Joint Practices, Training Camps and Friendly Gestures have all reached their finish line.
Blackmon Arrested for DUI, Rice Blocked from AAF
January 15, 2016
Stamford, CT - Seattle Dragons troubled WR Justin Blackmon was arrested for a DUI in his hometown Ardmore, Oklahoma on December 19, 2015. Today, he was suspended indefinitely from the AAF.
Vince McMahon commented on the news earlier this morning,
"Justin has had plenty of chances to get his life in order in the NFL and he wasn't able to do it. He's a selfish individual. We don't want selfish individuals in our league. I don't want any players like that in our league.”
McMahon blocked the drafting and signing of Ray Rice earlier this offseason by the Memphis Express. The Express is coached by Rice's former coaches Greg Schiano and Kyle Flood. Rice was arrested for domestic violence in August of 2014 and subsequently released by the Baltimore Ravens on September 8, 2014.
Year One of the Alliance League is a Go
January 30, 2016
Austin, TX - Brian Woods and Oliver Luck met with the press one last time before the opening kickoff of the inaugural AAF season. The teams all finished up training camp and joint practices yesterday, and now the players have all been sent home to enjoy family time for a week before they're off to their designated cities to begin the season.
Woods began the presser by announcing that the roster for the Austin Generals, have also been put together,
“The Austin Generals have been finalized. Our teams will greatly benefit from having the Generals around. The coaches hired will be used to develop our younger prospects in the league. These are some of the best developers in the profession.”
The Austin Generals will be led by Marty Schottenheimer. The one time San Diego Chargers Head Coach has coached since 2011 with the United Football League but has over 40 years of professional experience under his belt. Joining him on the Generals' staff is Kurt Schottenheimer, Bart Andrus, Jerry Glanville, Terry Shea and Turk Schonert.
The forty man General roster includes young prospects such as QBs Chandler Harnish, Phillip Simms, Jake Heaps, Shane Carden, Dustin Vaughn and Pat Devlin, RBs Johnny White, Clifton Smith, Alex Green and Edwin Baker, WRs Evan Spencer, Stephen Hill, Jerry Rice Jr., Marvin McNutt, L'Damien Washington and Damian Williams, TE Adrien Robinson and LB Adrian Hubbard.
Oliver Luck also told the crowd of over two hundred that the league was sitting in a great situation financially,
“We sold our Birmingham franchise a few months ago, accepted an expansion bid for 2017 last month, and now we have sold two more of our original franchises, Memphis and Miami. Frederick Smith, is a great addition to the league and we're excited to see where that takes the Express. However, we're still waiting to finalize paperwork for the Miami franchise, and that will be a news story that AAF fans will enjoy.”
Frederick W. Smith, the Chairman and CEO of FedEx, the Memphis based company, former minority Owner of the Washington Redskins, and former Owner of the World League of American Football's (WLAF) and Canadian Football League's (CFL) Memphis Mad Dogs in 1995 along with the ownership group of FedEx Sports LLC has purchased the Memphis Express for $10M. Smith will also be responsible for the salaries of the players and staff already in place, and the stadium lease of the Memphis franchise.
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