The Jets gave him a record breaking contract. During that time the AFL and NFL would sign players away from their teams for a bit, then there was a unspoken rule on this and it ended until the Giants broke the rule singing a kicker from the Bills. That act contributed to the merger. The history of the Jets DVD is great, also that AFL special they had on HBO. I live the Boondock Saints too, but that's irrelevant.
Best book on Cakes list.... http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Going-Long/Jeff-Miller/e/9780071441544/?itm=5&USRI=going+long Its the best overall book on the AFL from all the other books I read. I was not alive for SB3 (4, 5, or 6 either) so it was a great way to learn about the early history.
NFL Network is going to run Full Color Football (I think that's what it's called) history of the AFL next week again. Very good series.
I would probably be really excited...if I got the NFL network. Sucks to be Cablevision customer. Anyone want to record and burn to DVD for me? C'Mon Royal, I know you can do it...
This still happens now. Guys will get drafted in the CFL draft well before the NFL draft takes place. For example, Danny Watkins, a guard from Baylor, is expected to be drafted in the NFL Draft. He increased his stock greatly during Senior Bowl week, before which people expected him to be a 7th rounder or UDFA. When the CFL draft took place last May, he was picked 4th overall in the first round. So if he gets cut by the NFL team that drafts him, even if that's in 2 or 3 years, he still has to go to the CFL team that drafted him in 2010.
Pretty much. The USFL also had a territorial angle to their draft, so teams had the first chance to draft guys from colleges in their region, which helped them out a little. I remember Cris Collinsworth signing with Tampa Bay for that reason, I don't remember if he ever played there. Jets DB Jerry Holmes was from West Virginia and left the Jets for a while to play with the Pittsburgh Maulers. Of course as the USFL began Hershel Walker was lauded as the league's Namath, coming to the NY-area team, the Generals, over the NFL and providing some big name recognition and credibility. At the time the NFL didn't accept underclassmen and the USFL did, which helped the Generals get him a year early. Dallas drafted him the next year anyway and of course he ended up there eventually.
