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The USAFL Website

Andrew: Before the USAFL was ever conceived, I had longed for some sort of project to help me learn HTML. When my brother-in-law Jim Maurer and I crafted the outline for a GM-Only football league using Sierra's Front Page Sports Football (yes, the original one), I thought it would be best to have a website to house all our stats and centralize all our communications. Thus, my first ever website was generated. Man, was it ever crude. Funny, how proud I was at the time at how I doing. Hey, we all have to start somewhere!

Take a look at this EARLIEST known USAFL website. It's from the league's fourth season (2000). Not all of the links work, but be sure to read the Tampa Bay and Denver season notes. Jim and I loved writing those each season. You might also notice a few players in the rookie and free agent pool. Bing Bennett is a 3yr restricted free agent here.

By the time I decided to open up our league to outsiders and publish our URL on FBPRO websites, I knew I had to vastly improve my graphics and layout. I didn't start using a frameset until we expanded our league from 12 to 18 teams in 2008. Guys like Claude Boman, Mike Morton, and Chris Kampitsis all arrived to see a layout somewhat similar to what it is today. I have continued to use the frameset layout as I believe it is the most efficient way to flow back and forth through all the pages and stats. Although the graphics and color schemes have changed radically, the layout has remained the same.

Above is the original Banner Graphic used to get people to visit our site. The "seasons flying by" was my marketing edge. The downside to Coaching Leagues was that a season could take up to 5 months. What agony if you had a bad team! I loved hearing comments from guys coming in saying things like, "I can't wait to start building a dynasty!"

First impressions upon arriving at the USA Football League's website:

Bill: We HAVE to get this guy on BlitzSports. :)
(editor's note: Bill Barnwell operated the famous blitzsports.com website along with Jason Tudor. Back when FBPRO was huge on the net, their site along with FBPRO.com were the two crucial websites for FBPRO gamers. Blitzsports also hosted a LIVE RealAudio radio show every Saturday morning)

Todd: INCREDIBLE! When I joined in Season 22 the league had reached a new level. I recall navigating the site, exploring team histories and management data, including stadium statistics and franchise revenue, and thinking I've just stumbled upon a completely contained, alternative universe. It's actually gotten better since then! 

Fred: I've been in many fantasy sim leagues before, and I was impressed at the quantity of information on the site. And it was very well done too. I knew right away this league was serious.

Ben: That the league looked very in depth and fun

Tom: Having been new to "sim leagues" in general, I was greatly impressed with the detail and the enthusiasm that Andrew (and the rest of the league) showed towards their teams and the league. Articles, interviews, it was all just pretty cool.

Joe: I was amazed at the detail that went into this league. Simply by looking at how the rookie draft was handled, I was amazed. I knew this was going to be a well done league.

Garritt: I'm not sure there was a website at that point :) I found the USAFL thru some web searching that resulted in an email address to Andrew from a FBPro website.

Jean: I was very impressed. The web site looked (and still look) very professional ... like this was a real league !

Flip: Well when I joined the league as an AGM in 2004 I was really impressed with the site. I had played in other online leagues who’s websites were very basic but when I saw the USAFL site I knew I found some big time SIM players.

Mike: What the heck is this??.....Hey, It does look cool. I actually had no idea what I was looking at at first the USAFL was the first and only league I have been in. The site was much smaller back then. Just the basic info for the league. I was however hooked from the start. At the start I thought it was great and to this day it remains so.

For even more historical data, visit the USAFL History Page to view tons of stats from earlier versions of the USAFL. This page can always be accessed through the USAFL FAQ.