New football leagues seem to come about every number of years. Some find a way to stick around for awhile (see NFL Europe or the Arena League) others make some news but don't stick around for to long (USFL, XFL) and then others just never really happen. For the UFL, a new football league aimed to begin kick off in August of 2009, they hope to stay for a long time. For those not sure of what the UFL is, it's pretty simple. The United Football League is a professionalAmerican Football league being organized by William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the USFL's Oakland Invaders, and Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google. The commissioner of the league is Michael Huyghue, former NFL agent. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, was the first to publicly profess interest in owning a franchise. The league will have 6-8 teams, a $20 million salary cap for players, and will play on Friday nights in the fall. There is still a lot of football people crave and lately the NFL has really been the No Fun League. Of course, for this new venture to succeed it needs what has made the NFL, players. Peyton Manning or Terrell Owens won't be suiting up for the UFL anytime soon, but these players would certainly help.
5) Mark Grieb,quarterback. Not a house hold name by any means, but certainly a legend in Arena football circles. The UFL should try and bring in fans not only from the NFL, but other leagues as well. Grieb has won multiple championships with the San Jose Sabercats and a long long time ago was once a starter for the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws. He is a 2 time Arena Bowl MVP and would add both leadership and experience to the new UFL.
4) Shaun Alexander, running back. While his NFL career is finished after being released by the Redskins this week, Alexander still has some football left. He is no longer the player that was the MVP of the league a few seasons ago, he isn't the guy that was on the cover of Madden 2007, and he isn't the player that was a first round draft pick in 2000. Still, his on field qualities may have diminished over time, due to injuries and offensive line troubles, but he would be the perfect league spokesman. Some have criticized his toughness and his determination (his play slipped after attaining a huge contract) but he has a great personality and has never had off field issues. A starter no more, he would help the UFL get off to a good start.
3) Simeon Rice, defensive end. The former star defensive end for the Tampa Bay Bucs has plenty of gas still left in the tank. "I'm anxious to play," Rice said. "It's what I do. I'm not [accustomed] to sitting around." Rice is a 3 time pro bowler and in 2002 won the Super Bowl. He has 121 career stats which ranks first among active NFL players (despite the fact he hasn't been on an NFL roster in a year). Rice is 34 years old, but he is still in excellent shape and would immediately add name recognition and a pass rushing force to any UFL team that would choose to employ him.
2) Byron Leftwhich, quarterback. The former Marshall and Jaguars star quarterback has fallen on hard times. Last year he was released just prior to the season opener and found himself on a terrible Falcons team. This year Leftwhich wasn't on an NFL team until August when he had a contract, and then signed with, the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a 23-6 win over Washington earlier this year he filled in for the injured Ben Roethlisberger and was 7 of 10 for 129 yards with no turnovers. He can still play and for what could be for the first time in his NFL career he is healthy. His deal with the Steelers was for only 1 year and he will be eligible for free agency come March. Leftwhich would be the perfect type of player to build this league around and he is a very like-able guy. Someone needs to convince to wait until August before playing again.
1) Alex Smith, quarterback. No Mike Vick here. The UFL should jump on this guy the moment he is released by the 49ers come next March. Smith is due to make over $9 million and there is no way the 49ers will keep him around. Injuries and inconsistent play should prevent the 49ers from attempting to restructure his deal and instead cut away the former number 1 pick from the 2005 draft. Why would the UFL want a cast off such as this? It's simple. Potential. Smith was a star at Utah and if the new league does in fact to decide to place a franchise in the state of Utah what better star to send their than Alex Smith? He had a tremendous following with the Utes and was a Heisman favorite entering that 2004 season. in 2006 with the 49ers Smith started all 16 games and threw for nearly 3000 yards with 16 touchdowns, it has just been injuries and inconsistency that have kept him down. A return to the starting lineup, actually being healthy, and giving him time are all things that could pay off in the end. Not to mention he is just 24 years old. Put him into an offense such as the one he had in college and he could thrive. This guy is marketable.
