Why has the NFL never had a better minor league system?
I got to pondering this question a few weeks ago, and today decided to hack out how I think such a league could work.
I tried to think of 10 new cities that should get teams, with only a couple requirements: make them geographically attachable, as much as possible, to the existing 32 NFL teams.I imagined a case, sort of like the NBDL, where an NFL can place up to 7 players on their 'minor league team'. Each minor league, as in the NBDL, would have its own players, and be associated with several teams (in this case, 3 for each team, though 2 teams need 4). In the NBDL, players sign contracts with the league (if they aren't stuck on the team by their NBA club) and are assigned geographically (players from California would stay out there, etc.), at least most of the time. Also, I know a glaring city that doesn't currently have an NFL team is LA. I wanted to avoid it, because the NFL is probably trying to think of ways to expand or to move a team out there. Also, LA fans are fickle with attendance as it is, a minor league team might not be the best sell.
Lastly, I know this is sort of what they tried with NFL Europe (Europa, but really Deutschland at the end of its life). I think having a league where the players play during the NFL season, but on a different day (Wednesday night is what I thought of- get it far enough away from the other games, college and pro) would be beneficial to the league, as teams could keep some players in shape and have a good farm system from which to draw players in case injuries, jail sentences, etc. crop up. Also, this is sort of the point of having these teams play/practice a good number of their games near current NFL teams.
As far as scheduling, a 10-team league split into East and West can do the usual schedule we frequently use in fantasy, where you play everyone in your division twice and everyone from the opposite division once. Drawn out playoffs are probably in no one's best interest, so it'd be old school World Series style where East meets West in one Minor League Super Bowl. How do you ensure everyone gets a fair shake of home games with a 13-game schedule? I think the NFL could continue it's initiative to spread the game around our continent, as well as Europe. Every team should play one of it's inter-divisional (East v West) at a neutral site. These games would happen after a bye week for each team, to ease travel concerns. There would only need to be 5 of these games. I thought of cities like Montreal, Mexico City, Barcelona, London, and Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf was the home of the Rhein Fire, probably the most successful NFL Europe team, and the Germans seemed to take to the game the most of the Europeans. Other cities in Germany, Paris, Vancouver, etc. are certainly possible as well. So if you're counting, our season starts week 1 of the NFL season, includes a bye week, so it goes through week 14 of the NFL schedule. NFL week 15 is the bowl game. I also thought the NFL teams should have a rule, like baseball, where a team can expand its roster for the last 2 weeks (NFL week 16,17). This would give them a chance to get some guys some game action, to help for the playoff push, or if they've already tanked the season.
The other cool thing about having a minor league, would be the chance to see some college stars continue to play as they hope to earn a shot on an NFL 53-man roster. I'd expect most teams, when choosing their non-NFL players to fill out a team, would sign guys with local ties to generate more interest. This already happens to a large degree in the NFL- generally the teams with the most Gators end up being in Florida (exception: there's some weird spike in Florida guys going to the Redskins like 6 years ago). The point is, training camp rosters are 80 guys deep, there are plenty of players with which to form a fall football league.
Anyways, here are the teams, which is probably where most of you will scroll down to:
City Team Name (NFL affiliation)
East
1. Orlando Thunder (JAX, MIA, TB): This was actually an old team name for the World League of American Football (NFL Europe predecessor).
2. Hartford Whale (NE, NYJ, NYG): I really didn't want to stick the team here, but was unsure of other ideas like Montreal. Almost went with Boston, since NE is technically shared between Boston and Providence. How could I resist bringing back memories of an NHL team that had a cult-like following?
3. Chesapeake Sailors (WAS, BAL, PHI): Virginia Beach is a highly populated area, but I went with the sort of regional name. Could have gone with Newport News or something, at any rate this is a good area that's really close to these NFL teams.
4. Toronto Lumberjacks (BUF, DET, GB, MIN): The Canadians get a bowl game, and are trying to steal the Bills, why not try to appease them this way instead? This is the only international team I went with, I actually tried to avoid it. Too many NFL teams are up north, where markets are shrinking. What's a good alternative, the Scranton Paper Salesmen?
5. Columbus Runners Up (CLE, CHI, PIT): Of course this name wouldn't fly, but it exhausts my knowledge of Columbus. A quick wikipedia read informed me they would have been much cooler to continue honoring Benjamin Franklin. At any rate, this team would be destined to finish behind a Florida team, or perhaps any team from the southeast.
West
1. Portland Hops (OAK, SEA, SF): This nickname would probably be rejected, but Milwaukee gets the Brewers, so I can dream. Portland being the Rose City doesn't lend itself to football players.
2. Salt Lake Skiers (DEN, SD, ARI): I thought about placing this team in Vegas, but I doubt that would happen.
3. San Antonio Jalapenos (DAL, HOU, NO): Another city that keeps trying for an NFL team, also the logical home for two Texas teams.
4. Louisville Thoroughbreds (KC, STL, CIN, IND): I know, not exactly west, but where else would you stick a team? Also, both Missouri NFL teams play in the western divisions of their respective conferences as it is.
5. Memphis Blues (ATL, CAR, TEN): Again, not really the west. The teams aren't in the West, either. At some point, due to the population moving west so much, more NFL teams will be out west, then there will be better homes for these minor league teams. However, I like this team name. I also like Memphis Ribs, but don't think they make a good team name. Just a delicious meal.
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