@ibleedbrown said:

http://mvmag.blogspot.com/2009/07/jesse-holley-winner-andrew-hawkins.html?m=1

Wow, you're totally correct! And he's already outperformed the winner and has a fat new contract.

This is a great idea, but l'll play devil's advocate a little bit.

Whenever you have an undertaking involving this many people, doctors and lawyers, it can be a logistical nightmare. The NFL has the power for sure, but is the risk/reward there?

Injury liability: sure, everyone signs a waiver. Doesn't mean someone might try to sue if they really get hurt bad.

Who will evaluate these players? I don't think any NFL coach is going to want to dick with this. They have enough to do. Especially if they just had a bad season. Maybe have popular former players do it, like l assume was done in the reality tv show.

$100 entry fee is too low if you can only take 200 players. Let supply and demand set that. Make it more like $500. If a player can't afford that but really thinks he's got the goods, then family and friends will start pitching in. The more people invested, the more chance of success for the event.

I imagine the cost of equipment, practice facilities, and coaches will be hefty too. Something would have to offset that.

Also, it seems like something like that should entail something people could watch. Games, most likely. It could be a part of the Sunday Ticket, or NFL channel.

The benefits would have to offset the costs by a large margin, sure.

No coaches would partake in the event, I'm sure. It would be run by the scouting and marketing departments.

I set $100 as a low example just to show how feasible it is. Even at a $100 sign up cost, each team would be making $20,000 in fees alone.

But they wouldn't just be making money from fees. Sponsorship packages would supply a hell of a lot more money than sign up fees.

Each team could run the tryouts privately, pick their five highest recruits or whatever, then hold a combine and televise the event on the NFL network. Even more money from sponsorships, ad revenue, etc.

Call it a charitable event, donate the funds to a charity, then it's a tax write-off.

But, best of all, it drives customer engagement. Even if customer engagement were to increase by 2%, that's 2% higher ticket sales, merchandise purchases, NFL Network subscriptions, TV ratings, etcetera. In the long run, it would be worth it.

@slowburn said:

one could argue the European Leagues (EFL) and the CFL constitute a farm system

Except that neither of those leagues are directly affiliated with the NFL nor do their proceeds go to charity.

More people want to play for the Jaguars than want to play for the Roughriders.

@utzie said:

Pretty sure our very own Andrew Hawkins got second place on that show.

http://mvmag.blogspot.com/2009/07/jesse-holley-winner-andrew-hawkins.html?m=1

Wow, you're totally correct! And he's already outperformed the winner and has a fat new contract.

This is a great idea, but l'll play devil's advocate a little bit.

Whenever you have an undertaking involving this many people, doctors and lawyers, it can be a logistical nightmare. The NFL has the power for sure, but is the risk/reward there?

Injury liability: sure, everyone signs a waiver. Doesn't mean someone might try to sue if they really get hurt bad.

Who will evaluate these players? I don't think any NFL coach is going to want to dick with this. They have enough to do. Especially if they just had a bad season. Maybe have popular former players do it, like l assume was done in the reality tv show.

$100 entry fee is too low if you can only take 200 players. Let supply and demand set that. Make it more like $500. If a player can't afford that but really thinks he's got the goods, then family and friends will start pitching in. The more people invested, the more chance of success for the event.

I imagine the cost of equipment, practice facilities, and coaches will be hefty too. Something would have to offset that.

Also, it seems like something like that should entail something people could watch. Games, most likely. It could be a part of the Sunday Ticket, or NFL channel.

@hoorta said:

I said third string TC- pay attention. Those guys you mentioned were stars at that level. Lyle Alzado played at Yankton State, IIRC.

There's probably 3,000 D2 backups that think they can still play. If each one of them tried out, that's $300,000 right there in signup fees alone.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

I said third string TC- pay attention. Those guys you mentioned were stars at that level. Lyle Alzado played at Yankton State, IIRC.

TyperWoods said:

Pretty sure our very own Andrew Hawkins got second place on that show.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

I believe that this is something that all NFL teams should adapt.

Very reasonable idea... hard-pressed to see any downside.

@hoorta said:

The Browns already do this with the rookie invite on a "tryout" basis. If he had showed up for that, he might actually have gotten out on the field. If you're that desperate, take the guys phone # and tell him to come back next year.

Meantime, we check out your football resume. If you played 3rd string at Prarieview A&M- doesn't mean "you have NFL caliber" talent.

Yeah. I guess only FBS players make it to the league.

You know, like Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Brian Westbrook, Brent Grimes...

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

The Browns already do this with the rookie invite on a "tryout" basis. If he had showed up for that, he might actually have gotten out on the field. If you're that desperate, take the guys phone # and tell him to come back next year.

Meantime, we check out your football resume. If you played 3rd string at Prarieview A&M- doesn't mean "you have NFL caliber" talent.

As for the Irvin show, that was an abortion.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445990/

Jesse Holley, the dude that won, became a bit of a special teams star, and even made a few catches at receiver. Believe he lasted 2 or 3 seasons on the squad.

There are thousands of players that fall through the cracks with enough athletic ability to play on Sundays. Many of them hold on to that "what if" question for their entire lives. I'm sure they'd pay any price just to have a chance to try out for their favorite team.

Put a price tag on the opportunity and have prospective players pay $100 for their chance to try out then cap the registration at 200 or so per team. Make it that each player has to have a clean bill of health, cleared by a medical doctor at least within a specified date. Have each prospect go through a combine, with a schedule of events.

Then, take the proceeds, donate them to charity.

It's good from a PR standpoint, it drives even more engagement with the fanbase and there is a chance, albeit slight, that they could find a highly unpolished diamond in the rough.

If every team did this, the NFL could raise $640,000 from the signup fees alone. Record the event, sell advertising space, and market the shit out of that, and it could be a fantastic event.

Plus liability issues.