RE: AAFL Newsletter. November 1, 2007.

 

Houston loves good football. So that's what we gave them during our Texas combine last month at Rice stadium.

Let's start off with some news: Former University of Houston coach John Jenkins was named head coach and general manager of Team Texas in the All American Football League. Jenkins was named on the front page of the sports section of the Houston Chronicle just days before practice as one of the most prolific offensive head coaches in the history of college football in Texas. He took a demoralized program and turned it into an offensive juggernaut.

He told the Houston Chronicle he is going to bring the same excitement to Team Texas.

Lots of stars on the field. Former Longhorn quarterback James Brown was showing he still has what it takes. Peter Warrick, two-time All American from Florida State and a first round NFL draft pick, was impressing reporters and coaches with his hands and speed.

Dozens of major papers throughout the country picked up an Associated Press account of Warrick's football career. This from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"Warrick seems to be a perfect fit for this league that hopes to build its fan base by stocking teams with star college players who either didn't make it in the NFL or whose careers there were cut short."

"A lot of players that were stars in college still have a lot of name recognition," said 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers, who is helping promote the league. "This league will give people who are still hungry for football between April and July a chance to go out and see some of the names that they're familiar with."

“Warrick was upbeat and reflective in a candid interview discussing what went wrong in his NFL career and how difficult it has been to be away from the game he loves for so long.

The man who was such a dynamic player at Florida State he was nicknamed "The Great One" was back on a college field again this week simply hoping to make an impression.”

In addition to dozens of players with NFL experience and hundreds of hopefuls from the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and other Big 12 schools, you couldn't swing a bag full of footballs without hitting a couple of NFL greats.

Detroit Lion great Lomas Brown, former Cowboy Pro Bowler Eugene Lockhart and NFL Hall of Famers Elvin Bethea and Joe DeLamielleure held court at the center of the field. Hearing Brown and Lockhart recount some of their epic battles during their Cowboy-Lions rivalry was worth the price of the trip alone.

Lockhart inspired the players with a talk reminding them of the love and passion they would have to bring to the game if they wanted to be successful. “There's a lot of excitement among fans,” Lockhart said. “This is a great situation.”

Lomas Brown told DeLamielleure he “thought the AAFL was a great idea. Great for the fans. Great for the players. Great for the city. I'm happy to be in on the ground floor of it. It's real football.”

You can see Lockhart, Brown and DeLamielleure talking about their games and the AAFL at YouTube.com. Just type in their names and the term AAFL.

While Lockhart and Brown reminisced, former Tennessee Titan Pro Bowl defensive back Blaine Bishop was clocking defensive backs in the forty yard sprints.

“The talent is pretty impressive,” Bishop said. “There are some good players out here.”

One good player not out there -- hobbled with minor surgery -- was Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch. Talk radio producers cannot get enough of the league's new poster boy. Local TV liked him too.

We got lots of terrific response from players, fans and media. The Houston Chronicle said “Tying the league into the college fan base sounds like an excellent idea. The league's Houston tryouts Wednesday and Thursday were impressive, and it looks like a class operation.”

We even had a Colorado media outlet interview talk to James Brown about the AAFL:

“They're trying to use college fan bases and college names to generate ticket sales. All of the players will be college graduates. It keeps people from thinking that just thugs will be on the field, or guys that are not out there playing quality football and not have classroom smarts. It's just better when it's a clean game.”

That's what fans are telling us all over America, James. So that is what we will keep on doing.

Thanks Houston.

Meanwhile, down in Jacksonville, fans and media swamped members of our Team Florida during a party prior to the Gator -- Bulldog game. They were so fired up down there they even put James Brown on the radio, talking about the Gators and the AAFL.

Check it out at http://www.gatorsandmore.com/102307/jamesbrown.mp3.

Travis McGriff was there, and somehow managed to escape intact from the Gator frenzy. “There were a lot of people there and everyone was asking about tickets,” McGriff said. “They want to know when they go on sale.”

Its hard to turn on a television in Florida without seeing clips of Travis and Danny Wuerffel and Willie Jackson and other Gator greats lighting up the screen.

If you live outside of Florida, see for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7kBae9wdAQ.

And you can hear Team Florida coach Shane Matthews talking to reporters about the new Spring league at http://www.allamericanfootballleague.com/Florida/featurednews.php.

Lots of news: It does not want to end. So lots of our players are now doing blogs on Myspace.com. Here's a recent entry from former Gator Zephrin Augustine:

Everthing AAFL

Hey Guys,

The All American Football League is slowly coming together as the tryouts continue and the teams begin to take shape. More than 600 guys came out to Houston last week for the national tryouts. Among those guys watching from the sidelines included Gators legends like Lomas Brown, a huge brick in the Great Wall of Florida. Brown, who also played for the Lions in the NFL, will definitely have a tough choice between supporting the AAFL's Michigan or Florida team, but I'm sure he'll see the light. Shane Matthews was also checking out the talent on display in Houston, who will bring his winning touch that Gator fans know so well to the AAFL as team Florida's head coach.

The AAFL is really starting to take shape, I've been hearing lots of excitement about the new league and people really seem to be getting into it. For all of you who are looking to get tickets, head straight for AAFL.com and register to receive news about when they will become available.

For those of you looking for Florida games go directly to : http://www.allamericanfootballleague.com/Florida/.

Register there and you can get a notice when the tickets are in.

More Florida news soon!

And from Alabama, Rudy Griffin blogs:

Hey Fans!
Current mood: happy

Hey, everyone just thought I would bring you all up to speed as to what I have been up to this week. This week was more of the same; I did a few interviews here and there for some local radio shows mainly just talking to them about the All American Football League. I have been hitting the weight room and working out everyday...just making sure I stay in shape. I am checking the AAFL website (www.AAFL.com) daily to keep up with things going on around the league. Today, I watched my alma mater play the University of Tennessee (the Tide put a whipping on the Vols, 41-17)...that was a really exciting game...ROLL TIDE!! All in all I am really excited about the league starting, I cannot wait to strap on the pads, get together with my teammates and start playing some football!

Thanks,
Rudy

Alright, let's wrap this up: Next week, more info about one of the greatest players in the history of the State of Alabama, Joe Cribbs, our Team Alabama president! And more on MySpace.com too.

 

Marcus Katz
CEO
All American Football League
Visit us at http://www.allamericanfootballleague.com/