# AAF 1 (football) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 10, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272 "2019-02-10T05:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/181 "2019-05-05T22:13:55Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > While walking to the train from my office today, I saw a woman wearing a San Diego Fleet sweatshirt, and I thought to myself, "I have to believe that there’ll be some behind-the-scenes journalism going on, about what went wrong with the AAF. > > And, in fact, there’s [a long-form article on SI.com](https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/04/30/alliance-american-football-aaf-collapse-charlie-ebersol-tom-dundon) this week, by Conor Orr, on it. A few key bits: > > - Tom Dundon apparently had no interest at all in the tracking / wagering smartphone app (which turned out to not have lived up to its initial promises before the plug was pulled). > - The AAF was forced to bring in Dundon when one of their initial investors, Reggie Fowler, wound up having his bank accounts frozen, when he was charged with bank fraud. > - When Dundon came on board, he forced Charlie Ebserol off of the league’s board of directors. > - The league filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, “claiming some $11 million in assets against $48 million in liabilities. Cash on hand: $536,160.68.” Omg thank you so much for this. I was hoping/waiting for just this type of article. The E:60 and/or 30 for 30 on this is goign to be awesome too ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/182 "2019-05-05T22:25:37Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Omg thank you so much for this. I was hoping/waiting for just this type of article. > > The E:60 and/or 30 for 30 on this is goign to be awesome too Totally agreed. Also, a paragraph I’d missed the first time I’d read through the SI article: “It may have been due diligence on the television front, however, that eventually helped inform Dundon’s decision to shut it all down before his investment reached nine figures. According to a high-level sports exec from one of the four major networks, Dundon called to ask about the Alliance’s TV future. What he learned: While it wouldn’t necessarily always be this way, the AAF would have to continue paying to be on the air for the foreseeable future.” Read that one again: the AAF was on CBS, TNT, and the NFL Network, but they weren’t making any money from that – in fact, the league was apparently paying for that airtime. Doing so was clearly an investment in the league’s future, by generating visibility and accessibility, but it was also clearly an expense that Dundon decided was too much to continue to bear. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/183 "2019-05-06T15:58:26Z")
So it was all the fault of some asshole who was doing illegal things? Yeah. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/184 "2019-05-06T18:24:52Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So it was all the fault of some asshole who was doing illegal things? > > Yeah. Makes sense. Seems like it. If that guy hadn’t got busted, Dundon wouldn’t have been in charge, and things may have gone a different path completely. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/185 "2019-05-06T18:30:58Z")
That article still doesn’t explain why Dundon bought in, unless it was speculation or just a hobby and he didn’t feel the need to do any due diligence. It was all going to fail about then anyway, the only question was how. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/186 "2019-05-13T20:17:20Z")
Here’s [a follow-up article on SI.com](https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/05/08/alliance-of-american-football-aaf-collapse-more-stories-bill-murray-marshawn-lynch), again by Conor Orr. It’s a series of anecdotes, which were shared with him by former AAF insiders, after the release of last week’s article. The biggest takeaway I get from the new article is that the people who were on the groud – the coaching staffs, the front office people with the teams, and the players – all loved football, and were willing to make sacrifices to give the league a chance, but eventually discovered that they could no longer trust the league’s management. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/187 "2019-05-14T15:31:48Z")
That’s one of those stories that you’d think would be planted by a PR firm, or from Charlie Ebersol to make the fans/people sympathetic to the AAF’s plight. But for some reason I think these were genuine stories and quotes coming from a genuine place from Conor Orr. So sad, man. I hope one player from the AAF makes it to the NFL to carry that banner ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/188 "2019-05-14T16:50:33Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So sad, man. I hope one player from the AAF makes it to the NFL to carry that banner I found a web site that tracks which AAF players got signed to NFL teams: > **[AAF to the NFL: Find out what players signs where, AAF to NFL Tracker](https://nfldraftdiamonds.com/2019/04/aaf-players-2/)** > > Est. reading time: 3 minutes There are a lot. By my count almost 50 players have signed with a team. I’m not counting the “expecting to sign” players. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/189 "2019-05-14T18:31:26Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I found a web site that tracks which AAF players got signed to NFL teams: > [https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2019/04/aaf-players-2/](https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2019/04/aaf-players-2/) > > There are a lot. By my count almost 50 players have signed with a team. I’m not counting the “expecting to sign” players. I guess I should have specified, I meant “makes and plays on an NFL team”. I want SOMETHING of the league to be a success… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/190 "2019-05-14T18:51:58Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I guess I should have specified, I meant “makes and plays on an NFL team”. > > I want SOMETHING of the league to be a success… Yes, it’ll remain to be seen who gets cut by the end of preseason, who is on the practice squad, who is just added to a roster for “depth”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/191 "2019-05-14T19:23:56Z")
The AAF MVP \*may \*stick with the Browns as the 3rd QB. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/192 "2019-05-14T21:55:17Z")
not sure why anyone thought this would work even though they played in the spring. None of the other spring FB leagues made it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/193 "2019-05-14T22:17:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - The league filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, “claiming some $11 million in assets against $48 million in liabilities. Cash on hand: $536,160.68.” They could have made the next week’s payroll. Dundon panicked! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272/194 "2019-05-15T20:24:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > not sure why anyone thought this would work even though they played in the spring. None of the other spring FB leagues made it. By all accounts it WOULD have worked if dudebro hadn’t been a thief and not gotten seized by the feds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaf-1-football/829272.md?page=9)