The Watertown Red & Black, a semi-professional team that currently plays in the Empire Football League, is the oldest existing football club, tracing its history to 1896. Under a misty Saturday-evening sky, more than 50 men are spread out along the Kenwood High School track in East Baltimore, undergoing a transformation. 7 were here. In 2005, the MLFN recognized 8 MDFL players as All-Americans. And hes living his worst nightmare now. The Best Places to Go Out, or Carry Out, on Super Bowl Sunday, Introducing Footbowling, a New Hybrid Social Sport That Has Landed in Highlandtown, With Judge Closing on 60 Home Runs, Recalling When Maris Chased Ruths Mark in Baltimore, Regardless of His Last Name, Wes Unseld Jr. Had to Pay His Dues in the NBA, Where to Score the Best Ravens Food and Drink Specials This Season, Top 10 Reasons Baltimoreans Should Root For Frances Tiafoe. He held the Hens' base-stealing record (25 in 16 games), which was later broken. 2002 - Orangeburg Ruff Riders 16 - Augusta (GA) Seminoles 0 7 (1982)", Professional Football Researchers Association, "FOOTBALL; XFL, a Reality Series With Sports Thrown In", "Players in new league to get 3-year, $250K contracts", "Inside the short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football", "The Curious Rise and Spectacular Crash of the Alliance of American Football", "The quick, messy death of the AAF, Silicon Valley's complement to the NFL", "Inside Slant: Developmental league on tap", "FXFL Brings Pro Football Back to Brooklyn", "A closer look at football developmental leagues", "Is Spring League an NFL springboard? 2001 - Prince William (VA) Monarchs - Carolins (NA) Heat 0 1995 - no league You know who William B is? He glares and taps his chest significantly. [67], "The league may be dead due to the extraordinary circumstances of our time, but it died after proving that a secondary football league can absolutely work in the United States. [11] As a result, over time the North American leagues settled into an informal hierarchy, with many aspiring entrepreneurs trying to establish in that vacuum rival or alternative/ supplement leagues to the NFL, closely resembles baseball's Independent leagues. Indeed, one index of a players talent appears to be the number of scouting contacts or tryouts he has had with pro teams, whether the NFL, Canadian Football League, World League, or the arena football teams (which play an indoor, scaled-down version of the game). Joe Hand of the Jacksonville Raiders was named the AFAs 2002 Gold Ball winner as Special Teams Player of the Year. In 2007, nineteen players were named as MLFN All-Americans. The MFL provides a competitive platform for athletes to compete in the game of football professionally, while also serving as youth mentors and community service representatives. 1996 - Fredericksburg (VA) Generals 35 - Hampton Road (VA) Sharks 30 They are pulling on pads and plastic armor, yanking at tabs and webbing straps, lowering helmets over their heads. [64] The league was cancelled after two abbreviated seasons, and was reformatted as the developmental "The Spring League". Other leagues in the era were the low-level New World Football League (20082010) and the Stars Football League (20112013), as they both survived three seasons but folded unceremoniously. Whos that?! The league was one of the most successful minor leagues in history, playing eight seasons in 11 years, while claiming they're the "highest level minor football league" in the era. Pro Football Hall of Fame, AP NFL MVP, Pro Bowl. You can go out and have a hell of a night against these guys. A few beats of silence go by, filled with the trilling of cicadas. Since 2017, the Canadian Football League has tried to globalize as well,[168] and made partnership agreements with football leagues in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. He also lettered in baseball at the University of Delaware and played both semi-pro football and baseball after college. Over the years, semi-pro leagues attracted college players on the fringe of playing in the NFL who needed to stay in shape, and were effectively a farm system for the NFL.[110][111][112][113][114][115][116]. About. ' He soon became a supporter himself, traveling with the squad and walking the sidelines. National Football Events end-of-year rankings had the Monachs at # 21 nationally and # 5 in the Southeast while the Heat was ranked # 8 in the Southeast. The National Football Events named a total of 20 MDFL players to their 2002 All-American teams. Welcome to the Schatz & Tanier offensive free agency show! At the same time, teams from Ohio namely the Massillon Tigers, the Columbus Panhandles and the Canton Bulldogs started attracting much of the top professional football talent in America: Harry McChesney, Bob Shiring, the Nesser brothers, Blondy Wallace, Cub Buck and later even Jim Thorpe, and gave rise to the Ohio League. Virginia Titans, Richmond, VA SeventhYear, 5. 