OT - Pacific Pro Football Aims to Give an Alternative to College for Aspiring NFL Players
Just saw this on my Twitter feed this morning. It's a new league that, instead of competing with the NFL or college football, offers a completely different alternative. You can only compete if you are less than 5 years out of high school, you are guaranteed playing time, and you get paid a decent ($50k) salary. Also, you don't have to sacrifice the chance at an education because they will pay for community college tuition.
I REALLY hope this works, because the current system doesn't work for a lot of kids who, for one reason or another, simply don't get what they need out of the college experience.
Also, and VERY importantly, the league will be focused on pro-style offense. It's truly all about getting kids ready for the League.
A new pro football league is coming, offering a new, non-college route to the NFL https://t.co/oRplyIlqVJ
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) January 11, 2017
It also bears mentioning that this is not intended to be a money-maker. All teams will be league-owned, it will compete during the summer (when CFB and the NFL aren't playing games), the teams will play in small venues, and there will only be a few games each year.
January 11th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
Michigan utilizes it's advantage of providing a world class, premium education when recruiting, therefore they mostly get kids who actually care about the academics. This Pacific Pro League would mostly hurt schools in the south that recruit kids that just want to play football and go to the league. I don't see this hurting Michigan that much.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:23 AM ^
It could force some big changes. I can't see major prospects doing this, but I could definitely see this as an alternative to the JUCO route some take.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:37 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
I don't see big-time recruits going this route right away but if it starts to gain traction then why not?
I assume that if the opportunity presents itself they could sign with agents, do commercials, get paid for their likeness, etc.
This is a pretty cool idea and could at least force NCAA changes.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
I don't think players playing in this league would be that popular though. There's going to be little media attention given to a four team regional league. Not to mention the game itself looks to be restricted (the article mentions a possible rule against crossing routes). Even a very talented player may not get a lot of value in their likeness or endorsements.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
ah, makes sense. I didn't read the article was just more speaking on the basic idea itself. An option to NCAA, a 2nd chance at your dream, a chance to use your skills to make some money.
Maybe the league does a little better than anticpated and years from now there are similiar leagues (with no weird 'no crossing route' rules) that can at least give the NCAA a reason to change. If what you're saying is what it really is then bleh.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:49 AM ^
I don't care if they can only run fly patterns. I'll still turn in for a game or two as opposed to watching Tigers-Twins.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
My first reaction was that yes, I would have to watch, good point. But then Arena football runs from April to August and I never watch that. So no, I think I would not watch.
January 11th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^
It's hard to watch some sports if you don't have a vested interest in it. If there is a draft right after the season and the kids are immediately eligible to play, I would definitely watch a couple games, just to see who the Lions might draft.
January 11th, 2017 at 4:29 PM ^
Arena league at least tries to be a watchable product, and yet gets very little attention.
This sounds a lot like NBA D-league to me. Hoops players go there in hopes of making it to the big show, not to win fans at that level. Same with minor league baseball.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
but who would want the ummm ... job of doing that.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
They aren't booting kids out based on age. They are booting them out once they are more than 4 years out of high school. The NBA (no entry until 1 year out of high school) and the NFL (no entry until 3 years out of high school) do the same thing.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 10:07 AM ^
I am not a lawyer, but my understanding is that age discrimination laws only make it illegal to discriminate against someone for being too old. It's perfectly legal to discriminate against someone for being too young.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^
Limit the term of the contract to 5 years. Otherwise I wouldn't see the downside in renewing contracts or allowing older players. There aren't many lifers in minor league baseball/hockey/basketball.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^
Sounds cool. Won't affect Michigan at all, which is all I'm really concerned about anyways. I like that they are allowing the players the opportunity to take courses at community college as well.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
This is EXACTLY what this country doesn't need. I agree that it can be difficult for some of these kids making their way thru college with all the time they have to spend on training. BUT... i put myself through college working full time. So, Ya, let's make a league that allows kids to bypass a REAL eduacation so they can take some bullshit community college classes. Then never make it in the pros or.. worse, encounter a career ending injury. Bad Idea..
January 11th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
There will be the same number of scholarships available, thus the same number of college educated athletes.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
atl east they'll be getting paid to take that risk though.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
This can't be real.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^
You're a complete fucking moron. Many "REAL" college degrees are bullshit. A lot of CCs offer trade programs that will lead to jobs that pay more than something in the liberal arts.
And it's a small football league. "This is EXACTLY what this country doesn't need." Do this country a favor and stop communicating. You have nothing worthwhile to say.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:06 AM ^
These kids would be working and going to school if they so desire. And you can get plenty of good vocational training degrees at CC or get your head start for when you move to university. CC typically have smaller class sizes than a UofM or Toledo or Fresno St or Oregon. Could be less of a culture shock for some athletes.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
From what I read, if a kid wants to play in this league and still go to Michigan as a student in the offseason (like other pro athletes), they can do so. So unless you're going to assume these kids are not smart enough to get into college without football, there is still an avenue to purse a BA or BS and play in this football league.
