Just because the Super Bowl is over doesn’t mean that Syracuse Orange fans have to wait until August to watch some former players in action. The Alliance of American Football begins their inaugural season this weekend and there are some familiar players on opening week rosters.
The eight team AAF will kick things off on Saturday evening at 8:00 when CBS will broadcast the first two games (switching between them?. The San Diego Fleet with two former single season Orange players Jordan Martin and Dontez Ford visit the San Antonio Commanders while former Andrew Tiller and the Orlando Apollos host Ervin Philips and the Atlanta Legends.
Update- Amba Etta-Tawo is on the Birmingham Iron who start on Sunday. He’s also incorrectly listed as being from Maryland so we demand the AAF correct this immediately
Week 1 is here. #AllHailATL starting lineup: https://t.co/dGtIxB9uLP pic.twitter.com/WNtDgjAGjI
— Atlanta Legends (@AafLegends) February 7, 2019
There are some unique rules for the AAF (courtesy of Awful Announcing)
Goodbye, kickers. There will be no extra point kicks and all teams must go for two after a touchdown.
There will be no kickoffs either. Halves and post-score drives begin on a team’s 25-yard-line.
In keeping with the no kicking theme, there are no onside kicks but a team can keep possession of the ball by attempting a play from their own 28-yard line and gaining at least 12 yards. That sounds very random, but, there you go.
The play clock will run for 35 seconds (the NFL’s runs for 40).
Overtime will be played under high school football rules, a.k.a. the Kansas Playoff. Each team begins at their opponent’s 10-yard line and has one possession to score. If the teams remain tied after both attempts, the game ends in a tie.
Coaches are allowed two challenges but cannot challenge a call in the last two minutes of either half or in overtime (challenges are automatic in those timeframes).
There are no TV timeouts (yay!) and there are 60 percent fewer “full-screen commercials.” To make up for that lost revenue, expect to see more product placement throughout the broadcast.
You’ll be able to catch the AAF games on a variety of networks this year so if you need to watch some football other than the Camping World Bowl game for the 44,445th time the AAF might be for you.