2005 - Conshohocken (PA) Steelers (CFA) 21 - Virginia Ravens (MDFL) 17 Under a misty Saturday-evening sky, more than 50 men are spread out along the Kenwood High School track in East Baltimore, undergoing a transformation. Parallel to the RFL, there were two more separate attempts to start up new leagues. The league returned in 1946, but wasn't the same, and folded altogether in 1947, after playing only one week. Ill do this until I cant do it any more, says Smitty, explaining what keeps him going against these odds. Nevertheless, some players did find a path to the NFL through the "alternative leagues", especially the high-level ones like the AAF, XFL and USFL.[27]. Some players are not insured through work, so they risk physical and financial ruin every time they strap on the pads. The league was in hiatus and re-branded as the NFL Europe League in 1995. A guy might have a 3.0 [grade point average] at Maryland and the Bear had a 1.0 at Harford Community College, and thats the only difference. Whoever the speaker, somehow, the impression emerges that before you sits the rightful king. The group pioneered the concept of playing games on Sundays to avoid competition with college football games, as it was illegal in other states (due to the existing blue laws), which eventually became the professional standard. In the 21st century, the semi-pro circuits usually attract only local players and teams don't pay salaries, although in the past most teams helped players find local jobs within the community. Shamrocks for the AFA National title. In 2008, 11 Crusader players were named MLFN All Americans. 2000 - New York (NY) Bandits 14 - Virginia (VA) Monarchs 6 He tells defensive lineman Gary Sollers: I wanna see some paralyzed mothers out there today, babe.. 2000 - Marlboro (MA) Shamrocks 27 - Brooklyn (NY) Mariners 14 NFL Week 21 February 23, 2023. The high cost of supporting an entire roster of professional players and stadium fees led to an indoor variation with the launch of the Arena Football League in 1987. The quality of play has none of the slow fumbling which fans of high-school ball might expect; these are, after all, semi-pro players, and many of them veterans of other semi-pro gigs. The Arbutus player shoots back, I got some speed, man, but the timing of the boast couldnt be worse. . The AFA end-of-season rankings listed the Raiders as # 8 and the Mutiny at # 11. Furthermore, because they play only one game per week, the players are able to pursue outside employment. Why they allow themselves to get wrapped up in this curious game is a little harder to explain. The birth of semi-professional football can be traced back to the 1880s, when most athletic clubs in America had a team playing football, and played (supposedly) without paid players. In the late 90s and early 2000s began a wave of new "outside" entrepreneurs that wanted to dip their toes in the evergrowing football market, corresponding with the dot-com boom. The number of import players allowed per team is set by league rules. When it came back, the league was based entirely in Europe, was reduced to six teams and re-branded in 1998 as NFL Europe. Carolina Stallions Rocky Mount, NC SeventhYear, 6. The UFL featured former NFL players and was the first professional fall league other than the National Football League to play in the United States since the mid-1970s. See this? He has the familiar athletes scar snaking around his knee. Officially it is Meet-the-Team Night, but the gathered Bears dont appear to have met anyone but friends of the team who are always hanging around anyway. Hartford accrued a perfect season in that league in 1972, including several games with margins of victory over 40 points, and after much dissatisfaction with the league announced it was leaving with the intent to reform the ACFL. The league demise is attribute to the fact the NFL severed ties with all minor league teams in 1948. Someone cranks up the big-screen TV: Channel 2s evening sports program is on, and a storm of shushes quiets the bar, riveting attention on the broadcast. Back on the field, tight end Bill Grauer pulls in a high pass and an Arbutus defender chops him at the knees, sending him head over heels. The AFL had only one season of competition and folded after only the Memphis Tigers and the Charlotte Bantams completing their respected seasons. This is the OFFICIAL PAGE of the Baltimore Lightning Professional Football Team. The Crusaders repeated as USA Bowl National Champions (their fourth!) The era is also considered the best of all time, because the quality of play as there was only 250 players in the NFL while the regional leagues could sometimes offer better pay and jobs, and offered black players opportunity to play during the period when they were excluded from all NFL teams (19331946). Blue! Summer 2019 Mason-Dixon Football League - Adult m Semi-Pro Football. But they havent had the breaks. On June 3, 2021, The Spring League owner Brian Woods announced that he had