With the USFL officially unveiling a logo last week and planning to launch an eight-team, 14-game, March-to-June season in 2013, it’s easy to conclude that the UFL has faded into Tysonesque bolivion.
But the UFL may be making a comeback.
There’s talk that the upstart league that never has really gotten started will conduct a press conference this week to announce plans for a four-team or five-team venture in 2012.
The new-look UFL may include escape clauses for all players, allowing them to jump to the NFL or CFL without penalty. In the past, a six-figure transfer fee created much criticism for the UFL -- and likely caused some talented players to avoid joining the minor league that has had from its inception major money problems.
If the UFL allows players to come and go as they please, the UFL could become a true minor league, with players getting live reps and staying in shape and potentially improving their skills at the UFL level, allowing them to be ready to slide onto an NFL roster before the end of the UFL season.
It could be a last-ditch effort by the UFL to persuade the NFL to buy the corpus of the league, before it becomes a carcass.