USFL

[Myles]

Season starts on Saturday with games on Fox and NBC. 

I will be watching it.  

[Four2itus]

Me too. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Is Herschel Walker playing?

[Myles]

As long as the games are competitive and are not gimmicky like the original XFL was, it will be watchable.  

[Myles]

So, how many players will sign with NFL teams before the NFL season starts?

I'll say 8.

[Myles]

Both games I watched were competitive and pretty good.  

Philly vs new Orleans starts at 5pm on USA.

Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay is at 9pm on FS1.

The first 2 games were on FOX and NBC.

 

 

[holeymoley99]

Former Colt Chad Williams with a blocked punt for a safety.

[Nancy]

I watched 3 games this weekend...and it's legit!  They have a lot of players miked up and they get up close and let you see a lot of things going on.  I didn't realize that it's all played at the same stadium in Birmingham.  They are all staying at the same hotel for the whole season.  Jeff Fisher is one of the coaches (Michigan Panthers) with Shea Patterson as one of the QB's for that team.  There's a couple Indiana Univ players on one of the teams.  I really enjoyed it and will continue watching this season!

 

[Myles]

6 hours ago, Nancy said:

I watched 3 games this weekend...and it's legit!  They have a lot of players miked up and they get up close and let you see a lot of things going on.  I didn't realize that it's all played at the same stadium in Birmingham.  They are all staying at the same hotel for the whole season.  Jeff Fisher is one of the coaches (Michigan Panthers) with Shea Patterson as one of the QB's for that team.  There's a couple Indiana Univ players on one of the teams.  I really enjoyed it and will continue watching this season!

 

I thought the same.  The football was very good and is welcomed in the spring.    

[holeymoley99]

Attendance was always going to be an issue with all games played in same city. Yesterday had a game of 103 tonite's has 22 fans

[John Waylon]

Spring football is never going to be perfect. I enjoyed being able to pack a bowl and have football to watch and follow. 
 

Take these 8 teams, and the 8 XFL teams and have each of those 16 teams accept development players from 2 NFL teams. The NFL wants a development system, here it is. Teams don’t need more than 4-6 development positions. Send trainers down to work with them, and let them play and develop in the spring and summer before the season. No more than 2 seasons allowed in the program. 
 

Have them finish their season mid-July. Have the champion from each league face off in a championship game, and the winner of that game gets to face an NFL team in the Hall of Fame game. 
 

There’s potential here, but the biggest hurdle to clear is going to be that spring football is not NFL quality football. I don’t think that one location is a good idea, but I get they need to do things to keep costs and overhead down. Maybe 4 or 8 cities for all these teams. Use indoor facilities when possible because we saw the weather plays a factor this weekend, and that’s more of an issue in the spring and summer. Also, if we’re gonna be playing in June and July it’s better to be indoors where it can be under 80 degrees. I think the presentation in Lucas Oil is still as clean and pretty a production as there can be, I’d love to see them use the stadium for something like this. 
 

Part of the problem is trying to present this as a live event product instead of a television product. This is a television property. And with the networks involved, they have great television, and room for growth. Solidify this as a television property and the live event side will come in its own time. 

[Nancy]

I was always a big fan of the Arena Football League when it started in Indianapolis!  They had their season early spring and went partly through the summer.  Those are some of the most fun games I can remember for exciting indoor football.  So I'm down with spring football.  I'm not so down with watching all these NBA playoff games....that gets old to me; however, I will be watching the playoff finals.

Should be interesting this next weekend with the USFL and see what QB's show up since there were a few injuries.  Did you all see the 6'7" QB...I forget which team and I think his name was Justin ?.

[Myles]

On 4/18/2022 at 8:15 PM, holeymoley99 said:

Attendance was always going to be an issue with all games played in same city. Yesterday had a game of 103 tonite's has 22 fans

I would imagine that the one location is just for this season.

The football on the field was good and I will be watching the games going forward.  I haven't chosen a team to root for yet, but it will come.  

 

This weekends schedule:

https://www.theusfl.com/schedule

 

The TV ratings weren't bad considering They were going up against NHL and NBA playoffs as well as MLB.  Hopefully it grows.  

[holeymoley99]

27 minutes ago, Myles said:

I would imagine that the one location is just for this season.

The football on the field was good and I will be watching the games going forward.  I haven't chosen a team to root for yet, but it will come.  