acquired the remaining extant trademarks of the United States Football League and launched a USFL-branded league in 2022, with Fox Sports owning the league and reportedly has committed $150 million over three years to its operations,[72][73] essentially ending the five years run of TSL,[74] and establishing a new high-level minor league (the USFL). At the linemens table the volume is deafening. The first, the International Football Federation flopped so miserably it is remembered as the shortest existing league ("one press conference"). We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The birth of semi-professional football can be traced back to the 1880s, when most athletic clubs in America had a team playing football, and played (supposedly) without paid players. The national anthem begins, and a coach screams Hats off! Theres no flag, so everyone just faces the blaring loudspeakers. He closed out his playing career with the Baltimore Bears of the Mason-Dixon League, earning MVP league honors in 1991. It's at least a shot", "In the Shadow of Dak Prescott: Welcome to the NFL's League of Last Chances", "Your Call Football Develops Pro Talent For NFL & CFL", "Indiana Firebirds won't be Evansville's new pro sports team after all", "Dallas Cowboys awarded Arena Football team", "Arena Football's Influence on the NFL Is Growing", "PRO FOOTBALL: NOTEBOOK; N.F.L. 1998 - Orangeburg (SC) Ruff Riders 9 - Tri-County (SC) Jaguars 0 My family is behind my playing, because they know its just a matter of time until I make it, he says. The Vision of the New York Bears is to Add in some revenue from Bears Sportswear, a catalogue operation that supplies schools and rec councils, and there is barely enough to cover the $20,000 or so it costs to run the team each season. The result was a regional powerhouse: 56 wins, 22 losses, and one tie, with two league championships represented by the drainpipe-sized rings on his fingers. The league did not prosper, as it failed to secure a television contract, and beside the Mobile, Alabama team, failed miserably at the gate, was forced to play eight-week shortened season and folded altogether at the end. The MFL is Here. 2000 - Atlants (GA) Prime 39 - Atlanta (GA) Colts 14 1984 - Arbutus (MD) Big Red In 1981 the association reached an agreement with the NFL to hold a special national all-star game for minor leaguers, the day before the Super Bowl, with scouts in attendance. HOME TEAMS ONLINE . 1 talking about this. We get nothing., Smitty also bemoans the thought that players are judged by standards other than athletic. The categories are more fluid than the outdoor variation, but usually determined by per-game salaries and arena size: The semi-pro leagues hold a strong place in American football history, but were far more common in the early and mid-20th century than they are today. To this day, beside the All-America Football Conference and the American Football League that merged with the NFL, none of the other leagues succeeded,[12] particularly because the leagues lack of ability to generate television revenue to keep them afloat in its first years of existence. Ay buddy, ay BUDDY! Real-time NFL Football scores on ESPN. The league picked up four franchises from that league when it folded in 1969 (Norfolk Neptunes, Orlando Panthers, Jersey Jays and Indianapolis Capitols); the Neptunes and Panthers were exactly the same teams as the Acorns and Bears respectively, having relocated during their time in the CoFL. ., Ken Coldwell turns away from the play, scans the stands, and says proudly, This is triple the amount of people we had last year.. Baltimore Colts 27 at Chicago Bears 58 on October 21st, 1956 - Full team and player stats and box score . [98][99], Prior to the (first) AFL collapse in 2008, the league had its own minor developmental league the af2 (although it never functioned as a farm system[100]) but it dissolved after the 2009 season, amid financial problems rooted in the 20072008 financial crisis, and several teams joined the "new" Arena Football League.[101]. Alas, the agreement did not continue and the association would reformatted in 1986 to the American Football Association and focused on providing services to semi-pro and amateur teams around the US.[57]. Canada also have three prominent "Junior leagues": the Atlantic Football League (Maritime Provinces), Canadian Junior Football League (Western Canada and Ontario) and Quebec Junior Football League. The semi-pro leagues role in history is best portrayed in the 1987 24-day NFLPA Strike, when semi-pro players were called as a replacements,[118][119] after the third week of the NFL season was cancelled. American football is a growing sport worldwide, and has the International Olympic Committee recognition since 2013. Steven did not make the team, but Patricia did, making her the first female professional football player. 