New football league to play games at UF

There's a host stadium, a new coach and some thirty-something former Florida players.

Spring professional football is becoming closer to a reality in Gainesville.

The All-American Football League's Florida franchise announced an agreement with Florida to play three of its five home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium next spring. In addition, the franchise revealed that seven former Gators are signed under contract for the season, which begins in April 2008.

Former Gator quarterback Shane Matthews is expected to be introduced as the franchise's head coach at a news conference next week. Former Gators signed to play include receiver Travis McGriff, receiver Chris Doering, receiver Willie Jackson, kicker Judd Davis, cornerback Fred Weary, cornerback Vernell Brown and running back/cornerback Eli Williams.

The All-American football league's formula is designed to connect college host cities with former stars from the school in order to generate fan interest. Whether it works remains to be seen.

McGriff, who graduated from Florida in 1998, has spent the past nine years in professional football with the NFL and Arena Football League.

"As an athlete, when you leave college, you go realizing that you're never going to get a chance to play in that stadium again," McGriff said. "That's what makes this so appealing. I think a lot of the guys are fired up about the opportunity to play in The Swamp again."

Florida associate director of operations Chip Howard confirmed that Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will host games on April 26, May 17 and May 31 of 2008. Howard said that while the school will incur some expenses, he expects the usage agreement with the league will generate close to $1 million in revenue for UF.

The Florida franchise is looking into sites in Jacksonville and Orlando for its remaining two home games.



Kevin Brockway can be reached at (352) 374-5054 or by e-mail at brockwk@gvillesun.com.