The AAF’s Launch

The AAF’s Launch

The new spring football league, the AAF’s (Alliance of American Football) opening games were a big success and made a lot of people think that this league might have a chance of succeeding. Its launch came at a perfect time: it was announced on March 20th, 2018. The league’s games began after the subpar Super Bowl and the missed call during the NFC championship game. It also came after an NFL season filled with roughing the passer calls and defensive players being flagged for good hits. This new league aims to bring football back to the way it was before rule changes while also removing unnecessary parts of the game and adding totally new elements. The major rule changes include: no kickoffs, teams will start at their own 25, unless the team that would be defending decides to go for an onside conversion where they will have a 4th and 12 at their own 28 yard line. In order to do this there must be five minutes left in the game and they must be trailing by 17 or more points. The overtime rules are very similar to college with each team getting the ball at the opponent’s 10 yard line–there are no field goals allowed in overtime. There is also the addition of the sky judge; they will review key plays and penalties. The rules on hard hits and penalties have been relaxed. The most important part of  the rule changes, however, is that extra points have been removed; teams must now always go for a two-point conversion after a touchdown.

The league kicked off on Saturday, February 9th with the Orlando Apollos taking on the Atlanta Legends. The first points in AAF were kicked through by Younghoe Koo for the Legends. However the game quickly turned into a blowout in favor of the Apollos with the final score being 40 – 6. The second game was between the San Diego Fleet and the San Antonio Commanders. This game provided one of the early highlights of the league when Shaan Washington hitting Mike Bercovici hard, forcing a fumble. The clip quickly spread across the internet and was a sign that the AAF was much more relaxed when it came to playing hard defense. On Sunday the second half of the games were played between the Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Arizona Hotshots, and Salt Lake Stallions. The Hotshots and Iron won against the Express and Stallions while showcasing a good amount of talent on their roster. This League showcases a lot of potential and has a good chance of succeeding if they make good and smart decisions.

 

by Theo Schenck ’24

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