In mid-March, the XFL went out of business, dumping hundreds of players, many with NFL experience, on the street. Three months later, the NFL officially cancelled rookie mini-camps, meaning hundreds more wouldn't get a chance to try out for league rosters. Bottom line: chances have been few for talented players this year.

 

Finally, however, there's good news. On Tuesday, Fan-Controlled Football (FCF) announced that its inaugural season will launch in the

	San Francisco corner Richard Sherman is among the investors in Fan-Controlled Football.

first quarter of 2021. That means there's a new opportunity for so many budding NFL prospects. 

 

The league's first season will feature four teams, stacked with pro-caliber athletes, battling it out over a six-week schedule. Games will be live-streamed exclusively on Twitch, the premier live, interactive streaming service with content that spans gaming, sports, entertainment, music and more.

A national financial slowdown and medical uncertainty have felled another league and altered the schedules of major college conferences. Still, Sohrob Farudi, founder and CEO of FCF, is bullish on the future. 

 

"Obviously, there are challenges ahead," he said. "However, we have a plan to keep players safe, we have some great investors, and we have an experience that will engage football fans in a whole new way. We feel we're tested and ready for what's ahead."

 

The FCF isn't offering up a reheated version of arena football, and it's not a junior league hoping to be courted by the NFL. Instead, the idea is to combine fast-paced, high-scoring 7v7 style football with a fully interactive experience that truly puts fans in the game. Not only will FCF enthusiasts help determine the team names, coaches, and even rosters on a week-to-week basis, but they'll also call the plays in real-time and make lineup changes. There will scarcely be any part of the league that doesn't require the active participation of its fans. 

 

Using a custom Twitch Extension, FCF has developed an interactive video overlay for desktop and mobile, allowing fans to call the plays natively on top of the Twitch video player. As the first professional sports league to be fully integrated with Twitch, FCF has an exclusive, multi-season agreement that will bring FCF to Twitch's community of millions around the world.  

 

It's worth noting that some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment were interested enough to invest in the league and be team owners, including: Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman, former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, hip-hop artist Quavo Huncho, internet gaming titan Kinda Funny and the Twitch network. 

 

"We are pushing boundaries and pioneering a new category of immersive sports that will be a seismic shift in the worlds of sport and entertainment," said Farudi. "Fan Controlled Football is IRL meets URL. For the first time in sports history, fans get to call the shots for their team, everything from team branding, player selection, and real-time play calling is decided by the fans. This is the future of sports and we're excited to co-create history with the fans."

 

In addition to cutting-edge technology that allows for fans to make real-time decisions based on down, distance, score and other game conditions, Farudi and his team have done their due diligence to make sure the people playing the game will be safe in the Covid-19 era. League organizers will join ITL's Neil Stratton Wednesday in a Zoom session in which they will lay out all the league's safety measures, compensation packages and living and working conditions. They will also provide an overview of how FCF is different from other leagues, as well as answering questions. Click here for the link to join the call next week. 

 

In the meantime, contract advisors and others interested in submitting players interested in trying out for the league may email playerrecruiting@fcf.io.

 

Here's a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said in the business of college and pro football this week.

 

First, give me the number of years you were in football all told (non-playing career), and how many years you were in scouting. 

 

Catching up: Chris Vaszily spent 26 years in football, but it was mostly on the college side. Still, the three years he spent with the Falcons (2005-08) resonate with him. 

