The Titans, USFL, and London

Last Sunday, the Tennessee Titans laid one of the biggest eggs this side of Easter; ostriches would have gawked at its size. Their 59-0 shellacking at the hands of the Patriots instigated questions not only about their quarterback, their coach, and their defense, but questioned the existence of any desire, pride, and attitude.

Two days later, ESPN showed the third film in its 30 for 30 series, "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?", which documented the three year run of a professional football league played in the U.S. to quite a bit of success in the early 1980s.

Today, the same New England Patriots who demolished the Titans are playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London, England. This is the third year in a row that the NFL has played a regular season game in London. Last year also saw a home game for the Buffalo Bills in Toronto. The first regular season game played outside of the U.S. was in 2005 when the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers played at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

I believe the NFL should seriously consider the convergence of these three happenings if they are interested in further branding and controlling their stranglehold on professional football in the U.S. and the world.

After almost a decade of league-wide parity, the 2009 season has produced vast chasms of separation between teams that have a chance at the Super Bowl and teams vying for tastiest entree for the others. Though this perceived disparity may be but an aberration in the parity era, it should prompt a serious look into an international, relegated spring football league.

Being but a toddler during the years of the USFL, I was not aware of the excitement, competitiveness, and potential that existed with that spring league. I had heard of it, especially having grown up in Alabama, where the Birmingham Stallions had succeeded on the field and in attendance. I also knew of NFL players who had played in this USFL, such as Steve Young, Hershel Walker, Reggie White, and Phil Simms.

But I didn't know why it folded and went away. According to "Small Potatoes", it was a combination of overexpansion (from 12 teams in year one to 18 in year two) and Donald Trump. It is widely believed that Trump since Trump couldn't buy into the NFL as an owner, he bought in to the USFL in hopes of a merger, so that he could get what he wanted. He was the voice and personality pushing for a move to the fall from the spring, believing it was the only way to survive financially. The USFL actually won an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, but was only awarded $3 in compensation, meaning that there wasn't money for them to actually field a league in the fall of 1986 as had been planned.

The players were released and the league was no more. A league that inspired great innovations, memories, and fun was swept away in part because of its desired move to compete head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. Other leagues have attempted to do lead spring leagues as well; the XFL, backed by Jim McMahon of the WWE, most notably went down this road, ending in failure. There are many reasons for the failures of these other leagues, all attempting to replicate the success found in the USFL, but no one's been able to do so.

I think the NFL could succeed. I think if any organization is going to succeed in the spring with professional football its going to be them. It's not as simple as starting a league with new cities and franchises, though there will be a need for those. Two other factors would have to be involved.

First, the NFL would need to institute league-wide relegation similar to that in soccer leagues, namely the English Premier League. Each year, a certain number of teams change divisions based on their performances; bottom teams from the top league move down while the top teams from a lower league move up. The Titans game from last Sunday demonstrates the awfulness of a game that is uncompetitive; after that performance, as much of a Titans fan as I am, they deserved to be relegated somewhere. Maybe Conference USA would work. This would serve as fuel for owners and teams during the season, even at the end when games between teams with poor records seem meaningless except for draft purposes.

Second, the NFL is trying to market its brand worldwide and this seems like a good step in that direction. Put a team in London, Mexico City, Toronto, and maybe even Tokyo. Let the spring league play a shorter season and possibly a more relaxed schedule, due to the travel. Add U.S. cities without NFL franchises that could potentially support one (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Antonio), plus the four or five worst NFL teams.

What you would get is a professional league not competing against the NFL, but with NFL ties to ensure quality. The league would allow the NFL to have a minor league and work on rule innovations and improve its product while further dominating the sports market. They could also throw in the caveat of allowing a team to refuse relegation moving up; if a team decided it was more profitable to play in the spring in its market (especially if there is a strong college football presence in the area), they would be allowed to stay in the spring league. Teams wouldn't be allowed to refuse relegation in moving down. Of course, a lot of things would need to get worked out, but I would think the NFL would jump at the opportunity to tackle a market before another league tried to.

Though this Starbucks model (if we're going to compete it might as well be against ourselves) might overextend the league, if it was done on a small scale (no more than eight or ten teams to begin with), progressed in a slow and deliberate manner, it might have a chance.

And if they really wanted to get crazy, they'd recruit college football programs to compete in preseason games. Bowl winners would get to be potential fodder or upset specialists in a pro game. Or imagine A-Day turning into a preseason spring league game, getting to see the team go all out in preview for the upcoming season. Can USC really compete with NFL-talent? Could a Boise State or TCU battle on a stage like that? Why not? Why not find out?

NFL, if you're listening, spring football should be your next frontier.