 

This weekends schedule:

https://www.theusfl.com/schedule

 

The TV ratings weren't bad considering They were going up against NHL and NBA playoffs as well as MLB.  Hopefully it grows.  

Yes if it can make it to year two we will see the clubs move to their designed cities, we may also see a team or two move to a different city (Oakland Invaders, San Antonio Gunslingers ? ).  Paxton Lynch all 6'7 of him doesnt seem to have learned a thing after all this time, he struggled mightily at QB once again.

 

Looking for to New Orleans vs Tampa they seem to have the two best squads so far. Jordan Ta'amu (Tampa) forced a few things but he seems like a NFL backup qb to me, bounced around but he could stick somewhere. I expect him to hit his XFL numbers at least. Kyle Sloter (NO) started slow but found his groove, always had that NFL body just so raw since only played QB for 1 season in college. Davin Bellamy (NO) was unblockable from the DE spot, he caught a few eyes Im sure, another who bounced around the NFL, showed well in college at Georgia if he stays healthy he will get a contract somewhere.

[Nancy]

I think the games will be better this weekend!  Looking forward to them!

[Nancy]

Here's an interesting article from a friend of mine (Fran Stuchbury) that writes for OurSports Central.  I met him through the Arena Football League when he covered them.  Take a look! https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/around-the-usfl/n-5815418

[Myles]

On 4/21/2022 at 1:50 AM, Nancy said:

I think the games will be better this weekend!  

I'm pessimistic on that.  Only because I thought the games last weekend were all really good and mostly close games.  If there are a couple blowouts this weekend, it may not be better.  

 

I noticed that ESPN totally ignored the USFL.   Not mentioned at all.  But we all know that ESPN sucks.  They talked about the XFL, American football league and others.  

[Myles]

On 4/22/2022 at 6:58 AM, Myles said:

I'm pessimistic on that.  Only because I thought the games last weekend were all really good and mostly close games.  If there are a couple blowouts this weekend, it may not be better.  

 

I noticed that ESPN totally ignored the USFL.   Not mentioned at all.  But we all know that ESPN sucks.  They talked about the XFL, American football league and others.  

Not to toot my own horn, but there were a couple blowouts this weekend.  The football was still good.   Imagine how much better the ratings would be if ESPN wasn't purposely shunning it?

[Nancy]

The NO Breakers QB Kyle Sloter is doing awesome!  Kicking wasn't so hot during the games I saw.  I was on and off with the games doing stuff around the house so I didn't just sit there totally and watch it all!  I still enjoyed it alot!

 

[holeymoley99]

On 4/26/2022 at 1:43 AM, Nancy said:

The NO Breakers QB Kyle Sloter is doing awesome!  Kicking wasn't so hot during the games I saw.  I was on and off with the games doing stuff around the house so I didn't just sit there totally and watch it all!  I still enjoyed it alot!

 

Kicking was better this weekend though with the change of balls from chipped to non chipped.

[holeymoley99]

Ref to crowd at end of Birmingham vs New Orleans tonite..."Thats the F'ing game" they had to bleep it out,poor guy must have had a rough night. Good crowd for hometown unbeaten Stallions, Breakers a bit beat up with starting RB T.J Logan out, rosters so thin injuries really hurt.

[Myles]

I enjoyed the games again this weekend. 

[Nancy]

I hadn't been back on here but I did watch the games last weekend and this past weekend.  I thought there were a couple really competitive games.  Some things that come to mind:  How about that Scooby Wright on the Stallions?  He has the energy and spirit for sure...pretty good linebacker!

I forget the kicker's name but he missed the big kick on Sat to win the game for Michigan Panthers...oh his name is Michael Carrizosa....he better be gone by next week...they said he hadn't made any field goals since 8th grade!  Why is he even on the team??

Birmingham sure does have the fan support when they play which seems a little biased but I really like their team and I like the New Orleans Breakers too.  Houston can improve in there too...

The kicker today for one of the teams---maybe his name was Bertoli that had just been signed a few days ago.

I like QB McGough also.

Ok there is so much to talk about but looking forward to next week's games.  Just getting to know who is who and all that.

[Myles]

I recorder and watched a few games.  The games are typically very good.   Better than most college games but obviously not on par with the NFL.  I had said earlier that I think 8 players will make NFL teams, and I will stick with that number.  If the draft (and undrafted) class wasn't so strong this year, it might be 12 or so.  Aubrey, the Stallions kicker is 7/8 on field goals and 10/10 on XP's.  That may get him some try outs as there are always teams looking to improve their kicking game.  There are a few RB's who will get a shot to compete for a spot.  

