Though the UFL is short on teams and will involve only a six-game regular season, the upstart pro football league will be killing plenty of trees.
We've obtained a copy of the UFL's "Standard Player Contract." It's a 25-page document, a length that becomes even more impressive when considering that none of the terms are negotiable.
Among other things, the document (and the memo to players and agents that we obtained on Wednesday) contains an "NFL Exemption," which contemplates that players will have an opportunity to return to the NFL after November 28, 2009, the completion of the UFL season.
And players will be permitted to commence negotiations with NFL teams after November 1, but they are prohibited from participating in any try out or workouts or other activities until after November 28.
The contract also sets forth an extensive laundry list of prohibited activities, including: "(i) parachuting, sky-diving, hang gliding, snow skiing, snowboarding, water skiing, rock or mountain climbing (as distinguished from hiking), mountain biking (as distinguished from bicycling on a bicycle path or road or other regular surface), rappelling, and bungee jumping; (ii) any contact martial arts, fencing, fighting, boxing, or wrestling; (iii) auto racing, or driving or riding on a motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, or moped; (iv) riding in or on any motorized vehicle in any kind of race or racing contest; (v) piloting an aircraft, being a passenger in a single engine airplane or private plane with an unlicensed pilot, hot air ballooning, horseback riding, horse racing, harness racing, snowmobiling, bobsledding, luging, ice hockey, ice boating, skateboarding, any 'extreme' sport, ice skating or figure skating, spelunking, white water canoeing or rafting, kayaking, jai-alai, bicycle racing, motor boat racing, polo, water polo, rugby, rodeo, surfing, hunting, boating, any weightlifting not prescribed by or approved in advance by Club, participation in any 'Superteams' or 'Superstars' or 'Strongest Man' activities (or any similar activity) or other athletic competitions that are filmed or broadcast in whole or in part on television or for which any admission is charged to persons who attend, or other sport, activity or grossly negligent act involving a reasonably foreseeable substantial risk of personal injury or death."
The document also has a section regarding the integrity of the game, which expressly prohibits players from taking bribes to throw games or shave points.
It's a good thing that they're spelling this out; it prevents anyone from trying out the time-honored George Costanza excuse: "Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead
ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at
all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned
upon . . . you know, because I've worked in a lot of offices. And, I tell
you, people do that all the time."
UFL Contract Contains "NFL Exemption"
Posted by Mike Florio on July 2, 2009 1:13 PM ET
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18 Comments 
Latest stories in: Contracts, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Transactions, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Contracts, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Transactions, Top Stories
Ahh, jeepers. No more hot air balooning.
That list of prohibited activities would seem acceptable for an NFL contract, but for 35 grand?
They also aren't allowed to leave their house except to go to their other jobs.
Always someone gotta pick on jai-alai.
So the UFL has not prohibited a player from taking care of business with a corporate secretary on a desktop in the office, huh?
Who the hell is going to fly with an unliscensed pilot?.not me. No hunting or boating seems a bit much.
Yes, more UFL!! Keep it coming!!!
How did the UFL get my weekend calendar into their player contracts?
No boating? Is this an overreaction to the deaths of the players earlier this year?
But baseball is allowed....I'd dare say more people are injured in baseball games than boating accidents, not deaths, mind you, but injuries.
The language might as well say no physical activity other than football related and we must approve it in advance.
I bet Losman regrets committing to the UFL now that he can't hot air balloon or bobsled.
Fencing? only 7 people have died from fencing since 1937. Less people die each year from fencing than from golf.
I think they went a little overboard with the whole "no iceskating" thing
At least you are allowed to faint out in the shower and be fat. This way, Romo will have somewhere to go if he does not make the US Open after being cut at the end of the season.
No riding mo-peds? With what they pay these guys alot of moms are gonna be picking them up from games in the family minivan.
Yeah, slippery balls seem to be a problem for Romo...
vox veritas 2.0...great handle,very inventive.
Yeah, this will go over well trying to get those fringe players from the NFL.
but my favorite "piloting an aircraft"...If you are a licensed pilot, piloting a plane is safer then driving a car. I give this league 5 years, tops.
Who gets hurt snowmobiling ?
Ice skating is banned but roller skating is not???
Non contact martial arts are okay.
Why ban boating?
I'm glad cliff diving is okay....but
"Any activity with foreseeable substantial risk of personal injury or death. "
Driving a car fits that category.
Using a knife in the kitchen fits that category.
At what point is carrying groceries considered weightlifting? Minimum amount of weight is not defined.
What about power tools, or even a hammer or ice pick??
It sounds like the old Soviet Union where daily life was illegal.
You're way more optimistic than I am sir. Two years max this league is toast. How many pro athletes get injured white water canooing? How about just cover the main offences, no DUI, no beating spouses or strippers, no gun toting or nearly blowing your sack off.