Ebersol, the league CEO and son of former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, started working the phones and developing the business plan. Tech companies and former NFL stars got behind the product. Polian, who is staying in his role as an NFL analyst for ESPN, helped assemble personnel and coaching staffs with nearly 500 years of combined NFL experience.

A year later, the Alliance of American Football has a Feb. 9, 2019 launch date, a CBS contract, a Starter apparel deal, an eight-city blueprint, scheduled combines, a set of double-take football rules and 73-year-old Steve Spurrier.

The vision is clear: Keep the good times flowing in the late winter and spring with a league run by serious football people while learning from the failed attempts that came before it.

The USFL failed because it tried to overtake the NFL more than 30 years ago, defined more by lawsuits and undercut potential than its once star-studded rosters.nike nfl jerseys wholesale cheap

The XFL failed because efforts to sell sex, excessive violence and wrestling-like personalities didn’t resonate with viewers, though Vince McMahon is eyeing a 2020 XFL reboot.

Even the CFL isn’t a true complement.

But the Alliance has NFL people who care about the NFL’s well-being. It’s not a farm system, but it might involve shades of the NBA G League.

“Our objective is to take some of those people who can’t quite make it and make them into quality NFL players,” Polian said.

And the NFL wants on-the-bubble players to get reps elsewhere, Polian said. The Chicago Bears recently gave Phoenix general manager Phil Savage a list of prospects for him to watch closely during a scouting trip to Bourbonnais, Illinois.nfl cheap jerseys nike

“Since NFL Europe expired 10 years ago, there’s been a real desire and frustration by NFL personnel people that there’s a missing link as far as a developmental type league for prospects that weren’t quite ready,” said Savage, former general manager of the Cleveland Browns and Senior Bowl director.