R44 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Last season we were suprised to see a 21 do well in the AFL Adrian McPherson...This season a former Auburn recruit with 4.4 speed is simply dominating that league (at 21, him and McPherson are the 2 youngest players ever in the AFL). DD.com notes 21 year old AFL superstar Troy Bergeron had a huge game today in the Georgia Force's win over Columbus: 10 receptions for 169 yards and 4TD's, plus 62 more yards on kickoffs. This is nothing short of amazing, considering Bergeron should be a college sophmore(RS) or junior and isn't even eligible for the NFL draft. Here's how Bergeron ranks in several AFL categories after only 6 games: #1 in receptions--53 #1 in recieving yards--700 (pulled ahead of former NFL WR's Aaron Bailey & Marcus Nash). #1 in TD's overall--19 (on pace for a league record--league is in it's 19th season). #1 in kickoff return yards--444 (remember, AFL has only a 50 yard field). #1 in All-purpose yards--1,144 http://draftdaddy.com/Blog/reset.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomShane Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 It looks like, quietly, the NFL is making the AFL its developmental league. Personally, I like the idea--not every athlete needs to pull the sham that he's a student at a university. Hopefully, though, it doesn't become a holding place for discipline clases who get thrown out of a college--the Lawrence Phillps'/Adrian Mcpherson's of the world. The only question is, if a player has a place to go where he doesn't have to worry about acting like a college student and/or gets to be a thug professionally, how will Nebraska field a team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R44 Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 Your a sage TS and I think you read my mind on this point (him and McPherson paving the way for other "attitude problems"....By the way, I agree with you a 100%, players like Bergeron don't belong in college, but should get a shot at the NFL....... Based on logic, this kid is an absolute NFL lock: Chris Horn and Mike Furrey used the AFL to get into the NFL as key backups (Chiefs & Rams)--this kid is taller, faster, better and 7 years younger. I see a trend here? Until Steve DeBerg signed McPherson in 2004, this league had few players younger than 25 or 26? I can see "troubled types" like Albert Means (who begged the XFL to take him at 19) simply dropping out of school and jumping to this league at 20 or 21, now that McPherson and Bergeron opened the door as 21 year olds. This kid Bergeron was a former top recruit at Auburn who simply quit school twice and didn't play football for two seasons....He was the 2nd fastest track athlete in Georgia in H.S in 2001 and had a 4.4 in H.S (at 6'2") and was recruited by FSU, LSU, Georgia--and the whole South. **Quit Auburn before he got there, because they wanted him to play CB. **Went to Middle Tenn State to pair with Ty Calico, but quit school when his girlfriend got pregant. He's basically the real life "Butt-head" from Beavis & B-H fame. By the way, this AFL team is owned by the Atlanta Falcons and Art Blank (Falcons owner) sees all their games. This kid will be at next combine or in the supplemental draft at some point. By the way, I tipped off a draft elsewhere and I expect this scoop to show up elsewhere :twisted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomShane Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Thanks, Rigs. It's a tough call, I guess. It looks like they're caught between a rock and a hard place, IMO. If they become a farm team for the NFL, then they'll diminish the product a bit by trying to make 19 year olds into professionals. At the same time, they need the NFL to get them on NBC in prime cities. What they don't want to be is the NBDL, the NBA's developmental league. Instead of turning it into a marketable product, it's become a place to stash sociopaths and college drop-outs. Maybe 10-15 of those guys ever get a sniff of the NBA in a season, and they usually end up on 10-day deals. A few guys make it--Chris Anderson of New Orleans for one--but most of them just play in obscurity and end up in Venezuela. It would be a shame to watch the AFL degenerate into that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R44 Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 NBDL, is a joke....Stern keeps talking about a B-league, which allow Darko types to play as if it were minor league baseball...NBDL is a 12th man/10 day contract league. Your right, the AFL gets so many former NFL players, they don't need a bunch of teens messing them up...But the 2 they did get (McPherson and Bergeron) are almost off the charts... Can't dismiss their exploits-- former NFL starters go to that league and just struggle---These cats have something special at 21. The AFL has realized the fantasy of USFL and the World League--sell football tickets in huge numbers in the spring, but don't compete at all with the NFL. I think the AFL will just take the best youngsters....Remember when Albert Means went begging the XFL for a shot? That might be the type of players they sign. http://draftdaddy.com/prospects/troyBergeron.