1984 - Forest Park (GA) Vikings In Mobile, Alabama, they play high school football games before crowds of 15,000 because the only thing they have going there is the football team. They are slapping butts, cruising on adrenaline. 1988 - Peninsula (Hampton/Newport News, VA) Pirates . 2002 - Virginia (VA) Mutiny 41 - Jacksonville (NC) Raiders 30 Since 2017, the NFL run special program to increase the number of non-American and non-Canadian players in the league called the International Player Pathway Program. Seven Arbutus players jumped ship to join the Bears this year, including their best talent: quarterback Joe Baker and Gary Oaks, a wide receiver as tall as his last name suggests. 1980 - Atlanta (GA) Cowboys Baltimore Bears Vid1- Bear's Den (Semi-Pro Football) MDFL - YouTube AboutPressCopyrightContact usCreatorsAdvertiseDevelopersTermsPrivacyPolicy & SafetyHow YouTube worksTest new features. By the end of the era there was one last attempt to organized non-NFL pro teams under one umbrella, with the establishment of the Minor Professional Football Association, which represented more than 200 teams and about 10,000 players. 1993 - New Jersey (NJ) Giants - Queens (NY) Vikings I took a hit, and they couldnt even find my kneecap. The first pro game outside US and Canada played in Japan in 1976,[163] in 1978 the NFL played in Mexico,[164][165] and in 1983 they had their first game in Europe (London, United Kingdom). <25 Employees . 1997 - Orangeburg (SC) Ruff Riders The categories are usually determined by the following rules: the high-level leagues salary is above median US wage, the mid-level pays around the median wage and the low-level pays around or below the US minimum wage. See, these guys play the game for the violence. He led the Chambersburg Cardinals to a pair of Continental Interstate Football League championships before leading the Frederick Falcons to four CIFL titles. Other grievances now bubble to the surface around the table: the $200 or more each player coughs up to fit himself out with new equipment (neither players nor coaches are paid and the Bears provide only uniforms), the other expenses that nickel-and-dime them during a seasonlike the $20 each player had to pay to get to the championship game last year. 2005 - Carolina (SC) Titans 20 - Orangeburg (SC) Ruff Riders 12 In 2006, fifteen players were named as MLFN All-Americans. Pro Bowler Marvin Hubbard, the first female professional football player, placeholder Patricia Palinkas and cult figure King Corcoran) and even lasted longer. Because salaries are usually up to five times higher in the US,[177] a high number of players try their luck in the American game. A runner escapes into open ground but the freedom lasts only an instant as the Bears Keith Mundy administers a vicious hit, the crack of pads tearing a hole in the night. The Ravens advanced to the championship round, losing 17-20 to the Atlanta Prime. Theres an intensity here: rage loosed at the workweeks end in tooth-rattling hits, in slashing runs, in passes spiraling sweet and true as arrows into taped and outstretched fingers. The league first began play in 2020, with higher success and reception and had aired on ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports. Aug 2, 2018; Canton, OH, USA; Chicago Bears zurck laufen Taquan Mizzell (33) Luft der Ball gegen die Baltimore Ravens in der Pro Football Hall of Fame Spiel bei Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadion (Walt Middleton/Image des Sports) Foto per Kreditkarte: Newscom/Alamy leben Nachrichten - PD1JCN aus der Alamy-Bibliothek mit Millionen von . Taking a look back, here are our former League Champions: 1978 - Franklin County Minutemen (Chambersburg, PA), 1985 - Chesapeake Bay Neptunes (Va. Beach, VA), 1988 - Peninsula Pirates (Hampton/Newport News, VA), 1992 - Peninsula Poseidons (Hampton/Newport News, VA), ** Indicates team played for AFA National Championship. 2002 - South Atlanta (GA) Eagles 22 - Birmingham (AL) Diamondbacks 14 The FXFL attracted the final NFL roster cuts, for the purpose of keeping them "in football shape, physically and mentally". Doc was a fifth round draft pick of the Baltimore Colts in the NFL but chose to stay in Delaware. The minor leagues experienced renaissance in the 60s and 70s, as their growing relevance occurred concurrently with the AFL and NFL rivalry. Unlike most pro-football minor leagues, the Dixie League had a relative stability in membership until the Pearl Harbor attack forced the league into hiatus. Now the defense takes over and in short order theres an interception. "3 Top Minor Football Leagues In Alliance to Combat 'Jumping'; Pacific Coast, American and Dixie Circuits to Ask N.F.L. It's true. The league teams sought relationships with the NFL, and several teams functioned as a farm system for the major NFL teams, like the Newark Bears, Brooklyn Eagles and the Jersey City Giants. Whos that?!. The only dependable coverage they receive is in the weekly newspaper The Avenue which, not coincidentally, is operated by Bears general manager Ken