NFL Regular Season Games Overseas: Good or Bad Idea?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by SantanaMan

Because the fans know its a poor product being put out - like people have said in this thread the teams need more homegrown talent, something to have a real connection with. Right now the teams are made from cast offs that are highly unlikely to remain on NFL rosters, theres been a few great stories (such as Kurt Warner, etc), but on the whole its not as big a "developmental league" as it had been touted as.
A higher quality of players from stateside would also help as NFL teams pretty much send players it think CAN'T play and asks them to be proven wrong, rather than players that they think can play and want to watch develop. NFLE would have been perfect for Tayor Jacobs to work in gametime stuff to try and improve.
Even NFL practice squads at times have better players!
I have held a long time thought that NFLE could and should be used by players who have fallen out fo favor in the NFL (or lost their roster spot but feel they can still play in the NFL) to use it as a spring board back, say a Trung Canidate/Ryan Leaf (bad examples, but you get the idea) or whatever to say "hey I still got it", maybe get noticed and get a job back in the bigs. The added name recognition alone of these players would boost the league let alone their ability above and beyond what was already available.
However, would the NFL take what stats these players make serious given the lower standard of play, would a ex-NFLer who's lost his job swallow his pride enough to drop down in an attempt to get back up or would he rather just walk away without "lowering himself". There are a few who have, Eric Crouch and Akili Smith - names fans can recognise rather than joe schmoe from A&B college - but on the whole not enough to make a huge difference.

that's what the CFL is for. that's where mike sellers went, where ron warner went (after the skins released him recently), where ricky williams went, where warren moon cut his teeth, etc. NFLe is more for learning special teams

[bedlamVR]

Why are the NFLE stadiums half empty ...at the moment it is a cast off league... If the NFLE games were held in the US the attendance would be even lower ... serriously would yu pay to watch a bunch of scrubs not even good enough to play and train with a real NFL team?

It wouldn't be so bad if the NFLE teams where primarily made up of Europeans and there may be some consistancy there and if the coaches and players stayed more than a couple of years and if the NFL didn't stop taking teams away from countries and possibly made sure that the press in the individual countries put out information like the world bowl in Scotland a few years back no one knew about.

The anoying thing is the NFLE could be an exceptional tool if it was as more of a feeder league for the NFL like the collage system is in the US if the NFL hooked up with univerisites and collages in Europe to get them to run exchange scollerships for American students on sports and cultural basis.

There is an underestimation of how popular the sport is worldwide by the American people . I am not asking for a NFL world cup but it is a smart thing to do if it makes Football a world game to play outside the US once in a while.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by bedlamVR

It wouldn't be so bad if the NFLE teams where primarily made up of Europeans and there may be some consistancy there and if the coaches and players stayed more than a couple of years and if the NFL didn't stop taking teams away from countries and possibly made sure that the press in the individual countries put out information like the world bowl in Scotland a few years back no one knew about.

The anoying thing is the NFLE could be an exceptional tool if it was as more of a feeder league for the NFL like the collage system is in the US if the NFL hooked up with univerisites and collages in Europe to get them to run exchange scollerships for American students on sports and cultural basis.

yes exactly Bedlam. the secret is getting europeans PLAYING, not just watching. the reason they don't fill the stadiums is because they are watching foreigners who are unknown even in their own country. thats why real NFL games would be a great showcase of football at its very best, and it'd get the ball rolling.

i remember like one actual european per team in the NFLE, forget that, give them a reason to cheer for, make it LOCAL. they should all be european, maybe with american coaches until there are enough european ones. but are there enough europeans players?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by illdefined

but are there enough europeans players?

no. it's like american soccer in the 70s right when pele came over. none of the american players were any good, so good teams were made by hiring from outside the US.

