harmonda Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 This may be obvious to some people or a bit of history I am behind on...but...Why don't they have minor league teams in the NFL just like they have for MLB? I mean...shouldn't that be a hugely valuable resource for player development, fan base expansion, etc.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff1647545513 Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 They do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 That seems to be a hot topic these days. The NCAA is the defacto minor league, and the popularity of the sport, and the amount of money it generates is heavily tied into the reason why we don't see a proper minor league. Some have suggested seperating the universities from the football programs in all but name(think licensing), which at first sounds appalling(especially in a place like Columbus), but when broken down, makes a lot of sense. Players would have the option of attending school, as opposed to being forced, they would be paid, the draconian and non-sensical rules of the astonishingly confusing NCAA rule book would no longer apply. It makes a lot of sense, so you can bet it won't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 The NFL had a meeting a couple weeks ago and is now looking at doing some form of "minor league" beyond college. It would be for those players who are not quite NFL ready right out of college, but given a couple years they could be solid performers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWW$HEEET Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 its called the CFL. that and indoor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sol740 Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 They do its called the CFL. that and indoor. I think the OP means a minor league that serves as direct access to the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 I think the OP means a minor league that serves as direct access to the NFL. UFL would be the closest anyway, seeing as how I think you have to have been drafted by the UFL, or held an NFL contract at some point in order to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 For a few seasons, the NFL was using NFL Europe as a minor league feeder type system. Honestly, I don't see it ever happeneing due to the fact that the NCAA is essentially a free, extremely high quality, and HUGE developmental tool for the NFL as it stands. NCAA football is a minor league with over 100(!) teams that has done an outstanding job of identifying and developing talent for the NFL to this point. Why invest millions to add perhaps another 20 teams to that in the form of a "NFL Minor League"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99FLHRCI Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 If NCAA is the minor leagues for NFL why isn't the NCAA the minor leagues for baseball? I had never really thought about football minor leagues but now that the question has been posed I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 There is minor league football. My uncle was QB for the Fury for a few years and I guess a few guys he threw too ended up in the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 If NCAA is the minor leagues for NFL why isn't the NCAA the minor leagues for baseball? I had never really thought about football minor leagues but now that the question has been posed I agree. Football is a relatively new sport, in relation to Baseball, whereas football was actually developed in college and THEN became a pro sport. There have been minor leagues in Baseball since long before NCAA baseball was ever a thing, so in that case, the minor league was very well developed already. Also, baseball, in the NCAA and Pros, don't have nearly as stringent rules regarding amatuer status. I have known several high schoolers who have been "drafted" by major league teams, but still gone on to play in college ball. Baseball in America is actually pretty analogous to Soccer in most other countries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonda Posted June 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 Ya, my reasoning for not considering NCAA football as a real minor league is all the restrictions around entering and leaving the system. To be really valuable you would need to be able to move players back and forth. This would also require direct ties to NFL teams so they can protect their resources. The players would benefit too because way too often you see a hot prospect from college end up failing right away in the NFL. Having a minor program to slide them back into for development may just help them reach their potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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