Coldwell. Ron Meehan, former quarterback for the Big Red, was selected the AFA Player of the Year in 1991. The Ravens again advanced to the championship game but lost to the Conshohocken PA Steelers. Some of the other notable leagues were the Professional Football League of America (PFLA)[45] which lasted three years (19651967) and played in the Midwest (essentially substituted the UFL), the North Pacific Football League (pacific region) and the Texas Football League (TFL), which operated in the southern United States. The league owner, Brian Woods, wanted his franchises to be primarily based in minor league baseball stadiums, and use the infra-structure in place to attract fans. In April 1964 the two leagues, along with Central States Football League, Midwest Football League, Southern Football League formed the Association of Minor Football Leagues (the association also included the non-paying semi-pro[41][42] New England Football Conference), and appointed UFL commissioner, George T. Gareff, as the CEO. Arbutus opens home football season Saturday at 7 p.m. at Arbutus Middle School. Informal association of teams; the Toledo Tornadoes and Duquesne Ironmen would later move to the UFL and the ACFL (respectively). The AA was formed by the nucleus of independent teams that played in the New YorkNew Jersey circuits, and was led by the president Joe Rosentover. They are high-fiving and knocking helmets. The first was the Alliance of American Football (AAF) that was founded by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, and began playing in 2019, but ceased operations eight weeks in, as the controlling owner Thomas Dundon decided to pull the plug, not before the NFL offered to buy 15% of the league. [123][124] Despite that, they managed to attract decent talent, including ex-NFL players (Rusty Hilger and Ben Rudolph) and coaches (Walt Michaels, Darryl Rogers and Lou Saban). The Knights may have alternately been known as the Charter Oaks during its 1968 season. Two separate attempts, with same management. The Chicago Bears fell 16-13 against the Baltimore Ravens. The league was used to test rule changes and technical innovations[59] and supposed to use as a "farm system" for the NFL teams. Tonight the team plays an exhibition game against the Baltimore Rams, another semi-pro team, this one from the Continental Interstate Football League. Ayyy baby, speed that! Martell jeers. Yessss, KEITH!. The Crusaders again won the USA Bowl National Championship in Daytona Beach, FL and were crowned the 2012 Fall/Winter National Champions. ", "All for One The Minor Leagues' "Big Three" Make History in 1946", "Nothing minor about it: The American Association/AFL of 193650", "10 years after NFL Europe's demise, alumni remember league fondly", "Professional Sports Antitrust Bill (1965): Hearings Before the Subcommittee", "To Avoid AAF's Fate, XFL Must Have a Better TV Deal", "NFL needs a developmental league and rebooting the XFL is the perfect fit to improve league diversity, depth", "NFL at 100: How college football became the pipeline to NFL", "The real reason college football players don't get paid", "Arena Football League Files for Bankruptcy, Will Cease Operations", "Arena Football League Closes Shop After 30-Plus Years", "Is The UFL "The Mirror Of Erised" For Frustrated Pro Football Fans? 1982 - Richmond (VA) Bruins Isaiah Wigfall was named MVP of the game. [33], The Dixie League's biggest counterpart was the American Association football league. . he says, and leaves the sentence open-ended. [62] Other notable players include: Dante Hall, David Akers, James Harrison, Adam Vinatieri and William Perry. Frivolities. Jawarren Cowles was named Offensive MVP for the Ravens. Celebrating 30 years of excellence. People go through life, they say, I couldve, I shouldve, but I didnt. Player Linker Tool, Birthdays, Uniform Numbers. The Minor League Football News again honored the MDFL with several team and individual awards during the 2004 season: Assistant Coach of the Year - Rep Lampman (Storm); GM of the Year - Ray Scott (Monarchs); Running Back of the Year - Jawarren Cowles (Ravens); Owners of the Year - Hal & Mary Lockhart (Ravens); Come Back Team of the Year - Ravens and fourteen players from the League were named MLFN All-Americans. [166], With the success of the international series in the 70s and 80s, foreign countries established their own leagues and have earned a good reputation over the years, especially the long established leagues throughout European countries and in Japan. 1 overall in a move with the Houston Texans. [54] The AFA followed the model set by the TAFL, and played "off-season" schedule during the summer (May to August). He played for Newark Bears and Mohawk Valley Falcons from 1962 to 1964.[3]. Although the revival as the TAFL was largely a failure, the league foreshadowed the future of minor football from now on, as it played its season at the spring to avoid direct competition against other football in the fall.