UFL Still on Life Support

Remember the United Football League? Ever hear of it? If you said no, don't worry. You are not the only one (and you really didn't miss much).

The UFL is the latest attempt by people with a lot of spare money on their hands to start another professional football league. They did a great job of attracting coaches getting former NFL head coaches like Jerry Glanville, Marty Schottenheimer, Dennis Green, and Jim Fassell attached to teams at one time. Regardless, just like every other one before it, this one too has failed.

Or has it?

For all intents and purposes the UFL appeared to be dead, but apparently it is still holding on albeit ever so slightly. The commissioner has quit, the website doesn't work anymore, and some of the supposed team offices are collecting dust it's been so long since someone has stepped foot inside them.

Yet, the end is still only near.

Former Omaha Nighthawks head coach and apparently still team president Joe Moglia (who now coaches Coastal Carolina) says that the league is still alive. It's just looking for a major investor to partner with.

Common sense has to prevail here. Obviously they are hoping that the NFL will step in and decide to turn it into its own little minor league system. The idea would actually have some merit should they do it. When a team gets hit by injuries and has to look outside the organization wouldn't it be nice to pick up a guy who is in playing shape—because he's been playing—rather than someone who's been sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring?

The NFL did appear to lean that way at one time, showing interest in some players during the season. The players of course were all for it, but there was a non-competition clause in each of their contracts binding them to the UFL through February even though they stopped playing in November. NFL teams could pay a transfer fee if they wanted to (as much as a$150,000 at one time), but who in their right mind would pay that for what was essentially a replacement player?

The answer is easy—no one.

Maybe someday soon these random rich guys will learn that the NFL and college football are enough to satisfy fans, and just giving us a lesser quality version of the same product is not going to cut it. You can't buy football at Walmart.

(These guys really did play; they even had a championship game in 2011!)

Article by Travis Pulver