory here is a lot of players that played for these teams in college won't move on to the next level, so why not have them still play football in the very same stadium they played college football in and the locals will love it!

Great. That's all we need now, college athletes not good enough for the NFL hanging on, chasing the dream for another year instead of moving forward with their lives. I understand what they are trying to do, but besides families and friends, the "favorites" that the local fans remember and want to see again are being drafted in the NFL anyway.

We don't need an extension to college football to a semi-pro college football because that's what this is sounding like to me. If you want to pay these athletes then just do it in college since the schools are making millions off of them anyway. One of the executives during the draft described the reasoning for this league and said, "There was no middle level between college and the NFL." Hmm, I thought that was what the Arena League was for or the CFL.

The colleges are supporting the AAFL and allowing stadiums for use because of a league rule that players can only be in the league if they have a four-year college degree. Oh, well...what an idea, considering most of the players in the NFL don't have a four-year degree. Now we know these players in the AAFL really aren't good enough for the NFL.

So who will be playing in this league? Any big names? Well former Nebraska standout and 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch was drafted by Team Texas in the first round. Eric Crouch, the same guy who was drafted by the Rams and retired about two weeks into training camp because the coaches said he was too confused with the professional game...and this was in training camp. Oh yeah, this will be great.

Other notable names are Bryan Randall, Chris Leak, Clint Stoerner, Tee Martin (Tee Martin!!), Peter Warrick and Team Florida Head Coach Shane Matthews. Warrick, Martin, Crouch...how long have these guys been out of football? This is a league full of has-been college athletes playing in their college stadiums trying to channel that success and fond memories they had years ago against other washed up athletes. This is going to be a mess.

It seems the AAFL is still currently working on a deal with a network to broadcast the season, which isn't good that they do not have one solidfied yet. The XFL had a deal with NBC and they folded after a year so this will be interesting. Many leagues have tried to compete with the NFL and all that remains are gravestones. XFL, USFL, World Football League, etc. The Arena League is hanging in there, but they changed the rules so much that their game barely resembles an NFL contest. The NFL is the most successfully run sports league out there and I don't know why people keep pouring money into new leagues that just won't work.

This league does however appear to not be going for a direct competition with the NFL as they are not stealing players while taking in B, C, D-list players who have been out of football and they know it. With that in mind and the fact that the AAFL looks to be running with a little more integrity than McMahon and the XFL was running with, I think the league will stick around longer.

I give the All American Football League two seasons before the collapse.