So I hope everyone tuned in to watch the inaugural week of The Alliance of American Football!

It was…not too bad!

I honestly really enjoyed it. I was extremely worried it would basically be Arena Football, which is honestly kinda garbage and stupid. But it felt and looked like legitimate NFL ball. Actually outside the QB play, it could have passed for normal football. It was kind of like watching week 4 of preseason, where all the guys are on the bubble just playing their hearts out and doing their best. It was so much more watchable than I think anyone expected, and nobody I know who tuned in was particularly disappointed. If you miss football already and could use a sort of fix, this developmental league is a pretty decent hit.

Some random thoughts:

-GO APOLLOS
-The first TD of the entire league was a contested, questionable catch. It was amazing. Then the AAF did something that immediately made it better than the NFL. It gave us a camera and audio on the booth review official. We listened to her actual thought process with transparency. It was fantastic. We saw the very moment she changed her mind to catch.
-Overall the rule changes were all positive. The lack of kickoffs made things feel faster, though it was kinda weird.
-The QB play was bad but the defensive play was actually quite fun to watch.
-The refs held back on a lot of things that would have been obvious flags in the NFL. If you like big hits and lament their loss, this league definitely has your back
-The 35 second play clock wasn’t terribly noticeable
-It’s a really fun league for recognizing old players you forgot about. Just this weekend I heard and saw Will Hill, Trent Richardson, Demontre Moore, Matt Asiata, and Younghoe Koo. In fact Koo scored the first points in AAF history.
-The two point conversion requirement owns
-Generally the rule differences feel like testing the waters for potential changes in the NFL
-Having CBS production vales certainly helped. I’m interested to see how well it holds up on weaker boradcasts to see how much broadcasts actually help.
-Christian Hackenberg still sucks lol
-The logos are kinda generic but mostly okay. The uniforms are a bit goofy but pretty solid. Many of them have two-tone helmets, and they look great, making the Jaguars abortion even more embarrassing.

If you have nothing to watch, and an AAF game is on, I recommend it. It’s watchable, fun football. It won’t wow you, but it will scratch that football itch and make the offseason far more bearable.