Be cool, stay in school ... then play pro football

Remember “Be cool, stay in school”? The All American Football League has picked up the old saying, dusted it off and shined it up something fierce.

The AAFL, which plans to kick off its inaugural season in April, has a requirement that every player has not only exhausted their college football eligibility, but that they also have earned their undergraduate degree.

Led by a former NCAA president, various athletics directors and conference commissioners, the AAFL wants to stress the importance of academics and doesn’t wish to serve as a destination for players who drop out of college early in hopes of making it big in the NFL.

“You go to school to graduate,” Team Michigan president and former University of Michigan fullback Chris Horn said. "For the first time in history — no American sports league, no professional sports league — has had the requirement to graduate from college."

“We think that’s a great niche,” Horn continued. “I look forward to the day (University of Michigan President) Sue Coleman calls me and says, ‘Congratulations guys, because you stand for the values for what we stand for.’ We are going to keep pushing those values. That’s our story, and we’re sticking with it.”

With so few pro football leagues, especially after the recent scuttling of NFL Europa, student-athletes need to focus on the first part of that description just as much as the second.

And the AAFL payoff appears to be a solid reward for players who get their diplomas but want to try their hand at a playing pro football.

How does minimum compensation at $50,000, “plus an attractive benefits package,” sound?

That’s according to a league press release. Not bad considering the job market, economy and the fact that it’s for playing football for about for about four months.

Some players, who will work year-round for the league making public appearances and things of that nature, will make up to $100,000 a year.

Now that’s cool.

For more on the AAFL, including some prospective players and its recent combine at Ford Field, where Team Michigan will be playing, check out the Sept. 26-27 issues of all the C & G papers or the league’s Web site at www.allamericanfootballleague.com.

Other thoughts:
Maple-syrup covered kudos go all the way out to Vermont, where freshman Brendan Symington was named America East Men’s Soccer Co-Rookie of the Week. Symington, a Grosse Pointe North graduate, notched his first career goal and assist over the weekend for the University of Vermont Catamounts. His goal couldn’t have come at a better time — Symington scored with 14 seconds left in the second overtime of the Catamounts' 1-0 win over Sacred Heart Sept. 14. The win snapped a four-game losing streak. Symington then picked up his first assist as he set up the tying goal in a 2-1 win over Central Connecticut Sept. 16, allowing the Catamounts to capture their fourth straight Nike Fall Soccer Classic in New Hampshire.
For more on how Symington’s 625-mile trek from Grosse Pointe Woods to Burlington, Vt., check out the Sept. 26 edition of the Grosse Pointe Times or our Web site.

Lastly, if you’re looking to catch some soccer action this weekend, Sept. 22 is chock full of what should prove to be some competitive non-league clashes.

-Troy High at Utica Stevenson, 11 a.m. It might be early in the day, but a meeting between these two regional powers is tough to pass up.

-Fraser at Macomb Lutheran North, 12:30 p.m. The defending MAC Blue champs visit the defending Metro Conference champs.

-Rochester Adams at Utica High, 1 p.m. The Highlanders should be a handful for the Chieftains, as Adams has received honorable mention votes in both of the season’s first two Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association rankings.