July 9, 2007 Newsletter
July 9, 2007
When we started the All American Football League™, we knew fans and players loved football. We just did not know how much.
Even before our first tryout, we had 2000 college players sign up.
Our players and board members did hundreds of talk radio shows.
And hundreds of newspapers across the world carried stories and pictures about the AAFL. From Sports Illustrated and ESPN to USA Today and AOL, and everywhere in between. Even Japan.
Cameramen from TV stations all over Florida were bumping into each other to get videos of our tryouts. Here's a good one: .
And another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3szAzd_QdY.
All this before the first snap.
There were lots more. CBS Sports said "The league has gotten incredible attention. What does the AAFL have that the other pretenders didn't? Passion."
So that was heartening. But even more encouraging were the fans. http://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=vZCK96TLuOU
During the recent workout in Orlando, many of us retreated to the Press Box when it started to rain. But one fan did not budge. He sat there for hours and watched the workouts in the rain.
Later, we learned James Robinson had driven to Orlando from Tuscaloosa, where in addition to being a fan of the Crimson Tide, he is an accomplished composer. Now he wants to score an "orchestral theme" for the league.
Here he is on video: http://www.youtube.com/group/aafl.
Other fans drove hundreds of miles. And when former Gator wide receiver Travis McGriff threw a touchdown pass, that got their juices flowing.
Another surprise was NFL great Joe DeLamielleure and his son Todd. A member of the NFL Hall of Fame, Joe came to Orlando with Todd, a Charleston, South Carolina Firefighter. Nine members of Todd's department recently lost their lives in a tragic fire.
Joe came to support Todd as he pursued his dream. Todd, a Duke graduate, had one of the best workouts in the camp.
Here's Joe talking about the league on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87AJ4j5NNQs.
If you have any videos to add or you want to see more AAFL videos of players and fans and news stories from Orlando, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/group/aafl.
You might want to join the group so you get the latest videos as they are posted.
All for now.
Marcus Katz
CEO
Alll American Football League™
P.S. For players: Watch your emails for news of the next tryout.
P.P.S. Here's a smattering of articles about the league.
ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=klosterman/070605
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-01-football-aafl_N.htm
ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/apphoto/photo?sportId=0&photoId=1613018
Sports Illustrated: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/07/02/aafl.tryouts.ap/