Donte Rumph has been in and out of training camps, but you probably remember him best as the guy who camped outside the Falcons' facility in a tent, only to be invited to camp, given the name “Cupcake,” and eventually be cut from the team.
Casey Pachall’s future was bright at TCU until the quarterback was forced to withdraw from the university to enter a rehab facility for substance abuse. After he earned his diploma, still brimming with talent, he struggled to find a place in professional football.
MORE: Every NFL team's best undrafted free agent | Latest 2016 NFL Mock Draft
But this spring, Rumph, Pachall and 638 other free agents have another shot at a football life. This time, it’s with Major League Football, an American football league that has been six years in the making.
“Going through all that, it was stressful and it was disappointing whenever things didn’t work out my way, but at the same time I can’t let that affect me and let that define who I am,” Pachall said. “I have to continue to work hard every day and put in the work that’s necessary to get to where I want to be.”
Rumph, a defensive lineman, has experienced similar emotions.
“I know how it feels to feel like you’re losing everything and you feel like you’re a failure. And to feel like you let people down,” he said. “I feel like it’s my duty to uplift myself as well as uplift others that have been in this position, are still in this position.”
MLFB, which hasn't yet announced cities for its teams, will be played exclusively in the spring and will coexist rather than compete with the NFL. It is designed as a feeder program, similar to the objectives of now-extinct NFL Europe.
“We knew that there was an abundance of football players, but not enough jobs for them in the National Football League or the Canadian Football League or other leagues that are out there,” Frank Murtha, senior executive vice present of MLFB, said. “We could develop and put on the field a good quality football product.”
The league will not only condition players, but coaches and referees trying to break into the NFL as well.
It’s a hodgepodge of players, some with NFL experience, others who are fresh out of college.
“Some of these guys have been in the league for four years-plus, just kind of talk to them so they have an idea of what the NFL offers and how the business really is,” Rumph said. “That was one of my major weaknesses as a rookie.”
Pachall has more serious lessons to share with his new teammates.
“I was extremely young and immature in college. I wasn’t smart. I made a lot of mistakes and did a lot of things that I regret. But at the same time, I learned from those mistakes and I’ve made myself a better person after going through those and dealing with all the adversity that I have dealt with,” he said.
“With that being said, it’s been a tough road, but things are starting to look up. Things are starting to get better and I’m just excited for the future.”
Wes Chandler, a former wide receiver for the Saints, Chargers and 49ers, is serving as the league’s president. Herm Edwards is listed as a senior adviser.
The regular season is 10 games long, with two playoff games and one championship game.
Because it’s serving as a feeder program for the NFL, the rules of the game are the same for the most part, with the most marked differences being a four-point field goal from 50 yards or longer and a shorter play clock to force explosive plays.
There are also no restrictions on the amount and types of practices held by teams.
It has all the makings of a league more intense than the NFL.
| 640 | Players in MLFB |
|---|---|
| 8 | Teams in the league |
| 10 | Regular season games |
| 6 | Years it took to form the league |
| $3,000 | Player compensation for a win |
| $2,000 | Player compensation for a loss |
| 1 | Month of training camp |
| 0 | Restrictions on practices |
MORE: Early NFL Power Rankings for 2016 | Players who retired young
Pachall is a franchise player (more on that below) and will play under coach Robert Ford. The two have confidence in each other, but the quarterback yearns to prove himself.
“I’m coming up on my third year out of college. For me it’s proving to those teams and the GMs that I can still play and I have done what it takes to stay on the right path so that they can trust me and they can bring me up,” he said.
“I’m confident in my abilities. It’s just a matter of showing those guys I am on that right path and the right state of mind in order for (the NFL) to give me a shot.”
Regardless of the excitement, the drive of the players and the experience of the coaching staffs and management, it still comes down to dollar signs.
According to Murtha, players will have standardized wages. For each win, each player will receive $3,000. For each loss, they will receive $2,000. The franchise player for each team is paid slightly above the standardized wage.
There are seven franchise players aside from Pachall: Darron Thomas, Stephen Garcia, Joe Adams, Dan LeFevour, Chris Bonner, Emmanuel Stephens and Taylor Belsterling.
Murtha developed the first players union in the AFL, but there is none in place for MLFB. There is also no bonus structure to add individual player incentives.
“The quarterbacks in our league are going to get paid the same as the offensive lineman or the middle linebacker,” he said. “The best bet was not have somebody worried about whether he’s getting the ball thrown to him as much as he wants because he’s got an incentive for receptions.”
The season is set to begin in April. The games will be televised on the American Sports Network.
“This is the chance that a lot of free agents only dream of and here I am,” Rumph said. “I have that opportunity to live it so I feel like I have a job not just for me, not just for my family, but the free agents. To motivate them and show them that it can be done and you can’t give up.”