Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Business
BusinessSports

Ricky Williams, Terrell Owens and Others Start New Football League To Develop Young Men: ‘You Can’t Take Away Their Voice’

Posted byBy Daryl Nelson | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Former NFL running back Ricky Williams announced that he and other former players will be forming a new football league.

It’s called the “Freedom Football League,” and some of the other big names involved include Terrell Owens, Robert Griffith, Simeon Rice, Spencer Conley, as well as Victor Butler.

Ricky Williams, Terrell Owens and others start the Freedom Football League

Williams explained that the FFL will be different from the NFL in many ways. For one, fans who buy a certain ticket package become partial owners of the team, and the players have a piece of the league.

“We talked about the disparity in income,” he told ESPN. “In the NFL, for example and most professional leagues, the owners are making all the money. Players have an ability to make money but when their career is over then what?”

And a huge mission of the league, Williams said, is to develop young men and give them the freedom to express themselves when social issues arise.

“You can’t take away their voice and expect them to develop,” he explained. “When I grew up watching football, I really wanted to be like Jim Brown, not because of what he did on a field, but because he could take that platform and have a voice.”

“And so when I got to the NFL, expecting that to be the case, anytime a big social issue came up we were told: ‘Be quiet … It’s a distraction,” added Williams. “And so really [we’re] changing the conversation.”

Games will take place in the spring, as well as summer and teams like the Florida Power, the Connecticut Underground and the San Diego Warriors have already been announced.

Williams said there’s currently about 100 stakeholders in the league with 50 former players being among them.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top