[48][49]. . 2004 - Virginia (VA) Ravens 25 - Prince William (VA) Monarchs 22 Commissioner Cosmo Iacovazzi was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. The return, however, was short-lived; the league determined it would not compete with the World Football League and folded after the 1973 season. One of the most unusual players in league history was DB Kiyo "Doc" Tashiro, a practicing doctor and Harvard alum,[2] who was the oldest player to play in a pro football league when he retired after 1964 season at the age of 47 (his record was later broke by George Blanda in 1975). 1991 - Baltimore (MD) Bears [13] Several prominent leagues operated during that period and were mostly regional: The original United Football League (UFL I) lasted from 1961 to 1964 and was concentrated in the Midwest, although we remember it as the first football league to operate teams in both the United States and Canada, as the Quebec Rifles played in the league in 1964. . Although the vast majority of Australian players in the NFL are punters, there are few exemptions. The new modern day United Football League was the most prominent league in the era, playing 3 seasons before folding. The Rams have won the toss, and on the Bears sideline, the war cries start: Ay deFENSE! 1997 - Orange County (NY) Bulldogs 28 - Queens (NY) Vikings 10 The first was the North American Football League (NAFL),[13] which ran from 1965 to 1966, and tried to establish Major league affiliations with either the NFL or the AFL. It is a Tuesday night after practice, and five Bears sit reduced to human proportions in their civvies at Cheers Pub on Route 40. Despite that, the league had some notable alumni including: Vince Papale, Jack Dolbin and Klecko. 1990 - Tidewater (VA) Sharks The next attempt was probably the biggest since the emergence of the AFL in 1960, as NBC and the WWE collaborate to form the (original) XFL in 2001. [71] Contrary to the Pac Pro, the Your Call Football league did start, lasted two years (20182019) and featured concepts that gave the fans the power to control the outcome (also adopted by the indoor Fan Controlled Football league), but was abandoned when its parent company had moved on to adapting the technology in other sporting environments. [45] The most notable players are Johnny Unitas who played quarterback, safety and punter on a team called the Bloomfield Rams (Pittsburgh suburb) for $6 a game before joining the Baltimore Colts,[117] and Eric Swann who was the first (and so far the only) player to be drafted in the NFL draft first round from a semi-pro organization called Bay State Titans (played at Lynn, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb). However, those leagues would later merge with the CoFL, as several teams from the NPFL joined the league in 1966 and the PFLA followed in 1968 (resulting in dissolution of both leagues),[46] while in 1969 the CoFL announced that the entirety of the eight-team TFL was added to its ranks as a separate division, and were mostly scheduled to play against each other with few inter-league contests. The last association is the United States Federation of American Football,[132] which tries to divide the existing leagues to AAA and AA class-levels in terms of business practice, representation and the athletics,[133] and was formerly recognized by the International Federation of American Football as the USA's football governing body.[134]. The Virginia Mutiny were recognized as the AFAs 2002 State and MidEast Regional winner and the Jacksonville (NC) Raiders were named the AFAs North Carolina State Champions. [172], Another international league that has entered into partnership agreements with American league for players developments is the Elite Football League of India which has an agreement with the Gridiron Developmental Football League.[173]. Bob Gill, with Steve Brainerd and Tod Maher, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Professional American Football League of Mexico, Association of Professional Football Leagues, Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, American Professional Football Association, Pacific Coast Professional Football League, Professional Football League of America (PFLA), Minor League/Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame, United States Federation of American Football, International Federation of American Football, United States national American football team, Amateur to Professional Developmental Football League, foreign players in the National Football League, International Player Pathway Program (IPPP), Trinity Professional Spring Football League, "The AAF Failed Because All Minor League Football Does", The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, "NFL Europa failed to produce players, profits", "Future promising for growing Mexican LFA league", "CFL holds combine in Mexico City in effort to grow football worldwide", "What is the agreement between the NFL and XFL?