We Need More Football

           Why is there no football in April, May and June? Seriously why? Football is by far the most popular sport in America, and it seems fans can never get enough of it. If the counter argument to that is because it can’t compete with the NHL and/or NBA playoffs, that how do you explain the NFL draft getting better ratings? Translation: Most Americans would rather watch football players not playing football, than any other sport, playing their sport. Now perhaps that is too literal, but there is room for a little football season to hold us over the spring and early summer months to get us through.

          And it is not all that uncommon. The British Primer League (that’s the soccer league in England) goes from August to May, with only two months off, and that’s only if there is no International play. Soccer throughout the world is played for practically 12 months a year. Why can’t that happen in this country with our own football?
         Now I am not suggesting that I subject Tom Brady to 12 months of brutality. But with the popularity of the sport at an all-time high, and seemingly continuing to grow, why is there no minor league version of the NFL. There has been NFL Europe, Arena Football experienced its downs and not so-downs, and then there was the XFL. And that sucked. But these other leagues have produced some important NFL talents, like Steve Young, Kurt Warner, and Tommy Maddox who even he had his 15 minutes of fame in the NFL. Then you have college football, also at its all-time high with the introduction of the College Football Playoff, producing popular players throughout every corner of the country. However, those players do not always find a permanent home in the NFL.

Therefore I have created the MNFL (Minor National Football League) a place where those who still wish they could go back to college, or possibly get another chance at the big stage in the NFL.

The MNFL

East	North	South	West
Brooklyn	Bismarck	Austin	Las Vegas
Hartford	Iowa City	Memphis	Los Angeles
Raleigh	Milwaukee	Oklahoma City	San Jose
Palm Beach	Madison	San Antonio	Salt Lake

How would the league work?

Schedule: By conference

            The East and North would play in one conference, and the South and West would play in another. The East and North teams would all play each other once, as would the South and West and each team would play two out of conference games twice, making a 10 game schedule. The regular season would run from April to early to mid June.

Playoffs: Top 4 in each conference

            At the end of the 10 game schedule, the top 4 teams in each conference would advance to the playoffs, in a single elimination tournament. Playoffs would be the last two weeks of June.

Championship: Top team in each conference match up on July 4^th

            Just to beat a dead horse, this minor league would solidify America’s game by playing their championship on July 4^th.

Rules

No Kickoffs: No need for anyone to get hurt. All teams will start their possessions after scores, and end of quarters at the 25-yard line.

No extra-points: Everyone has to go for two, because that is fun to watch.

Field Goals: All field goals less than 55-yards in distance are worth 3 points. Field that are greater than 55-yards are worth 4 points.

