Daytona getting team in new pro football league

DAYTONA BEACH — Professional football is coming to Daytona Beach.

On Tuesday, the World Professional Football Association announced the launch of the American Patriot League, a spring football league aimed at giving former college and pro players the chance to play professional football. The first city in the league will be Daytona Beach, and the team is scheduled to play its inaugural 2019 season at Daytona Stadium, where the league recently signed a five-year lease.

According to Marques Ogden, the league’s managing director, the APL will be comprised of 10 teams, with the remaining locations still being finalized. Ogden said Tuesday at that all teams will be located in the Southeast, and that further details will be announced at a later date.

“It’s a chance for guys to play professionally and improve their skills, whether they want to continue on to the NFL or not,” said Ogden, who played in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars. Ogden is the brother of Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden, an 11-time Pro Bowler for the Baltimore Ravens.

Tuesday’s announcement was made during a press conference at DME Academy, which purchased a 30-year lease on the former Municipal Stadium in February. Thus, DME will serve as landlords to the Daytona Beach franchise.

Along with Ogden, former NFL players Keon Lattimore and Bob Golic also serve as managing directors for the APL. Lattimore, the brother of Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, played for the Dallas Cowboys and Jaguars, while Golic played for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders from 1979-92.

“We’re going to be 11 on 11, hard-hitting football,” said Golic, the brother of ESPN personality Mike Golic. “It’s about passion and giving these guys a place to go out and play. The average career for an NFL football player is about 3 ½ years. There are a lot of guys coming out way too early. It’s a place where these guys can go and extend themselves and play some great football.”

There will be three opportunities to try out for the new league, beginning Oct. 27-28 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The other two sessions will take place Nov. 10-11 and Dec. 1-2, both in Houston, Texas. Tryouts will be free, according to Ogden. There is an APL draft scheduled for Dec. 10-14, and the plan is for training camps to begin in January.

The schedule calls for the regular season to run from February to June with be two, five-team divisions named Freedom and Liberty. The postseason schedule features two wild card games, two divisional championships, and the APL championship game, slated for July 4, at the U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland.

“What other day to play a championship game on, than the birthday of our country?” said Lattimore, who is originally from Lakeland.

The Daytona Beach-based team will hold its training camp at nearby Father Lopez Catholic High School, starting Jan. 15. Each team is expected to field a 45-man active roster plus five players on the practice squad.

Ogden said that each team will have independent ownership. He said negotiations are underway for the ownership rights to the Daytona team.

“We’re going to be paying players on the active roster a $50,000 salary,” Ogden added. “That’s the base salary for a player that makes an active roster in our league.”

The APL may face a tough road to success. It isn’t the only professional football league scheduled to begin play in the spring.

Earlier this year, the Alliance of American Football League was announced, with its 10-week season beginning after the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. The AAF is an eight-team league with franchises in Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, California and Florida. The Orlando-based team will be coached by former Florida Gators legend Steve Spurrier.

A revised version of the XFL, which famously lasted just one season in 2001, was also announced earlier this year with a target start date of January 2020.

Ogden, Lattimore and Golic said there will be a few things that set the APL apart from others, including lifetime healthcare for any player who spends five years in the league. Golic also added that while the rules will be similar to the NFL, there will be some changes.

“We’re going to use the same rules that the other league used to have, before they started protecting quarterbacks and all the other changes that people are getting a little angry about,” he said, adding that there will also be no kneeling during the national anthem.

“That’s one of our pet-peeves, that won’t happen,” Lattimore said. “We’re going to set up social injustice groups, so we can go out and tackle all social injustice initiatives in the offseason.”

League offices will be located in Houston, and all APL games will be played on Saturday afternoons and streamed online. Tickets will be available through aplfootball.us.

"We're here to give people a good, quality football product in the springtime," Ogden said. "We want to make it affordable to go watch a game, too. If you go to an NFL game and you have a family of four, you could be spending $600-1,000 between seats, food, beer and hot dogs. You come to our game, you're going to spend a lot less than that. You're going to spend around $100 to come and watch the game and get a good experience."