AFL Arena Football League

An Open Letter to Jerry Kurz and Arena Football

by Dean Jackson
Published on September 28, 2009 under Arena Football League (AFL)


I'm very excited about what could come from the new version of Arena Football. The spirit that built a brand new sport from scribbles on an envelope to a sixth major-league team sport hopefully will take hold and be stronger than ever.

I applaud your Lazarus-like comeback and I think you, Jerry, will get it done, and done right.

Jerry, you brought stability and credibility to af2. You led the impetus to take the game internationally with exhibition games abroad and at home. More than a few people called you "The Johnny Appleseed of Arena Football." You were constantly planting seeds and spreading the good news of the game.

When others would be considering retirement, you remained hard at work. Thank you for staying the course and staying in the saddle. Continue to guard the vision for the original game, and for what it could be.

Please talk less about the sizzle of this dynamic, media-friendly sport that has taken the country by storm. We all know what the sport is. Instead, focus on stability, consistency and quality of the product and organizations.

Jerry, no one is fiercer about protecting the Arena Football brand. It may be a modest product, but it will be a consistent, professional product. You know what you get when you come to a game.

Please stop all talk about making the league a feeder system for the National Football League. If Arena players go there, fine. But this league needs to be its own. No rumored options to make the league a minor league system. No talk of NFL indoor. Keep the league from getting too big for its britches.

If the guys like Bon Jovi, John Elway and Jerry Jones want in, make them adapt to your game. The game has to survive on its own.

Keep player salaries from topping $200 thousand dollars. There won't be crazy operating budgets. Instead, you'll find an intense scrutiny over how league money is spent.

Make the league more like the AFL of the late 1980's or early 1990's. Finally the game will have less of the big-time player attitudes by players. We want to see guys who are thrilled to be playing the game. Allow in-season player transactions. af2 was billed as a developmental league for the AFL, but the players union outlawed in-season call ups.

Please return to the Ironman concept. Make it more of Jim Foster's vision, and less the high-energy, high-profile objectives of David Baker.

At the end of the day, you'll have a lot of work cut out for you. You'll have to be even more fan focused than the AFL was in its final three years. The league will have to worry less about national television, and more about local fans in the arenas.

Don't concern yourself with creating another version of the Arena Football League. There is too much disorganization between the 'new-wave' owners themselves to come up with any on-field product. Teams like Grand Rapids may talk about waiting for the right league. They may talk about returning to the level of the AFL, but it isn't going to happen.

Don't let their reluctance discourage you. These guys can't argee on what time to meet for lunch. Arena Football I is the last best choice for a once great game.

I wish you luck. Hundreds of thousands of fans will be there waiting if you do it right.

Dean Jackson has broadcast Arena and indoor football and hosted the popular "Under the Roof," a weekly podcast devoted to indoor and Arena football on OurSports Central from 2005 to 2007.

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Arena Football League Stories from September 28, 2009


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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