There have been several “football leagues” over the last couple of decades that were billed as competition for the CFL.



The quote marks were included because it was difficult to call them actual “football leagues.” Most of them were gone before you knew it, and some of them were toast before they even got off the ground. We’re looking at you, Major League Football.



The situation, however, appears to be different with the Alliance of American Football, which is slated to begin play in February. The co-founders, Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, are respected, the coaches are bona fide football men, there are reportedly some serious financial backers behind it, and players will apparently earn $250,000 over the length of their three-year deals.



Not only that, but some players over the last couple of months have said ‘no thanks’ to the CFL because they were waiting on a potential AAF deal or already had one. One anonymous...