celticdb15
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What do you guys think of the possibility of a development league in the NFL? This guy Monte Burke seems to think it'd work out and I tend to agree with him. Who knows if it'd be racially better than the NFL but I'm sure a lot more of our guys would have a chance to stick around with the possibility to move up!
Forbes.com: Spate of week 7 injuries demonstrates the N.F.L. is a league of attrition. Time For A Developmental League?
The 2013 NFL season began with 170 players on its Injured Reserve list, a number far greater than any in recent years.
Week 7 in the NFL only added to the pain, with several marquee players injured. Some of them will be out for the season.
Former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia Is Finding Big Success On The Football Field
Monte BurkeForbes Staff
–The St. Louis Rams quarterback, Sam Bradford, tore is ACL and is out for the season.
–Houston Texans linebacker, Brian Cushing, broke his leg and tore his LCL. He is also done for the season, adding to the Texans’ woes.
–Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, hurt his groin. The extent of the injury is unknown. UPDATED: He has a muscle tear and will be out four weeks.
–Jermichael Finley, Green Bay Packers tight end, suffered a frightening neck injury and, initially, was unable to move. His five-year-old son already told him earlier this season that he didn’t want him playing football anymore.
–Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Nick Foles, suffered a concussion.
–Reggie Wayne, the Indianapolis Colts receiver, appears to be out for the season with a torn ACL.
–Doug Martin, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back, tore his labrum and is out for the year.
The NFL is a league of attrition. It is the ultimate “next man up†league. Most of the time that “next man†comes from a team’s eight-person practice squad. But in-season injuries in the NFL can become so numerous that they push the capabilities of the practice squads to replenish the rosters. In 2010, 352 NFL players went on the season-ending Injured Reserve list, missing an average of nine and a half games.
Perhaps it’s time for the $9.2 billion NFL to fund its own developmental league.
The NFL, of course, already has the greatest and cheapest (read: free) farm system in the professional sports world: The college game. But those players are obviously not able to join NFL teams in mid-season. A developmental league could help fill that void—and could have other benefits as well.
In 2011 I was embedded with the Omaha Nighthawks, while researching my book (“4th And Goalâ€) on Joe Moglia, the former TD Ameritrade CEO who is now the coach at Coastal Carolina University (where he is now 7-0, by the way). The Nighthawks played in the now-defunct United Football League, which consisted of players—and coaches, for that matter—who had dreams of playing in the NFL, or who had once played there, and were trying to claw their way back in.
The problem with the UFL is that it was set up to compete with the NFL, and not complement it. For that reason, that league—like the World Football League, the United States Football League and the XFL before it—failed miserably. There is no competing with the NFL (though rich men with oversized dreams will never stop trying to do so, it seems). But there is a void out there, one that could be filled with a developmental league.
The NFL once had a quasi-developmental league, called NFL Europe, which lasted for 15 seasons before ceasing operations in 2007. It lost money, which is the reason the NFL shut it down. But it provided an undeniable service.
I talked about the utility of a developmental league in my book:
One reason the NFL lost money on NFL Europe was the location. Football is an expensive game. Locating teams and staging games in Europe make that doubly so. Starting a developmental league in a handful of smaller, football-starved cities in the U.S. (like Omaha), might be a way to actually make some money on this. And would help the NFL in its battle against attrition.
Forbes.com: Spate of week 7 injuries demonstrates the N.F.L. is a league of attrition. Time For A Developmental League?
The 2013 NFL season began with 170 players on its Injured Reserve list, a number far greater than any in recent years.
Week 7 in the NFL only added to the pain, with several marquee players injured. Some of them will be out for the season.


–The St. Louis Rams quarterback, Sam Bradford, tore is ACL and is out for the season.
–Houston Texans linebacker, Brian Cushing, broke his leg and tore his LCL. He is also done for the season, adding to the Texans’ woes.
–Jermichael Finley, Green Bay Packers tight end, suffered a frightening neck injury and, initially, was unable to move. His five-year-old son already told him earlier this season that he didn’t want him playing football anymore.
–Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Nick Foles, suffered a concussion.
–Reggie Wayne, the Indianapolis Colts receiver, appears to be out for the season with a torn ACL.
–Doug Martin, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back, tore his labrum and is out for the year.
The NFL is a league of attrition. It is the ultimate “next man up†league. Most of the time that “next man†comes from a team’s eight-person practice squad. But in-season injuries in the NFL can become so numerous that they push the capabilities of the practice squads to replenish the rosters. In 2010, 352 NFL players went on the season-ending Injured Reserve list, missing an average of nine and a half games.
