Some AAF Players Left Homeless After Abrupt Shutdown

When the league ceased operations, many players were left with nowhere to go.

Quarterback John Wolford #7 of the Arizona Hotshots throws a pass during the second half of the Alliance of American Football game against the Salt Lake Stallions at Sun Devil Stadium on February 10, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/AAF/Getty Images)
Quarterback John Wolford #7 of the Arizona Hotshots throws a pass during the second half of the Alliance of American Football game against the Salt Lake Stallions at Sun Devil Stadium on February 10, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/AAF/Getty Images)
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After the Alliance of American Football abruptly pulled the plug on the league’s inaugural season earlier this week, many players who were living in AAF-arranged temporary housing were left homeless.

Many players were living in hotels and apartments provided by the league and were kicked out as soon as the AAF announced it was shutting down.

Since that happened Tuesday afternoon, some players arrived back at their housing on Tuesday night to find their bags and belongings greeting them.

“It was like, ‘Damn, really? Like, tonight?’ ” cornerback Charles James II of the Memphis Express told USA Today. “I mean, that was a first. What kind of (expletive) is that? So then I was like, well, ‘I’m sure you’re going to figure out transportation and have flights scheduled, or you’re going to compensate guys for gas and stuff like that.’ Well we got another message saying that’s not happening at all.”

Rich Ohrnberger, a former NFL player who was working as a radio analyst in the AAF, shared more of the details on Twitter.

As Ohrnberger points out, players who were injured while playing in the AAF are on the hook for their medical expenses.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaFrazier69/status/1113792662245711874

“That the AAF is folding so abruptly, with so little consideration for the players, does not speak well for chairman Tom Dundon or founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian,” according to ProFootballTalk. “The league needed a better plan in place for how to survive — and how to handle it if the league couldn’t survive.”

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