Many Steelers fans pay close attention to the NFL, but there is constant competition trying to give the league a run for its money.
The NFL has been the most successful organization to handle the sport of football. There have been many different copycats over their history that have tried to rival and challenge them. All of them have failed thus far, but there are still some willing to try and find a place for another organized football league.
Both the USFL and XFL are trying to make a comeback soon. The USFL is returning after it folded decades ago. They will try to make their own competitive business against the NFL, and many don’t see it lasting too long.
The Pittsburgh Maulers are back and that could pique the interest of football fans that root for the Steelers. The USFL will begin playing games on Saturday, April 16, with the Maulers re-launching into a game on April 17. It will be fun to have some more football on TV but trying to keep a new league afloat is a tough task to pull off.
Many football fans know about the XFL and the fun league that they had in the 90s. That was a good product, but it just couldn’t last like many other leagues before it. They tried coming back in 2020, but that didn’t last long under different circumstances, like the pandemic.
They will return as locations of teams will still be announced as some former Steelers will be head coaches. There will be some former players that will likely join the league as well, with the goal of making it back onto an NFL roster. The XFL still has a lot of work ahead of them before they start broadcasting games at some point in 2023.
World Football League (WFL)
The WFL was a new football league that wanted to push the NFL immediately. The idea was to make a worldwide operation that could expand the game of football. It also wanted to create a new salary opportunity for players in the NFL that felt that their contracts were unfair.
They did accomplish that task as they got some big-name players at the time to sign contracts with some of their teams. Ken Stabler signed with the Birmingham Americans and John Gilliam, a pro bowler for the Minnesota Vikings at the time, signed with the Hawaiians. None of them would actually play with those teams.
The WFL never got to push the envelope and raise their contract amounts enough to compete against the NFL. They did help players like Stabler and others to re-up with their NFL clubs on a better contract. They were not able to field any headline names on gamedays and couldn’t continue their expansion.
They only lasted a season and a half before they folded. They had a vision to expand the game of American football past the coast of the 50 states that it called home. They couldn’t accomplish that as they couldn’t get any further than Hawaii. They did set the mindset of getting other countries involved as the NFL is trying to get more games in different countries around the world.
Alliance of American Football (AAF)
Alliance of American Football was a startup league that saw financial backing from former players. They got some interesting names that entered their draft that were looking for another shot at the NFL level. Many did not know what to expect from the eight teams that would play in this league.
This was the first league to compete with the NFL in a while and they had high hopes. They would have their season start right after the conclusion of the Super Bowl and the NFL season to hopefully see some high numbers in ratings. Their only competition in the football market at the time was the Canadian Football League (CFL).
There were many Steelers connections that played this league as they tried to get noticed. Some names included Eli Rogers, Terence Garvin, J.C. Hassenauer, Travis Feeney, Mike Vick (offensive coordinator), and Doran Grant just to name a few. There were many recognizable names that participated in this league only for it to fail rapidly.
It wouldn’t last an entire season and would fold only a couple of months into its inaugural season. It was an interesting league that gave players and coaches a chance to get noticed by the NFL. It did work in that regard as many personnel got a chance to go back into the NFL and get another shot.
World League of American Football (WLAF)/NFL Europe
The WLAF was formed by the NFL as a spring league that could help develop players before the season began. Owners of different franchises funded this league and found it interesting to allow for another operation to take over and allow for their players to develop before coming to training camp. Not only was development the idea for coaches and players, but expansion of the game was on the mind as well.
There were ten teams in the WLAF that consisted of three divisions. It was a revolutionary idea to get the game of football into different countries around the world. There were four teams that were in different countries that included Canada, Spain, Germany, and England.
The league would later evolve into NFL Europe and NFL Europa and fold their North America teams. There were many different talented players and coaches that would come out of this and get a lot of experience. Some of them had Steelers connections and great careers in the black and gold.
Jim Haslett would become the defensive coordinator for the Steelers after his stint in the WLAF as the head coach of the Sacramento Surge. James Harrison would play in NFL Europe before he became a sack master for Pittsburgh. Even big names like Kurt Warner, Adam Vinateri, and William “The Refrigerator” Perry played in this league before it ultimately folded in 2007.
XFL
The XFL has been one of the more successful football leagues that tried to compete with the NFL in the past. They were able to make a product on a field that was fun and entertaining to watch. Their first season was successful before it folded and ceased operations in 2001.
The best traits were getting these players that participated in the league another shot at the NFL. Tommy Maddox would go on to sign with the Steelers and win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. There were other players that would get NFL contracts, but Maddox was the standout.
Rumors started swirling years later that the XFL was looking to make a comeback and they did in 2020. They brought teams full of NFL castaways both on the field and the coaches on the sidelines. Many saw this as a tryout for each person there.
The Steelers would sign different players that would get a chance to make the team in training camp. The most notable was Christian Kuntz, who became the starting long snapper ever since. It was a league that has a crazy story with some fun history that is not done yet.
The Covid pandemic hit them hard, and they were forced to shut down operations in the middle of their opening season. They are getting ready to start up again and play in 2023 as they try to comeback yet again. Hopefully, they are as interesting and fun so they can stick around this time.
United States Football League (USFL)
The USFL is back after decades of being dead. The league’s first stint lasted from 1982-1986. It is being resuscitated and some original teams are making a comeback to the league. It is going to be interesting to watch this league try and bring itself into relevancy after a failed start years ago. The Steelers are no longer the only professional football team that will call Pittsburgh home.
The Pittsburgh Maulers are one of the teams coming back as the USFL starts broadcasting games starting this weekend, with Pittsburgh playing on Sunday. All the teams will be located in one central area before they can work out the logistics of having teams move to their home cities. It brings along some new rules and circumstances in a football game that will make it unique.
The different rules and plays will allow them to differentiate from the NFL and their competition. Those things help and trying to continue the game of football throughout the year as they play in the spring should also help with its success. Many people love the game and still crave it after the Super Bowl is over and there are roughly six months without an NFL game on TV.
Former Steelers will be involved in this league as well since 11 former players were selected in the draft. Some of those names include Brian Allen, Dravon Askew-Henry, Paxton Lynch, and others who were selected to play in the inaugural comeback season. This seems like another pathway for players to get back into the NFL, but hopefully, the USFL will be more successful this time around.
The NFL and the Steelers have seen many leagues come and go over the years. Some fans might have been reminded of some football history with this article.