A new professional American football league, the Alliance of American Football (AAF) begins its inaugural season this month. This league is comprised of 8 teams from all over the nation, including one in San Diego, the San Diego Fleet.
The AAF operates with similar rules as the National Football League (NFL), but there are some major exceptions. First off, the play clock is 35 seconds long, as opposed to the 40-second play clock in the NFL. There are also no kickoffs; the offense starts on its own 25-yard line to begin each play. After a touchdown is scored, there are no extra point kicks; teams will have to attempt a two-point conversion after each touchdown. In overtime, each team is given one possession, and if the score remains tied after that, the game ends in a tie.
Many of these rules have been praised for making the game faster and safer, and there have already been calls for the NFL to integrate many of these rules, in addition to arguably the AAF's biggest rule change, the introduction of a "Sky-Judge" to correct "obvious and egregious" calls.
Many notable players and coaches are on the roster for the Fleet. The team's head coach is Mike Martz, who head coached the St. Louis Rams between 1999-2005, winning a Super Bowl in the process, and who was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears. The first-string quarterback for the team is Mike Bercovici, who played for Arizona State from 2011-2015. An elite tight end and former NFL player, Gavin Escobar, is also on the team. The Fleet has been designated player rights from many universities, such as San Diego State, Cal Poly, Stanford, San Jose State, and UC Davis. It has also been given rights to draft players from four NFL teams: the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, and Oakland Raiders.
On February 9, 2019, the San Diego Fleet lost to the San Antonio Commanders in the AAF's inaugural game with a score of 6-15. This game was played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The San Diego Fleet's next game is on February 17 against the Atlanta Legends at home at SDCCU Stadium.
A total of 10 games are played by each team in the regular season. There will be a four-team playoff starting on April 20, and the championship game is set to take place on April 27 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
