AAF Issues Statement After Receiving Fierce Criticism for Treatment of Players: 'We Are Very Sorry'
After suspending its inaugural season earlier this week, the Alliance of American Football came under heavy criticism for the how it abruptly shut down and how it treated its newly unemployed players.
Source says AAF teams making players pay for their own flights home. What a clown show this was.
— Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) April 2, 2019
Now the AAF wants everyone to know that it is sorry.
That was the message the league delivered in a tweet late Friday night. The unsigned letter apologized for the way the season prematurely ended just eight weeks into the regular season.
“This week, we made the difficult decision to suspend all football operations for the Alliance of American Football,” the AAF said. “We understand the difficulty that this decision has caused for many people and for that we are very sorry. This is not the way we wanted it to end, but we are also committed to working on solutions for all outstanding issues to the best of our ability. Due to ongoing legal processes, we are unable to comment further or share details about the decision.
“We are grateful to our players, who delivered quality football and may now exercise their NFL-out clauses in our contract. We encourage them to continue pursuing their dreams and wish them the best. We are grateful to our fans, who have been true believers from the beginning, and to our world-class partners. And to the Alliance coaches and employees who devoted their valuable time and considerable talent to this venture, we are forever grateful.”
— The Alliance (@TheAAF) April 6, 2019
No person’s name is attached to the letter, which raises even more questions as players and fans are left to guess as to who wrote it.
According to NBC Sports’ “Pro Football Talk,” it is believed that chairman Tom Dundon wrote the letter as he was the one who wanted to suspend operations.
The league’s co-founders, Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol, weren’t in agreement with Dundon’s decision, and Polian has made it clear he didn’t like the way things ended.
“I’m no longer employed, like most of the football people — we’re all out of work,” Polian said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, according to PFT. “I’ve been doing what I can over the last couple days to help everybody get situated as best I can. …
“It came so quickly — some of it was a little bit expected, but a lot of it was unacceptable.”
The AAF’s Twitter account made no official statement regarding the league’s suspension this past Tuesday.
This “we’re sorry” letter was just the second tweet the account has made since the suspension. The other post was echoed in this letter, announcing AAF players had permission to sign with NFL teams.
Not only are all of the AAF players and employees without jobs, but there are still outstanding issues that need to be resolved.
Rich Ohrnberger, a broadcaster for the San Diego Fleet, detailed many of those issues that former AAF employees are now facing.
More on the #AAF collapse:
+Players in Memphis came back to their hotels after news came down, and had their personal items waiting in the lobby. Kicked out of their lodgings.
+Amount of money owed to vendors, venues, etc. in San Antonio for training camp is over $4 Million
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
+Team level staff members were asked to stay behind in markets to clean out office spaces (without pay)… and handle “refunds” …no clarity who will be receiving those refunds.
This is a complete mess…
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) April 4, 2019
Fortunately, some players were able to escape the mess and latch onto NFL teams. Keith Reaser was the first to jump from the AAF to the NFL as he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, and several other players have moved on to the NFL since.
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