[illdefined]

SantananMan, your posts have been fascinating. how did you become such a Redskins fan?

i think i was the first poster here to want this to happen, i think american football has evolved into one of the relatively few genuinely american art forms (remember the U.S. is only 230yrs old!) like jazz, and it should be appreciated world-wide.

may sound hokey, but its not. i dont know any other sport that is as fiercely physical as it is cerebral (John Madden not withstanding) and i think it'd be a good american contribution to the world.

maybe it needs a name for those outside of the U.S. like 'soccer' is futbol to us? what could they call it?

[SantanaMan]

Originally Posted by illdefined

SantananMan, your posts have been fascinating. how did you become such a Redskins fan?

i think i was the first poster here to want this to happen, i think american football has evolved into one of the relatively few genuinely american art forms (remember the U.S. is only 230yrs old!) like jazz, and it should be appreciated world-wide.

may sound hokey, but its not. i dont know any other sport that is as fiercely physical as it is cerebral (John Madden not withstanding) and i think it'd be a good american contribution to the world.

maybe it needs a name for those outside of the U.S. like 'soccer' is futbol to us? what could they call it?

I became a fan somewhere around 1989/1990 (about 12/13 years old), years before that I had remembered kids in school saying about a "superbowl", new england patriots vs chicago bears, but at the time it meant nothing to me, but around 1989 or thereabouts I must have gotten my first taste of football and got hooked.
I remember staying up late (remember we are 5 hours ahead of EST here!) to watch the Scott Norwood wide right SB so I must have been a fan by that time.
I think it was a kid who worked in my dads shop who introduced me to the game by telling when when it was on TV (at that point a 1 hour highlights show and thats it) and lending me "TV Sports Football" the video game.
I obviously watched it and played the game and got hooked, how I came to be a Redskins fan is unclear,probably due to me always having had a fascination for Indians and I probably saw them on TV and thought "cool" (thank god I didn't see the chiefs first!). At that time teams like the Giants, Redskins, Dolphins, 49ers would have been shown a lot hence why they have larger longterm fanbases in the UK (though with increased coverage we are seeing a lot of Patriots fans about recently, hmmm).

I got John Madden Football (the first of the series) an from there I slowly learnt the game (as 1 hour a week can only teach so much), with increased coverage/internet in the mid 90's my learning curve got accelerated and well, here I am today!
Seeing as I had no alliegance to any sporting team until I found football and the Redskins, the Redskins became "my team" and that has continued today, theres not another sport/team that I love more than NFL and the Redskins!

Football is apprecaited worldwide nowadays and the NFL is held as the standard that all sporting leagues should aspire to.

Outside of USA, football is referred to as "American Football" so as to not confuse it with the "other" football in these countries, as I am discussing the sport on a football forum I obviously can drop the american (and only have to use it to fellow foriegners to explain that my sport of choice isn't the one that consists of Man Utd/Barcelona/etc).

Geez my posts have been lengthy recently, apologies for the verbal explosion that has occourred recenly, but I guess it allows you guys a little glimpse into my world as a foriegn NFL and Redskins fan.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by SantanaMan

Seeing as I had no alliegance to any sporting team until I found football and the Redskins, the Redskins became "my team" and that has continued today, theres not another sport/team that I love more than NFL and the Redskins!

that's a great story, thanks SantanaMan. don't sweat the long posts, people here seem to love them as long as they're good. TV Sports Football with Mike Ditka? man that game BLEW compared to Madden I, glad you stuck it all the way through.

i would love a world where American Football was truly international, christ, could you imagine the Samoan Team??

[Big C]

terrible idea. simple as that

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by Big C

terrible idea. simple as that

great argument

[Big C]

Originally Posted by illdefined

great argument

thanks ho

[illdefined]

sigh take that young shit to extreme

[Big C]

Originally Posted by illdefined

sigh take that young shit to extreme

lol whats that supposed to mean

[illdefined]

is there a smilie for 'not much to it?'

[The Zimmermans]

I LOVE IT, maybe the redskins will find a QB or some defensive aggressiveness overseas.........................JK

[That Guy]

lawrence philips, hah! i think he hit NFLe after flunking out of the NFL and CFL. I think he's been kicked out of every paying league ever.