NFL Europe - Irish Team

Magnolia_Fan

Why the hell doesn't Ireland have an NFL Europe team?, I know its muddy waters with soccer in Croker but if memory serves me correctly wasn't there an Army v Navy game there about 10 years ago?...actually I can't remember it might have been in Lansdowne but regardless why not? I bet players in the NFL would jump at the chance to play in Ireland...well the B-Listers that is...then again Brooks keeps playing it and I wouldn't call him a B-Lister

is it ever going to happen?, should we get the megaphones and airhorns out now?

Think about The Ass Kickin Irish! Yeah!

gerire

Dont know about getting the talent to start a team, plus once you become an official NFL europe team, all the main NFL teams send over their draft picks every summer, so it wouldnt be a real Irish team then, but on the plus side it could definately improve the game over here, look at the irish baseball folks, their "field of dreams" in Clondalkin got a major backing from the Dodgers owner iirc.

Yes Navy and Army did play in Croker, as did Steelers and the Bears << that was my first ever live NFL game

Davey Devil

As far as I know The NFL are looking to concentrate on mainland Europe. At the end of last year they announced that the Scottish Claymores were to be discontinued, so it's very unlikely it will ever come to Ireland.

Pherekydes

Magnolia_Fan wrote:

Why the hell doesn't Ireland have an NFL Europe team?, I know its muddy waters with soccer in Croker but if memory serves me correctly wasn't there an Army v Navy game there about 10 years ago?...actually I can't remember it might have been in Lansdowne but regardless why not? I bet players in the NFL would jump at the chance to play in Ireland...well the B-Listers that is...then again Brooks keeps playing it and I wouldn't call him a B-Lister

is it ever going to happen?, should we get the megaphones and airhorns out now?

Think about The Ass Kickin Irish! Yeah!

The first game I saw live was Notre Dame/Navy (not Army) at Croker. Saw the Bears/Steelers, too. John Carroll University were a real eye opener last year.

por

Notre Dame played Navy in '96 in Croke Park, as did the Steelers v Bears in '97 and Boston College played either Army or Navy in Lansdowne in '87 or '88.

There just would not be the interest from the public for an NFL Europe team here. We have a relatively high number of field sports here already for the people to be interested in, so American Football would come a distand 5th behind gaelic, soccer, hurling and rugby.

I was on a flight to Boston a few days after Notre Dame\Navy and it was full with ND alumns on there way back after a holiday in Ireland. I wounder what proportion of the crownd at the above games were Americans with an excuse for a holiday in Ireland.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Vikings

Tell you what ... an Irish NFLE team is only a couple of years down the road. Last year the Irish All Starts played a D3 NCAA college team (jcu - john carroll university) and this year we are playing Adrian College, also a D3 NCAA team.

http://www.adrian.edu/athletics/mens_football.php

Game takes place May 8th in Greystones rugby club. Everyone is welcome to attend ... its free and should be a great game of football. Even if we do get trounced ... again :P.

xm15e3

Davey Devil wrote:

As far as I know The NFL are looking to concentrate on mainland Europe. At the end of last year they announced that the Scottish Claymores were to be discontinued, so it's very unlikely it will ever come to Ireland.

The upside is that they are, in a sense, regrouping in Germany in hopes to expand later after gain some form of profitability. I would think the Irish, Brits, Scandinavians, Russians and East Europeans would be a natural fits. (Oregon had a 19 year old Russian born DE that could bech press 509#). The only question is whether there is a market, specifically television viewership. They seem comfortable selling airtime in Germany, and probably hope they can leverage ratings there to gain access to other markets.

IMO, NFLE screws themselves by treating Europe as a farm system. I would like to see them as a separate league (EFC) and give them a wild card slot in the playoffs. They'd get destroyed for a couple of years, but at least they would be actual home teams (regardless of where they players are from). Regional pride is what drives NCAA and NFL football in America.

Neil3030

Yeah I have to agree with you there. There'd be no incentive for a team to give it their as a team all if the only thing at stake for them was to have their best players snapped up by the NFL. And they go on about the Superbowl winners being "world champions"? Well then they really should let the world compete!

por

xm15e3 wrote:

The upside is that they are, in a sense, regrouping in Germany in hopes to expand later after gain some form of profitability. I would think the Irish, Brits, Scandinavians, Russians and East Europeans would be a natural fits. (Oregon had a 19 year old Russian born DE that could bech press 509#). The only question is whether there is a market, specifically television viewership. They seem comfortable selling airtime in Germany, and probably hope they can leverage ratings there to gain access to other markets.

IMO, NFLE screws themselves by treating Europe as a farm system. I would like to see them as a separate league (EFC) and give them a wild card slot in the playoffs. They'd get destroyed for a couple of years, but at least they would be actual home teams (regardless of where they players are from). Regional pride is what drives NCAA and NFL football in America.

There is no way in the world a team from Europe would be given a wild card spot without playing in the NFL proper, the teams in the US would not agree with loosing a play off place to some minor league in Europe.
And the quality of a seperate league (EFC) would be way below that of the NFL, even if the roster was 99% Americans/US trained players.
These players would be either very young or career journeymen to be playing in what would essentially be a backwater in football terms.
If the team was made of of European players it would be worse.

xm15e3

True, unless there was TV revenue available. The NFL is about cash first, winning second.

por wrote:

And the quality of a separate league (EFC) would be way below that of the NFL, even if the roster was 99% Americans/US trained players.
These players would be either very young or career journeymen to be playing in what would essentially be a backwater in football terms.
If the team was made of of European players it would be worse.

Sounds like Detroit for the last 4 decades. Seriously though, it would take a couple of years, however look at how far the Lithuanian's have come in basketball. There is also a surplus of talent in the US, talent alone is not enough to be successful in the NFL, a being with the right team at the right time is everything. Especially at QB. How many high draft QBs have been ruined by the Bungles and Detroit? Akili Smith comes to mind.

Having an EFC would provide more opportunities for players to be recognized and developed. It would provide a regional element necessary to sell TV time.

OFDM

It might be possible to get secondary school & university teams if some scholarship & equipment deals with the NFL/NCAA for outstanding athletes could be made. But it really needs more terrestial tv coverage here to get people interested...

Magnolia_Fan

To think of Ronan O'Gara had signed as a kicker for the Miami Dolphins maybe then there would be an interest for it here...Damn that O'Gara...damn him straight to hell!

fixer

Our local teams in the IAFL have a hard enough time recruiting players, I doubt any NFLE franchise would want to start here. We need a proven market first, then we could possibly get a team.

For now, try and support your local IAFL team (if you're in Cork, Limerick, Dublin/Lucan, Dublin/Bray, Belfast or Carrickfergus). http://www.iafl.info

Gothic Warrior

Sounds like a good idea as long as those a**holes from The Dublin Rebels aren't allowed in. i.e. Marcus Naylor, Andy Flynn and that total cock "Sunday"

Magnolia_Fan

fixer wrote:

Our local teams in the IAFL have a hard enough time recruiting players, I doubt any NFLE franchise would want to start here. We need a proven market first, then we could possibly get a team.

For now, try and support your local IAFL team (if you're in Cork, Limerick, Dublin/Lucan, Dublin/Bray, Belfast or Carrickfergus). http://www.iafl.info

No such luck, I live in Galway....don't have a local team at least if we had one large franchise then I could back them

fixer

There are a few interested players in Galway that have talked about starting a team there. Check in on www.iafs.co.uk and search around, there might be some contact info.