Daryl “Moose” Johnston, the former Cowboys fullback and current FOX commentator, also had a side gig as the General Manager of the San Antonio franchise in the Alliance of American Football. That did not end well.
Johnston told ESPN Radio in San Antonio that he and others who worked for the AAF were “misled” about the long-term viability of the league. Johnston said he and others in the league were assured that there was a solid business plan in place that would keep the AAF viable for at least two years. Instead, it lasted two months.
“There were several people who took jobs with the Alliance because they were told they had two years, and they’re in a very difficult spot now at this stage. This was something that caught me totally by surprise,” Johnston said.
Johnston said he feels terrible that he put his name behind a franchise that is now stiffing contractors.
“There are multiple businesses in the San Antonio area that are still awaiting payments and will probably have to go into the legal process to get that resolved,” Johnston said. “That is extremely disappointing to me.”
Johnston said AAF co-founder Bill Polian called him while the team was practicing and told him to immediately shut down the practice, because the AAF had collapsed so suddenly that if a player got hurt on the practice field, his medical expenses wouldn’t even be covered.
“You’ve got to shut practice down,” Johnston said Polian told him. “In case anybody gets hurt, we don’t know who’s going to be responsible.”
Polian, co-founder Charlie Ebersol and AAF chairman Tom Dundon still haven’t offered a satisfactory explanation of why the league fell apart so quickly. Asked who’s to blame for all that, Johnston answered, “I don’t know yet, and I don’t know if we ever really will.”