Next Sat. the Breakers play the Generals.  Both are 3-1.   Should be a good game.

[holeymoley99]

A shame Breakers RB T.J. Logan was hurt and then released appeared to be the best RB in the league and New orleans has struggled a bit since he went out.  Mark Thompson is looking good and could garner an NFL look if his past off the field issues dont hurt him. Chris Odom is lighting it up with sacks, Channing Stribling (Former Colt) has 4 picks through 4 games. Kyle Sloter is playing very banged up but obvious he is an NFL backup still like he was before.

[Nancy]

Yes, Sloter is looking good also!  Sean Patterson always seems to be playing pretty good but he always seems to throw an interception at the end.  I agree, several will make an NFL team.  I don't know if Fisher is doing so good as the Michigan coach.  I find it good entertainment, but like I said, I loved the Arenafootball League and this fills the void for me with football at this time of the year!

 

[NFLfan]

On 4/22/2022 at 12:18 AM, Nancy said:

Here's an interesting article from a friend of mine (Fran Stuchbury) that writes for OurSports Central.  I met him through the Arena Football League when he covered them.  Take a look! https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/around-the-usfl/n-5815418

There is a forum member here whose nephew is a head coach in arena football. He was kind enough to offer to take me to a game but I never took the offer. I will have to attend a game one day. 

 

If the USFL is still playing, I will watch this weekend.

[NFLfan]

4 hours ago, Nancy said:

Yes, Sloter is looking good also!  Sean Patterson always seems to be playing pretty good but he always seems to throw an interception at the end.  I agree, several will make an NFL team.  I don't know if Fisher is doing so good as the Michigan coach.  I find it good entertainment, but like I said, I loved the Arenafootball League and this fills the void for me with football at this time of the year!

 

 

What team does Sloter play for? He had a cult following when he was a Vikings backup QB. So many of us, myself included, wanted us to keep him over Sean Mannion. I wanted him to eventually replace Cousins , but Coach Zimmer was not a fan of Sloter. I hope Sloter succeeds in the USFL. I liked him so much. 

 

[holeymoley99]

3 hours ago, NFLfan said:

 

What team does Sloter play for? He had a cult following when he was a Vikings backup QB. So many of us, myself included, wanted us to keep him over Sean Mannion. I wanted him to eventually replace Cousins , but Coach Zimmer was not a fan of Sloter. I hope Sloter succeeds in the USFL. I liked him so much. 

 

He plays for New Orleans, was one of the main reasons I tabbed them as the league favorite ( Some reason vegas had them as the longest shot and Sloter was the last starting QB drafted 8 of 8). They are 3-1 and 2nd overall currently so Vegas and the drafting coaches clearly missed the mark as Kyle leads the league in passing yards by quite a bit. It was reported he spent time in 26 of the 32 NFL teams camp at one time. 

[Myles]

4 hours ago, NFLfan said:

There is a forum member here whose nephew is a head coach in arena football. He was kind enough to offer to take me to a game but I never took the offer. I will have to attend a game one day. 

 

If the USFL is still playing, I will watch this weekend.

Friday at 8PM

Michigan 1-3 at Tampa Bay 2-2

USA

 

Saturday at 3PM

New Orleans 3-1 at New Jersey 3-1

FOX

 

Sunday at Noon

Birmingham 4-0 at Philadelphia 2-2

NBC

 

Sunday at 4PM

Pittsburgh 0-4 at Houston 1-3

FOX

 

 

[Nancy]

15 hours ago, NFLfan said:

There is a forum member here whose nephew is a head coach in arena football. He was kind enough to offer to take me to a game but I never took the offer. I will have to attend a game one day. 

 

If the USFL is still playing, I will watch this weekend.

Well unfortunately the Arenafootball League broke up a few years ago....and it was heartbreaking!  It was totally the All Fun League!  That's why I am enjoying the USFL and I'll follow the XFL when they ever start up.  You can google some arenafootball games on youtube if you want to check it out on how it was.  They had to kick the ball for points thru a 9 feet span!  They played on a 50 yd field!