Now meet the signal callers of the new minor league…

Team	Quarterback	QB Breakdown
Brooklyn	Mike Teel	The former Rutgers quarterback never got his bearings in the NFL But he is a tall quarterback with a decent arm and he knows how to run pro-style offenses.
Hartford	Brady Quinn	The former first round pick and Notre Dame starlet was not ready for the bright lights of the NFL. But he must have enough talent to survive in a minor league right? He would certainly sell jerseys.
Raleigh	Michael Vick	Michael Vick has wanted to try and revive his NFL career for some time. And despite recent revivals in Philadelphia and New York, Vick cannot find a mainstay in the NFL. One thing is certain; we love watching Michael Vick play football, at any level. If ESPN could have got cameras in the prison Vick attended. We who would have watched.
Palm Beach	Tim Tebow	Oh, Tim Tebow. Despite the believers that Tebow has, there is very little chance he will make an impact in the NFL, even with Chip Kelly’s electric system. Chances are he will not see the playing field, or make the team for that matter. But Tebow is a must-see attraction, and if there were a minor league for football, he would be the star attraction.
Bismarck	Kevin Kolb	Remember when Kevin Kolb used to start in the NFL? Well that’s good enough to play here.
Iowa City	Ricky Stanzi	Stanzi, who played his college ball in Iowa would be right at home in Iowa City. He is currently in competition to be the backup to Eli Manning. But if it were not to work out, Stanzi would have a home, in his former home.
Milwaukee	Dan LeFevour	LeFevour was a record-breaking quarterback at Central Michigan, and currently plays in the Canadian Football League. So he wouldn’t have to move far to Milwaukee.
Madison	Jordan Lynch	Speaking of record-breaking quarterbacks, Jordan Lynch was in Heisman contention two years ago play for Northern Illinois. Like LeFevour, Lynch plays in Canada, and clearly loves cold weather. So Madison works perfectly.
Austin	Vince Young	One of the most decorated college careers, embarrassing fizzled out in the NFL that has been the legacy Vince Young has left behind. He needs an opportunity to redeem himself.
Memphis	JeMarcus Russell	See above. Minus the decorated career Times 10.
Oklahoma City	Graham Harrell	Harrell broke every record Texas Tech seemed to offer but yet never broke through, even in a backup role in the NFL. Would love to see him return to the south and do it again.
San Antonio	Tahj Boyd	Boyd athletic prowess would be on display and may make fans from Clemson reminisce about a time, when they had a reliable quarterback.
Las Vegas	Troy Smith	Troy Smith was a standout at Ohio State and now plays in the CFL. Ohio State quarterbacks who win big will almost always be remembered. Especially by depressed Michigan fans. He can play.
Los Angeles	Matt Leinart	While its been sometime since Leinart has played any form of competitive football, he would bring some more credibility to this league. Can he be productive? If lefty Shane Falco can be, why couldn’t Leinart?
San Jose	Josh Freeman	Josh Freeman was drafted in the first round. I have no idea why. He still serves as a backup in the NFL. I still have no idea why. But he can play here.
Salt Lake	Dennis Dixon	The former Oregon quarterback who helped put Chip Kelly and Oregon on the map would still be an athletic freak to watch.

Other Notable Players:

Terrell Owens

            Terrell Owens will do anything to get on T.V. Might as well put a football back in his hand because that’s when we loved him the most. Or tolerated him,, depending on your loyalties, and sense of hearing.

Chad Ochocinco

            Ditto for Chad Ochocinco Johnson.

Adarius Bowman

            Bowman was once a prized prospect for Oklahoma State, never quite got into the NFL, but just a year ago lead the CFL in receiving.

Michael Sam

            Michael Sam has found a new home in the NFL, however I don’t know how much of an opportunity he will receive. Therefore being showcased in this minor league might be the perfect opportunity.

            Why would players, play in this league? Because it is a second chance to not only play football, but to shine as they once had either in college or their 15 minutes of fame in the NFL. It would also serve as another opportunity to make it back to “the Show” just like all other minor leagues provide in other sports. The CFL and Arena league are nowhere on the American radar and this would provide players an adequate stage to showcase their skills without having to wait for the perfect opportunity in the NFL.

            Why would we watch? Why wouldn’t we!?!? But for argument sake, let’s just go through the reasons. First, because it’s football and its pretty safe to say we will watch anywhere at anytime. Second, lack of true competition. The NBA Playoffs are long and tedious and most people usually do not tune in until the Conference finals or the NBA finals, depending upon the matchup. The NHL still has more of cult following than a national following, and those who passionately follow their teams will continue to do so, so playoff ratings should not be greatly impacted. And even though baseball season is in full swing, football should not impact its lousy ratings being that games are only played once a week.

            For just 13-14 weeks, we could have football that will be acceptable enough to hold us over until the real thing starts. We are football crazed in this country and there is no point in fighting it. It would be not only interesting but American to introduce new cities to professional football. Cities like Bismarck, Brooklyn, Memphis, Palm Beach, Salt Lake, etc. all deserve a football team they can call their own. And if this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will…

            Just imagine, its July 4^th. You have beer chilling in your cooler, your out on the back deck, hot dogs and sausages on the grill, and your pop on your outside 60 inch flat screen TV (If you don’t have one already, you would go out and buy one for this, after all the MNFL is sponsored by Westinghouse). And just before you set off your fireworks, you watch Michael Vick and Raleigh Renegades battle Vince Young and the Austin Oilers battle for the MNFL title. Can’t it get anymore American than that?