Perhaps it’s time for the $9.2 billion NFL to fund its own developmental league.
The NFL, of course, already has the greatest and cheapest (read: free) farm system in the professional sports world: The college game. But those players are obviously not able to join NFL teams in mid-season. A developmental league could help fill that void—and could have other benefits as well.
In 2011 I was embedded with the Omaha Nighthawks, while researching my book (“4th And Goalâ€) on Joe Moglia, the former TD Ameritrade CEO who is now the coach at Coastal Carolina University (where he is now 7-0, by the way). The Nighthawks played in the now-defunct United Football League, which consisted of players—and coaches, for that matter—who had dreams of playing in the NFL, or who had once played there, and were trying to claw their way back in.
The problem with the UFL is that it was set up to compete with the NFL, and not complement it. For that reason, that league—like the World Football League, the United States Football League and the XFL before it—failed miserably. There is no competing with the NFL (though rich men with oversized dreams will never stop trying to do so, it seems). But there is a void out there, one that could be filled with a developmental league.
The NFL once had a quasi-developmental league, called NFL Europe, which lasted for 15 seasons before ceasing operations in 2007. It lost money, which is the reason the NFL shut it down. But it provided an undeniable service.
I talked about the utility of a developmental league in my book:
Good rookie football players slip through the NFL draft and free agency cracks every year. NFL veterans often actually do have something left in the tank. What these players need is a place to attempt to prove themselves…
The list of marquee players who have played in developmental leagues—especially NFL Europe—and then gone on to become stars in the NFL is fairly impressive. Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, played in both NFL Europe and the Arena Football League. James Harrison, the Steelers [now Bengals] linebacker and the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is an NFL Europe veteran. Fred Jackson, the running back for the Bills, toiled in an indoor league and NFL Europe for years. Quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Brad Johnson, offensive lineman Brian Waters, defensive lineman LaRoi Glover and kickers Adam Viniateri and David Akers were just a few of the other 250-plus players who made NFL teams after playing in NFL Europe. It’s very possible that these players would eventually have found homes in the NFL. But it’s inarguable that the time they spent in NFL Europe gave them the time and place to further develop their skills.
Alternative leagues—and again NFL Europe in particular—have also served another crucial function: They act as training grounds for coaches and referees, and laboratories in which the NFL can test potential new rules. In 2011 the NFL had three head coaches who had been in NFL Europe: Chan Gailey, Steve Spagnuolo, and Hue Jackson (though the latter two were fired after the 2011 season). S. S. Scott Green and Alberto Riveron, NFL refs, started in Europe. The two-point conversion, the current playoff overtime rules, and one-way radio communication between players and coaches were all first tried in Europe (so was awarding four points for a field goal of 50 yards or longer, but that one didn’t make the jump across the pond, much to Sebastian Janikowski’s chagrin).
The list of marquee players who have played in developmental leagues—especially NFL Europe—and then gone on to become stars in the NFL is fairly impressive. Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, played in both NFL Europe and the Arena Football League. James Harrison, the Steelers [now Bengals] linebacker and the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is an NFL Europe veteran. Fred Jackson, the running back for the Bills, toiled in an indoor league and NFL Europe for years. Quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Brad Johnson, offensive lineman Brian Waters, defensive lineman LaRoi Glover and kickers Adam Viniateri and David Akers were just a few of the other 250-plus players who made NFL teams after playing in NFL Europe. It’s very possible that these players would eventually have found homes in the NFL. But it’s inarguable that the time they spent in NFL Europe gave them the time and place to further develop their skills.
Alternative leagues—and again NFL Europe in particular—have also served another crucial function: They act as training grounds for coaches and referees, and laboratories in which the NFL can test potential new rules. In 2011 the NFL had three head coaches who had been in NFL Europe: Chan Gailey, Steve Spagnuolo, and Hue Jackson (though the latter two were fired after the 2011 season). S. S. Scott Green and Alberto Riveron, NFL refs, started in Europe. The two-point conversion, the current playoff overtime rules, and one-way radio communication between players and coaches were all first tried in Europe (so was awarding four points for a field goal of 50 yards or longer, but that one didn’t make the jump across the pond, much to Sebastian Janikowski’s chagrin).
One reason the NFL lost money on NFL Europe was the location. Football is an expensive game. Locating teams and staging games in Europe make that doubly so. Starting a developmental league in a handful of smaller, football-starved cities in the U.S. (like Omaha), might be a way to actually make some money on this. And would help the NFL in its battle against attrition.