The United Football League (UFL) is scheduled to begin their inaugural season on October 8, 2009.
The upstart league will have four teams competing in seven cities and games will be played on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.
The four teams selected to compete in 2009 are the California Redwoods, the Florida Huskers, the Las Vegas Locomotives and the New York Sentinels.
A championship game is slated to occur on Thanksgiving weekend.
Largely because of the current economic state, many prospective owners decided to initially refrain from establishing a franchise.
However, if the UFL experiences some measure of success this autumn, and if the economy does improve, those hesitant owners have expressed interest in expanding the league.
The UFL has no affiliation with the National Football League (NFL).
Nevertheless, many analysts have speculated that the UFL could ultimately become a developmental league for the NFL.
“We are not naïve enough to think our product is going to steal the thunder of the NFL,” said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue. “We want our fans to be watching the NFL on Sunday. And watching us on Thursday.”
The UFL intends to be the polar opposites of their defunct predecessors, the United States Football League (USFL) and the XFL.
“We won’t try to do what the USFL did,” Huyghue stated. “We don’t have to go after name players to make the league work. It’s guys who already were there, but never had a chance to step into the limelight that we’re looking for.”
The maximum salary for a UFL player will approach $620,000 and the minimum compensation will be $35,000, plus incentive bonuses.
“The model for us was one where we realize there’s an abundance of talent out there, but player costs come to nearly 70% in the NFL,” said Huyghue, former vice president of football operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“So we had to make sure to not outspend ourselves with players. The attraction with this league for those players will not be the money but the opportunity.”
Huyghue continued to emphasize the importance of an alternate route for ballplayers to ascend to the NFL.
“There’s such a lopsided system with the salary cap that keeps players from getting their opportunity in the NFL and we knew the lure of that opportunity would be the hook.”
Former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, who is now the Redwoods head coach, provided examples of players who eventually flourished in the NFL after beginning their professional careers on the gridiron as unwanted journeymen.
“I always believed there are these additional players and the NFL can’t get them all: Kurt Warner, Robert Griffith, guys who had to find their way into the NFL and some had to go to other leagues to get there,” said Green. “Fifty years ago, they wouldn’t even have had a place for Lance Alworth in the NFL. They would have said he was too small. They had a set system for players.”
Despite the UFL’s alleged desire to become a supplemental league for the NFL, some skeptical onlookers contend that the UFL hopes to become a viable option for players should a labor dispute disrupt the NFL’s season in 2011.
NFL sports agent Drew Rosenhaus admitted that the creation of a second pro football league does offer players options.
“I hope the UFL is successful because it gives players another form to show that they may deserve another chance to play in the NFL,” said Rosenhaus, who, at 22, became the youngest registered sports agent.
Still, despite notions to the contrary, UFL executives are adamant that they are not in any capacity trying to compete with the NFL.
If the UFL maintains their stated mission, it is very feasible that the league could prosper and become a legitimate and respected football organization.
The UFL’s motto is, “It’s All About U.” Perhaps the UFL’s hierarchy should modify their motto to, “It’s All About Opportunities.”
If the UFL truly wants to become a minor-league for the NFL, they have an “opportunity” to become a staple during the fall season.
On the other hand, if the UFL foolishly diverts from their plans and eventually tries to dethrone the NFL, the league will fall like leaves in the autumn.
New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez played impressively in Gang Green’s 27-25 preseason victory over the New York Giants Saturday night at the Meadowlands.
Sanchez, 22, completed 13 of 20 passes for 149 yards in his first start since Head Coach Rex Ryan named him the No. 1 quarterback last Tuesday after a game versus the Ravens in Baltimore.
“He (Sanchez) played great," Ryan said of the former USC signal-caller who the Jets selected in April with the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft. “He is what we thought he was.”
Sanchez, a symbol of Mexican-American identity who signed a five-year contract worth $50 million with the Jets in June, displayed great poise and arm strength in the face of the Giants relentless pass rush.
“I was impressed by the rookie, I really was,” Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said of the native of Long Beach, California. “We had some pressure on him all game, and he was able to make some big plays.”
The 2009 Rose Bowl MVP, who flourished for a season in Coach Pete Carroll’s sophisticated, pro-style offense as a Trojan, led the Jets to four scoring drives in only 2-1/2 quarters.
“He played against great competition at S.C., and I don’t think the big stage is anything that he’s not used to,” added Tuck, 26. “He handled himself very well. When we got a lot of pressure on, he found a way to scramble and make good plays under pressure. It looks like they made the right decision to make him their starting quarterback.”
Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora mentioned Sanchez’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey after he had been flushed out of the pocket.
“He threw it up there,” said Umenyiora, 27, a two-time Pro Bowl selection for the Giants. “Thankfully for him, the Lord answered his prayers. I think he’s going to be pretty good.”
Despite being physically manhandled by the Ravens ferocious defense in his previous outing, Ryan liked what he saw from Sanchez and he decided to officially declare him the victor in the quarterback competition against Kellen Clemens.
After being informed by Ryan that he would start opening day versus the Houston Texans, Sanchez said he was “a little more confident.”
“You talk a little different, you walk a little different, you act a little different,” admitted Sanchez, a 2008 First Team All-Pac 10 selection and All-American honorable mention. “Once they name you the guy, there’s a quiet calm that comes about you.”
The New York Jets offensive and defensive lines are extremely solid.
Additionally, Thomas Jones and Leon Washington comprise one of the most formidable running back tandems in the sport of football.
Sanchez does not need to be the reincarnation of “Broadway” Joe Namath to immediately thrive under the immense glare of New York’s spotlight.
With the capable supporting cast that he has been surrounded by, he simply needs to be Mark Sanchez and that should be enough for the Jets to have a very productive season in 2009.
Knowing that a ballplayer like Mark Sanchez is now the face of the Jets organization, supporters of Gang Green can finally enjoy a “quiet calm” and realize that the franchise is about ready to fly.
*R-I-P-C-N-G-N-S-P
Keywords: Football, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, UFL