January 11th, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
You seem like a real joy to be around
January 11th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^
interesting motivation behind this, but it'll fail like every other starter league. Until the NFL develops a feeder league, none of these other options will be viable.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
The NFL takes notice and buys this new league.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
b/c it won't get attendance much more or better than juco ball - which is basically what it is.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
Especially because there are four teams and six games. Meaning your team will play the same three teams twice each; which is followed by playoffs against... the same teams. Hard to imagine a big fanbase.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
I dunno, the USPBL did awfully well in its first year. That league pays one hell of a lot less than these football guys want to, though.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
I didn't know what the USPBL was, so had to look it up. Only 3 teams, yikes! I guess with 75 games this is a bit different than the 15 games in this Pacific league, but yeah I guess if a 3 team baseball league is viable my gauge on low level pro sports interest might be quite wrong.
January 11th, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
Ah, yeah, sorry, I originally had to look up the name too, because I figured "that one minor league baseball thing in Utica or wherever" was not helpful.
At any rate, yup, this kind of thing can do well, although I think southern California is a lousy place for it. Somewhere like Plano, Texas would be way smarter.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^
Perfect. It's about time. A professional opportunity for those that for whatever reason want to skip college, thereby relieving pressure to admit unqualified/disinterested student athletes. This should also end the debate about compensating student athletes beyond scholarships and modest living/transportation allowances - if you don't want the deal offered through intercollegiate athletics, go somewhere else. Every other major sport offers another path to becoming a professional athlete - I'm really glad to see this.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
January 11th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
That's an option for a handful of elite recruits. Not for a vast amount of players. It's still grown men (and many former college standouts) that make up the CFL.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
The CFL isnt a great option because very few high school players would even crack the 2-deep up there. Don't forget that pretty much everyone on those rosters was a decent-to-good division 1 starter. Most high school players - even 5* guys - probably wouldn't make the roster
January 11th, 2017 at 9:57 AM ^
This is very interesting. Off the top of my head, they are going to need 2 things in order for this to be more than a flash in the pan:
- Some high profile high school recruits to choose this league over a major NCAA school.
- Their 2022 (or perhaps 2021) draft class.
If they can show that this is a viable alternative to college, and that the players in the league can get drafted, it might just take off.
And if those things happen, I wonder if the long term view of this is that NFL teams start looking to the PPFL as a sort of minor league development opportunity, and start investing their own money in the league. If that happens, then I think this could be a huge blow to the NCAA.
Lots of ifs though, and at this point it is just as likely to fizzle out like the XFL.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
This is kind of what I was thinking too - it will be interesting to see what the first draft class looks like, because that might speak a lot to how long this lasts and if it can really take off as a vaiable alternate route to the league. If it looks like it can be successful, I would think that the NFL would be shortsighted not to pay attention to what could be forming here, but it is far too early yet to tell.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
If these league takes off it does have the potential to divert some of the better talent away from college football. But, if it takes players "who ain't come here to play school" and provides a better avenue than bagmen for players who want to get paid, then overall I think the reduction in quality is worth the tradeoff in increased intregrity for college football.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
If it takes off, I think the most likely outcome is that NCAA football players get paid. I don't think the bulk of your top 250 kids are ever going to pass up on the big college experience, playing in front of 100,000 people, co-eds, college parties, etc. to play in front of no one and go to a community college. But if it is successful, it'll put enough pressure on the NCAA to make some changes.
January 11th, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^
True, but if NFL teams start investing their own money in the league, the landscape could drastically change. Right now, who's footing the bill for the teams? At $50k per player and 50 players per team, that's $2.5 mil per team just in salary (not including the other benefits the article listed, and costs like equipment, coach's salaries, etc). With no significant income sources (the article mentions they will be playing in small venues, so there wouldn't be significant ticket sales, which also means there wouldn't likely be any significant advertising revenue), that can only go on for so long before the money runs dry.
All that to say, the salaries appear to be currently limited by the amount of money available; as oppposed to some rule capping salaries at $50k per player. If NFL teams start investing their loads of money, then there is nothing in place that would prevent them from increasing salaries and sweetening the pot even further for high school recruits to play. That's why I think the NFL is the big wild card in this; the NCAA is limited by its by-laws and rules. And even with people who are willing to pay players under the table, they wouldn't be able to do so and compete with the extremely deep pockets of the NFL.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
Conference.
January 11th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
Will think $50k is a decent salary. It is a decent salary for someone that young but these kids expect $$$.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
compared to $0 though it looks like a lot ... plus if you are in for 4 years that's 200,000 plus free 2 years of college pre-reqs or maybe an associates degree/vocational school degree.
I think alot of kids will look at this like a 2nd Chance U. went to college, got in trouble, dropped out after a year or 2. Still have 3-4 years of that 2nd chance plus get paid doing it instead of being at home thinking about what could have been.
January 11th, 2017 at 10:07 AM ^
I can definitely see some 2nd Chance types choose this. But remember, we're talking about 200 players total at any given time, and they're going to need to project to NFL talent to get a spot on these teams if it has any traction.