In a football offseason that's seen the XFL rise from the dead and the Alliance of American Football come to life, another league has kicked off its inaugural nationwide tournament in partnership with NFL Network.
The American Flag Football League has some additional help from Danny Wuerffel and a team of ex-Florida Gators.
Offering $1 million to the winner of what league founder Jeffrey Lewis once deemed the "American Idol" of flag football -- a 128-team bracket culminating in a "Pros vs. Joes" championship -- the AFFL is set to feature Wuerffel as a team captain starting in April.
That's according to the University of Florida themselves, who said the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has already recruited seven other Florida football alumni and is holding open tryouts for as many as five additional Gainesville-area players at the Gators' indoor practice facility this week. Wuerffel's team is set to make its debut on April 15 in Bradenton, according to the university.
A two-time national passing leader and 2013 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Wuerffel and his fellow ex-Gators, including former Chicago Bears safety Major Wright and Florida track star Frankie Hammond Jr., aren't the only big names to connect with the AFFL.
Former Heisman candidate and Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young recently threw for eight touchdowns in two tournament games, but his team failed to advance to the next round of the AFFL bracket. Four different professional teams, one of which will be featured in the league's first-ever title game, are also captained by big names like Michael Vick and Chad Johnson.
Eleven different AFFL games will be televised by NFL Network in 2018, a year after the pro flag league got its start with a pilot launch game in California.
