The secret to success for a second pro football league

The idea of a second football league has been popping up since the NFL and AFL sorted out their differences and merged in 1970. Which considering America’s passionate love, nay obsession, with the sport, makes sense. But none of them (USFL, World League, or XFL to name a few) have ever actually worked in the long term. Enter the United Football League, the latest attempt to capitalize on this country’s football mania. Right now, there is nothing to distinguish them from the growing lists of also-rans in the NFL’s tale of complete dominance.

But Dan Shanoff shares an idea that may actually make them worth having around.

I remain steadfast in my very simple, game-changing (and game-winning) strategy — you have to play where the NFL won’t — or can’t:

Open the UFL to players following their freshman year of college. The one year of college gives them a national spotlight that will help with fan interest (ex: Julio Jones, Terrelle Pryor); the two years of UFL service gives them paid professional training for their NFL careers.

via Dan Shanoff: UFL Update: My Minor Obsession Continues.

I love the suggestion and hope the UFL folks actually try to implement this idea. Especially since the college game barely even resembles the professional one played on Sundays anymore. And that divide only grows with every spread offense and season that ends in a controversy. There is a market for a post-college developmental league, so why not now?

Sadly, Roger Goodell and the power-mad NFL would probably just change their age requirement to combat any theoretically complimentary league. Ultimately they would dilute their product but kill the upstart UFL in the process. Then everyone loses.