Football Really Isn’t Over – Here Comes The AAF

Forget what I said last week. The bad news wasn’t that bad, because football season won’t actually be over for awhile. Just the NFL season. This past weekend was the inaugural weekend of the Alliance of American Football, a start-up professional league that rivals the NFL. Eight teams, primarily in the southeast and southwest (The northernmost team plays in Salt Lake City) squared off for what was better football than a lot of people, myself included, probably expected. If you are going through football withdrawal, the AAF should give you your fix until mid-late April.

For the most part the rules of the AAF are the same as the NFL, but with a few exceptions that are mostly positive. These rule changes are mostly designed to speed up the game (the AAF features fewer commercials than the NFL. They make up for this in revenue by charging more for the limited commercial time and including product placement in the broadcasts). Officiating is more transparent (The first touchdown was a questionable, contested catch. There is a camera and microphone in the review booth, so fans can see the thought process of officials during controversial calls) and there is an additional “sky judge” who reviews every play and can nullify bad penalties or call penalties that were missed on the field. Aside from spiking the football into the stands, most touchdown celebrations are tolerated.

There are a few rule changes that I am not a fan of. Defenses aren’t allowed to blitz with more than five rushers, and defenders aren’t allowed to cross the line of scrimmage from more than two yards away from the offensive tackles. There are no extra point kicks, teams have to go for the two point conversion. There are no kick-offs either. While this speeds up the game (The NFL uses this as an opportunity to throw in a few more commercial breaks) it does deprive us of exciting kick returns. Even when they aren’t returned for touchdowns, kick returns can swing a football game. I am not a fan of the overtime rules either. Each team gets a single possession, and they have to score a touchdown. Field goals are not allowed in overtime, and if the game is still tied after each team gets their possession, the game ends in a tie. I don’t think the NFL’s overtime rules are fair either, but I think that they are much better than the AAF overtime rules.

It’s not the NFL, but the Alliance of American Football is a nice substitute until September rolls around. If the AAF gets a second season, we could be entering a golden age of professional football. The XFL is getting revived next year, which would mean that we have three professional football leagues operating in America. The NFL hasn’t had serious competition in decades, and their virtual monopoly has allowed the quality of their product to slide considerably. Hopefully this competition will force the NFL to make changes and improve their product.