NFL Ufl

As we near the halfway point of the NFL season, there is a slew of really bad NFL teams stinking up the joint. The 0-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers obviously qualify. That means it's time for a bunch of delusional people to start making claims about how so-and-so could beat the Bucs. You know, college teams, "my rec league team," high school teams and, of course, UFL teams. Usually these claims are tongue-in-cheek, but Tatum Bell of the UFL's Florida Tuskers seems pretty serious.

Michael Pittman, a running back for the Tuskers who used to play for the Bucs, said something about how some of his teammates probably thought they could beat the Bucs. Bell immediately said he was one of them. When given a hypothetical score of 24-14 (Tuskers over Bucs), Bell went a bit too far.

ORLANDO -- Simeon Rice has carried the chip on his shoulder for so long that it became a standard part of his football uniform.

It's a boulder now.

Rice, a 12-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowl selection, began practice this week with the New York Sentinels of the startup United Football League, confident of regaining the form that once made him one of the game's most dangerous defensive ends.

"I have some unfinished business,'' Rice said from outside the Citrus Bowl, where the Florida Tuskers and the Sentinels share training-camp facilities. "I've done it all, but I never felt like I got the credit I deserved. So I'm coming back to get that. This is my road back.''

The complete UFL schedule for the league's inaugural season (All times Eastern):

Week 1
Thursday, Oct. 8 -- San Francisco at Las Vegas, 9 p.m., Versus
Saturday, Oct. 10 -- New York at Florida, 7 p.m., HDNet

Week 2
Wednesday, Oct. 14 -- Florida at Las Vegas, 9 p.m., Versus
Saturday, Oct. 17 -- New York at San Francisco, 9 p.m., HDNet

Week 3
Thursday, Oct. 22 -- San Francisco at Florida, 7 p.m., Versus

Week 4
Thursday, Oct. 29 -- San Francisco at New York, 7 p.m., Versus
Friday, Oct. 30 -- Las Vegas at Florida, 7 p.m., HDNet

Week 5
Wednesday, Nov. 4 -- Las Vegas at New York, 7 p.m., Versus

Week 6
Thursday, Nov. 12 -- Las Vegas at San Francisco, 9 p.m., Versus
Saturday, Nov. 14 -- Florida at New York, 7 p.m., HDNet

Week 7
Thursday, Nov. 19 -- Florida at San Francisco, 9 p.m., Versus
Friday, Nov. 20 -- New York at Las Vegas, 9 p.m., HDNet

Championship Game
Friday, Nov. 27 -- Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, 3 p.m., Versus

Suspended quarterback Michael Vick reportedly met Wednesday with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss what is anticipated to be a conditional reinstatement into the league, possibly as soon as next week.

One NFL source told FanHouse on Thursday that if Vick satisfies the commissioner's requirements for reinstatement, it's expected that he will receive at least a four-game suspension to start the 2009 season, but that Goodell may allow Vick to join a team in training camp.

The catch: no NFL team has expressed any interest in signing the newly-freed Vick to a contract.

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Confirming much speculation from a few weeks ago, former Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman has decided to take his craft to the upstart United Football League. Losman will sign with the Las Vegas team in the UFL, who will be coached by Jim Fassel.

Losman entered Buffalo with somewhat modest expectations. He was drafted 22nd overall in 2004, following a senior year at Tulane where he threw for 3,077 yards and 33 touchdown passes. He showed flashes of being a decent quarterback at times, and even threw for 3,051 yards and 19 touchdown passes with an 84.9 rating in his only full season as a starter. Regardless, he lost out on the starting job to Trent Edwards during 2007 and was sent packing after 2008 with his career 10-23 record and 75.6 rating.

The upstart UFL is going to encounter its fair share of problems -- most of which stem from the fact that the NFL is such a monster in the United States. There simply doesn't seem to be room for a competitor. If any of the UFL's differences from the NFL are an indication, though, they have been doing their homework. Some of the main complaints from fans of the NFL have been countered with the UFL's system of relaxed rules, in an effort to be the more "exciting" football league.

Of course, I feel compelled to point out the league with the most exciting players generally seems to be the most exciting league. On that front, the UFL has some work to do. As far as the rules, though, the UFL is distancing itself from the so-called "No Fun League."

Good news: those players lucky enough to make a UFL roster will get paid (and by the looks of it, I suspect training camp will be a lot like little league tryouts: you show up, you get a uniform).

Bad news: salaries are approximately one-tenth what an undrafted second-year NFL player will pull down next season. The UFL is offering one-year, $35,000 contracts. (By comparison, the Steelers' Patrick Bailey, a special-teamer entering his second season after signing as a free agent out of Duke, will make roughly $385,000 in 2009.) Added bonus: there will be a chance to earn an extra $15,000 through incentives. So, right, somebody's getting a Kia Rio.

The inaugural UFL draft took place on Thursday night, and at least a few names of the 96 called were recognizable ones.

Quick primer: The United Football League, which begins its first season of play in October, consists of four teams (Las Vegas, New York, Orlando and San Francisco). Each team has 20 players allotted to it -- we do not know the identities of those guys yet -- plus 24 draft choices. The four 60-man rosters would then be filled by players who are cut during NFL training camps, or who sign contracts in lieu of attending camps, like we hear J.P. Losman will do.

If there are two phrases/names/things that are relevant to all things important in the world's culture right now, it's pretty obviously: "J.P. Losman" and "United Football League." No, no. Seriously. That's because today, Losman transplanted Tim Rattay as the most relevant non-ex-felon to potentially hop to the new league.

But, all sarcasm aside, this is kind of a big deal from a football fan's perspective simply because Losman is a pretty huge name when it comes to the UFL. Again. Seriously.

If you take a walk across the landscape of the NFL's history, you'll find the buried remains of other start-up leagues under your feet, leagues big on hope who are now chapters in a cautionary tale that clearly lists the NFL as the only viable option for professional football in America.

The UFL seemingly hasn't considered what lies beneath, for they surely would have thought twice before launching onto a limb that is tenuous at best. Or maybe they've considered it greatly.