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomShane Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 NBDL, is a joke....Stern keeps talking about a B-league, which allow Darko types to play as if it were minor league baseball...NBDL is a 12th man/10 day contract league. Your right, the AFL gets so many former NFL players, they don't need a bunch of teens messing them up...But the 2 they did get (McPherson and Bergeron) are almost off the charts... Can't dismiss their exploits-- former NFL starters go to that league and just struggle---These cats have something special at 21. The AFL has realized the fantasy of USFL and the World League--sell football tickets in huge numbers in the spring, but don't compete at all with the NFL. I think the AFL will just take the best youngsters....Remember when Albert Means went begging the XFL for a shot? That might be the type of players they sign. That's the thing that would scare me, Rigs--that they aligned themselves with the NFL. It would be stupid to compete with them (as Donald Trump, in a rare moment of humility has said), but in doing so, you just hope that they didn't sell their soul. I would think that the NFL would just LOVE to have a developmental league not affiliated with the NCAA. Not only would it give them the chance to dictate the development of NFL-ready players, it would also give them a bigger share of the TV money that flies around and fuels NCAA athletics. If they're going to start letting young players into the AFL, one hopes that the NFL would regulate it to protect the NFL product. Also, would they then be inclined to drop the 3-year out of high school stipulation? If they get a prodigy wideout into the AFL, would the NFL do everything it could to push that kid into the major league product? Alot of questions to be answered if it continus in this vein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R44 Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 Also, would they then be inclined to drop the 3-year out of high school stipulation? I think the NFL will be cognizant of the fact that a trickle of teens in the AFL will lead to trickle--then a flood--of teens in the NFL at some point. I think the AFL will accpet the talented 21 year olds that messed up, but not get into the 18 or 19 type mess...both A Mac and Bergeron would've been done with 3 college seasons. Perhaps these players are nothing more than modern day versions of Eric Swann--remember the O-lineman in 1991 that never made it to college, but was a high 1st rounder? NFL will let the AFL take these types in special circumstances. I doubt Bergeron or McPherson ever go in round 1, but will both play in the NFL someday--I think. By the way, NFL will do anything to get more programming for the NFL Network--hence 99% of NFLe games are the NFLN... Back to Bergeron: How sick is it that a kid just turned 21 is re-writing the record books in a league were hunderds of WR's are former NFL players over the years Think Auburn isn't "kicking themselves" for not fighting harder to keep him in school? After all, they could've just stuck in him in classes like Moron 101 and idiot 102, like 90% of their other athletes. http://draftdaddy.com/prospects/troyBergeron.cfm He's going from a Georgia H.S--To the Columbus Wardogs (GA) AFL2 ---to the Georgia Force (AFL)....Atlanta :twisted: Falcons have to be the next stop, right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomShane Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 That is sick, to step into a pro league and dominate. I'm conflicted on the whole non-collegiate player funneling into the pros. It's screwed up the NBA, but at the same time, at least 6 out of the 10 top players in the NBA were high school entries. I know it doesn't translate to the NFL, but that rare kid that might even come close to being ready to make the transition will really test those legal boundaries if young'uns in the AFL are getting it done early. I remember Eric Swann, basically coming from a beer league in San Diego to making (I think) all pro. I remember that year in the draft there was talk of not touching him because of his crazy background, but, of course, Bidwell went ahead and drafted him and made out on the deal. I wish we got that lucky with the Jets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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