The Alliance of American Football (AAF) pulled impressive TV ratings during its debut weekend — better than the NBA, in fact.
But let’s be real: Going forward, you’ll be hard-pressed to find reasons to watch the upstart professional football league.
Alas, New England Patriots fans might have reasons to tune it. A quick scan of the league’s eight teams reveals at least 19 former Patriots — including something called Steve Beauharnais — currently are on rosters.
Here’s a list from NESN.com’s Zack Cox:
I counted 19 former Patriots who currently are on AAF rosters. Probably missed a few others, too. Quite the crew here. (Tre' Jackson! Sealver Siliga! Sterling Moore!) pic.twitter.com/rGNYWzNsEF
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) February 10, 2019
When the Patriots drafted guard Tre’ Jackson in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, we doubt they thought he would find himself on the Orlando Apollos in just a few years.
It remains to be seen whether the AAF catches hold or falls to the wayside like previous alternative football failures, such as the UFL and XFL. Plus, the league soon will compete with a revived version of Vince McMahon’s XFL, which should be an adventure.
But hey, with hits like these, the AAF just might be able to attract hardcore football fans:
Welcome to the AAF … where this is a legal hit 😬
(via @TheAAF) pic.twitter.com/DpNGFgHC18
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 10, 2019