[holeymoley99]

10 minutes ago, Nancy said:

Well unfortunately the Arenafootball League broke up a few years ago....and it was heartbreaking!  It was totally the All Fun League!  That's why I am enjoying the USFL and I'll follow the XFL when they ever start up.  You can google some arenafootball games on youtube if you want to check it out on how it was.  They had to kick the ball for points thru a 9 feet span!  They played on a 50 yd field!

Even though the Arena League went under there are many Indoor leagues still active across the country with the Indoor Football League being the highest quality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_Football_League

[NFLfan]

59 minutes ago, Nancy said:

Well unfortunately the Arenafootball League broke up a few years ago....and it was heartbreaking!  It was totally the All Fun League!  That's why I am enjoying the USFL and I'll follow the XFL when they ever start up.  You can google some arenafootball games on youtube if you want to check it out on how it was.  They had to kick the ball for points thru a 9 feet span!  They played on a 50 yd field!

 

He invited me to a game 3 years ago. I did not realize that was the last year of Arena Football. 

 

[NFLfan]

13 hours ago, holeymoley99 said:

He plays for New Orleans, was one of the main reasons I tabbed them as the league favorite ( Some reason vegas had them as the longest shot and Sloter was the last starting QB drafted 8 of 8). They are 3-1 and 2nd overall currently so Vegas and the drafting coaches clearly missed the mark as Kyle leads the league in passing yards by quite a bit. It was reported he spent time in 26 of the 32 NFL teams camp at one time. 

 

I was a huge fan of Sloter. We signed him again late last year. He may not be as talented as Cousins but he has a lot more guts and played to win. He and Teddy Bridgewater grew very close when they were both on the Vikings. I hope Sloter will be signed by an NFL team for next year.

[Nancy]

I thought Shea Patterson on the Michigan Panthers would be a great USFL player.  He seems to do things that don't work so well.  He sure can run the ball himself.  I always remember Shea because Brandon Peters QB that went to Avon High School in Avon and was brought to Michigan by Harbaugh and had to fight for the QB position but didn't work out too well; he really didn't get along with Harbaugh.  He then switched to the Illini and did way better.  Graduated this past year and he did have an open workout for the Colts not so long ago which I was excited about.  He did get signed by the L.A. Chargers as an undrafted free agent.  I am just hoping good for him...I've been watching him play practically in my backyard all through him going to Avon High!

[NFLfan]

I see that Kyle Lauletta also plays in the USFL. He had been drafted by the Giants 4 years ago and has been signed by other NFL teams but he can't seem to stay with one.

 

Is he playing or is he a backup on the USFL?

[Myles]

9 hours ago, holeymoley99 said:

Even though the Arena League went under there are many Indoor leagues still active across the country with the Indoor Football League being the highest quality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_Football_League

There used to be an indoor football team in Fort Wayne.   I would go to most of their games as it was fun to watch and the tailgating before the game was good.  They are no more.  

The USFL seems to be well organized although I haven't looked at their finances.   Seems much more stable than the XFL did. 

[holeymoley99]

11 hours ago, NFLfan said:

I see that Kyle Lauletta also plays in the USFL. He had been drafted by the Giants 4 years ago and has been signed by other NFL teams but he can't seem to stay with one.

 

Is he playing or is he a backup on the USFL?

He was a backup to Josh Love but the Maulers are struggling so bad they changed gears to Lauletta who has played awful thus far completed 47.3 % 0 tds and 2 ints......today Love was cut. Pittsburgh is a mess.

[NFLfan]

3 hours ago, holeymoley99 said:

He was a backup to Josh Love but the Maulers are struggling so bad they changed gears to Lauletta who has played awful thus far completed 47.3 % 0 tds and 2 ints......today Love was cut. Pittsburgh is a mess.

 

It sounds like QB play has been very bad in this league.

[Nancy]

A really good game this evening (Friday the 13th) between the Michigan Panthers and the Tampa Bay Bandits.  Jeff Fisher's team blew it again with a turnover in the very last minutes of the game where they would have tied it but coughed it up.  TBay got it back and took it down to the last seconds to win.  Both QB's - Shea Patterson and Ta'amu had pretty decent games but the turnovers got Michigan.  There were some "fights" that were funny that looked like a wrestling match.  I really enjoyed it.  Ready for the game tomorrow at 3 pm.  There is also a game on Sunday.  **One note - Fisher did get rid of that terrible kicker and signed another one which was good but it didn't come down to the kicker this game!