Goodell Interested In Launching New Developmental League

BasX · Mar 26, 2009

With NFL Europe a defunct ghost of the past, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is brainstorming about establishing a new developmental league as he contemplates expanding the regular season and cutting into the preseason schedule.

According to the Associated Press, there’s no current agenda afoot to launch a developmental league. However, it’s definitely on Goodell’s wish list.

“The way we look at the developmental league would be mostly in the offseason where players could get those reps and then have the opportunity to play in the NFL as they work into the season,” Goodell said. “That’s the key. That’s what we did with the NFL Europe structure, for example. That would be valuable, I think, as you look at how we develop our players.”

Of course, NFL Europe was canceled in 2007 as it lost roughly $30 million annually.

Now, the league is concentrating on developing international interest by putting on regular-season games outside the United States.

Goodell said there was some confusion as to whether NFL Europe was intended to be strictly a developmental league or utilized as an international marketing tool.

“If it was a developmental league, it should be done for that purpose, for the purpose of developing players,” Goodell said. “So, the commercial aspects, the international aspects, I think those would become secondary.

“That was my issue primarily with NFL Europe was that, what objective was it trying to meet? Was it trying to develop players? Was it trying to grow our game internationally, trying to be a commercial success?”

Of course, Goodell’s desire to start a new developmental league will require cooperation from the NFL Players Association. And labor unrest is in the air in the NFL.

“In the 2006 extension of the labor agreement, we lost any support from the players in respect to funding,” Goodell said. “So, the economics became dramatically different. That was the major reason why we decided to terminate it.

“So, I think all of those things would have to be factored in and, of course, this would be part of the discussions of the collective bargaining process.”

It seems like such a long time ago that Kurt Warner was allocated to NFL Europe by the St. Louis Rams.

In 1998, Warner wound up leading NFL Europe in touchdown passes and passing yardage with the Amsterdam Admirals. His backup was future Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Jake Delhomme.
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http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/03/25/goodell-interested-in-launching-new-developmental-league/

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