Tuesday Night with Blake and Bob: On Tuesday, ITL hosted a Zoom session with former NFL scouts Blake Beddingfield and Bob Morris. More than 70 people tweeted their purchase of #ScoutSpeak and joined in, and based on our survey of participants, the night was a huge hit. The session was graded 'A' by 87 percent of respondents, while 96 percent said they would be interested in another Zoom session with different scouts but the same subject matter, the 2016 draft. Almost the same number (87 percent) said they'd love to hear Blake and Bob chop it up on a different draft class, while 91 percent said the stories and transparency from the duo is what made it special (about 9 percent said the "depth and players associated with the 2016 draft" are what made the night most special). What's more, two-thirds said they'd be open to similar sessions monthly; 80 percent said the book and session were equally valuable; almost 70 percent "eagerly anticipate" Stratton's next book; and almost three-fourths emerged from the session "very positive about (ITL's) place in the football business." We're excited that Tuesday night prompted Jesse Fritsch of NFL Draft Bible to say he was "shocked by all the great stories" shared this week. However, if you missed it, check out this week's post in Succeed in Football for the highlights. Stay tuned for our next Zoom session, which is already in the planning stages.

 

ITL Team Scouting Reports now in the books: With our publishing of our report on the Wyoming Cowboys today, we completed our run through 129 FBS schools. That means our team has stamped more than 1,000 players as somewhere between a future first-rounder or a UDFA, plus they've touted hundreds more as players to watch. It's also worth mentioning that this is the first year that we looked aggressively at all the players on each team, rather than strictly the rising seniors. We hope it was a comprehensive look at the best players on each team, and a way to put players on the radars of scouts, agents, trainers and everyone else in the business sooner than ever. What did you think? Was it a positive turn for us, or should we go back to our old way of doing things? Let us know.

 

Agents by Total Clients: On Monday, we had our monthly snapshot of which agents represent the most active NFL players. The only change in the top five was at five, where CAA's Tom Condon regained the slot with 45 clients. Condon and Sportstars' Jared Fox have been jockeying for No. 5 for the last several months. There are 104 contract advisors with at least 10 active clients in the first months since cut-downs; that's 26 fewer agents than in August. 

 

Rep Rumblings: This week, we had three reports. On Tuesday, in addition to an early look at the launch of Fan-Controlled Football, we also checked out the training offerings for one of the top combine prep operations in football, a new venture by former XPE trainer Bill Welle in Minneapolis, new developments in Morgan Stanley's Global Sports & Entertainment division and an interesting new development that pertains to agents recertifying for 2021. On Wednesday, we looked at Athletes First's big new addition, former Georgia QB Jamie Newman's agency and the latest from the training bubble in Canton that the NFL Alumni Association has launched. Finally, on Thursday, we had the latest details from a league restart, the date of the 2021 CGS, and the agency selection for LSU DT Tyler Shelvin. Get a full rundown of all our reports this year by clicking here.

 

Next week: It's an exciting weekend with the SEC finally kicking off play, but there's action going on off the field, as well, and we'll be tracking it. We'll kick off our Know Your Scouts series for 2020. For the ninth straight year, we'll go team by team through the NFL, looking at their complete scouting staffs and providing a look at each scout's experience in the league, alma mater, other work experiences and notes about their respective histories. It's proven to be a popular way to get a perspective on who's in the league and how and why they got there. It's a perfect complement to our annual Scouting Changes Grid that tracks down all the transition in the scouting community from January to December. If you aspire to be a scout someday, this is the series for you. We'll also continue updating our Signings Grid, which separates the "opted out" from the "opted back in," tracking agencies and training facilities for each player who's passed up fall play. Also next week, we'll have our Agent Changes for the August-to-September period. Last year during the same period, there were 15 changes. Also, this week, ITL's Neil Stratton joined Jordan Reid of The Draft Network on his podcast. This week, he'll join Rice NFL liaison Alex Brown for his podcast, Up Close in Personnel. Topics of discussion will include personnel evaluation, the college game vs. the NFL game, and, of course, Scout Speak. Also, finally, Stratton will join a handful of aspiring NFL scouts from Expand the Boxscore to discuss NFL hiring practices and how to get that big break. The week will also, of course, include Rep Rumblings, Succeed in Football, whatever we dig up for to publish on Twitter, and who knows what else? We look forward to finding out. Join us on our search!