Getcha Popcorn Ready! Terrell Owens, Ricky Williams, And A Bunch Of Retired NFL Players Have Teamed Up To Create Yet Another Pro Football League
PFT (Not ours)- The AAF and XFL aren’t the only upstart leagues bidding for a place in the football landscape. The Freedom Football League announced its existence on Thursday. The league is being launched by 50 former players, including Ricky Williams, Terrell Owens, Jeff Garcia and Simeon Rice. Games are planned for the spring and summer and the league plans to be financed “by a combination of private funding and public offerings in 2019.” The league also outlined four “philosophical and operational pillars.” They are holistic health and wellness support on and off the field, amplifying the voices of players addressing issues they care about, keeping the game affordable for fans and “eliminating financial exploitation and profiteering to the benefit of the few at the expense of many.”
“The Freedom Football League is the perfect integration of my passion for social justice, economic equality and health and wellness, with my life-long dedication and love for professional football,” Williams said in a press release. “As much as I’d like to throw on the pads and play, this league is designed to bring competitive football back to the masses, providing players and fans alike with the economic benefits of owning stake in a team, while also ensuring players are empowered to use their public platform for social good.”
Have you been looking for a professional football league that lets its players do the weed and will likely piss off millions of people because of what the players do when a song is played before the game? Well buddy, do I have the league for you! Lets also throw in “Embraces creative celebrations and won’t throw a flag when someone does something fun after a touchdown”, since I don’t think TO would sign off on any league that would neuter TD celebrations. You won’t be able to keep potential players out of this league. I know the old saying that if you have 2 offseason football leagues you actually have none. But what if you have 3 football leagues? Or 4? Or how about we just create 7 and have each league play a different day of the week? Sure the player pool will be shallower than Pres. But who is going to say no to more football in the offseason? Assholes, that’s who.
However I will admit that the team names could use some work.
The league did not say when it would begin play, though it did say the first 10 teams would be the San Diego Warriors, Oklahoma City Power, Portland Progress, Texas Revolution, Ohio Players, Florida Strong, Birmingham Kings, St. Louis Independence, Connecticut Underground and Oakland Panthers.
The Portland Progress? Oklahoma City Power? Florida Strong? The Freedom Football League seems like the educational video game version of the NFL. The Ohio Players is just flat out lazy. And what the fuck is the Connecticut Underground? I could see that being a team name in the XFL as a nod to Shane-O-Mac and the Mean Street Posse.
But that is just an outrageous name if it is actually trying to be serious. I am officially passing on the FFL. Give me the AAF that is being run by what I imagine are the smartest people in the world all day, everyday.
h/t Joey