AAF Eulogy
by: Caleb Posner
Rest in peace Alliance of American Football. You gave it your all. You attempted to be a truly successful professional football league. Your life was sadly cut short at a mere 52 days. You died to young, in the middle of your inaugural season, and proved that the NFL has a monopoly on professional football. You came with excitement when your creation was announced. Football fans became ecstatic when they saw that names like Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, and Bill Polian were involved in your inception. You gave us all hope that football would continue on after the Super Bowl. There was excitement in the air. There was finally potential for a successful football league that worked with instead of competed against the NFL. Passionate fans alike were ready for February 9th when you would finally debut what kind of league you’d be. Sadly, that day will now go down in infamy instead of being the start of something great.
Professional football was back in San Diego, it was finally in places like Memphis and Birmingham, and passionate football cities like Atlanta and Arizona got another team to cheer for. Fans thought that you were going to be something great. Instead, disaster struck. Your TV ratings were horrendous, ticket sales weren’t where they should’ve been, and emergency investments were needed. The quality on the field that you displayed was okay at best. Some of your players did shine, and will most likely make the NFL. In that you succeeded, but in being a competitive football league you failed miserably. That is why 52 days into your season you suspended operations. I wish I could say that I was surprised, but I wasn’t. The NFL is the only professional football league that will survive. There was no room for you in the market of football because professional football is the NFL.
Your legacy is now scarred with filing for bankruptcy and lawsuits against you. The memories of you will mostly fade into the abyss of sports history. You were a failure; a false promise of hope that resulted in disaster. I wish I could say thank you for proving that professional football could expand past the NFL season, but I can’t. All I can say is thank you for 52 days of football in San Diego. I will always remember you AAF for the failure you were. Goodbye, and go Fleet!