*Lengthy intro ahead, sorry everyone.*
I have always wanted the NFL to adopt a minor league system. In reality, it would be such a huge help to NFL franchises to develop lower-round picks and undrafted players, be a testing ground for new rules, and it would create more money for the shield, which would be the real reason why I could see them do it. Anyway, as much as I would love to see minor league teams go nuts in terms of design and aesthetics, being a product of the No Fun League would definitely limit what teams could do. That being said, I have created my version of the NFL Development League, or NFLDL (rolls right off the tongue), which is how I think a NFL minor league system would actually happen. Here are some of the things I took into consideration when developing this project:
-There will be 32 teams, which means each NFL team gets a NFLDL team.
-2 conferences, 4 divisions each
-One thing that drives me nuts about minor leagues is that many teams have affiliates that are across the country from each other (I'm looking at you, Mets), so all NFLDL teams are within a few hour drive of their parent club.
-Since the NFL prohibits fun, I tried to be as realistic as possible when naming the teams and making the identities and uniforms. Some teams will be named after their NFL affiliate, but I limited it to four (for comparison - 6 AHL teams and 4 AAA baseball teams are named after their parent club).
-The divisions make geographical sense (no AFC East), and I tried to put some teams in the same division with their NFL divisional opponents.
-The NFLDL would use the NFL schedule as a guideline:
-NFLDL would have an 11 week season, 10 games with 1 bye. There wouldn't be a preseason, because theoretically most players would be in NFL training camp or fighting for a spot on the NFL roster. Each team would play their division twice (6 games) and one in-conference division (4 games). Playoffs are the same format as the NFL, just earlier: WC round week 12, Divisional round week 13, Conference champ. week 14, BYE/AS game week 15, and the NFLDL Championship week 16; this allows for players to be called-up for week 17 (which is normally garbage time for 75% of the league) and the NFL playoffs.
-Uniform guidelines: Each team can have up to two helmets, three pants that can be worn with any uniform, and one home (color), away (white), and alternate jersey. Each helmet will have uniform number on the left back side, and the parent club logo on the right (there are exceptions, though).
The league:
Pacific Football Conference Atlantic Football Conference
Coastal Coastal
Portland, OR (Seattle) Lowell, MA (New England)
Sacramento, CA (Oakland) Hartford, CT (NY Giants)
Modesto, CA (San Diego) Newark, NJ (NY Jets)
Bakersfield, CA (San Francisco) Dover, DE (Baltimore)
Central Central
Colorado Springs, CO (Denver) Richmond, VA (Washington)
Tucson, AZ (Arizona) Columbia, SC (Carolina)
Topeka, KS (Kansas City) Birmingham, AL (Tennessee)
San Antonio, TX (Houston) Jackson, MS (New Orleans)
Heartland South
Des Moines, IA (Minnesota) Macon, GA (Atlanta)
Peoria, IL (Chicago) Savannah, GA (Jacksonville)
Tulsa, OK (Dallas) Orlando, FL (Miami)
Las Vegas, NV (Los Angeles) Clearwater, FL (Tampa Bay)
North North
Milwaukee, WI (Green Bay) Rochester, NY (Buffalo)
Grand Rapids, MI (Detroit) Akron, OH (Cleveland)
Fort Wayne, IN (Indianapolis) Scranton, PA (Pittsburgh)
Dayton, OH (Cincinnati) Allentown, PA (Philadelphia)
I won't be getting into simulating the seasons or anything because frankly, I have no idea how to do it. If someone has a suggestion on how to do it, I'll definitely look into it. Hope everyone enjoys this, and please do not be afraid to give me any C&C, I'm pretty new at designing logos/uniforms on a computer so any feedback is good feedback.
So, now that my novel is over, here is the first team:
Introducing the revamped Birmingham Americans, the NFLDL affiliate of the Tennessee Titans. The logo is supposed to be a simplified and cleaner version of the 90s USFL logo. The uniforms use the three stripes from the star throughout, and are always on a blue background.
