The golden age of alternative professional football leagues is upon us.
First it was Vince McMahon's XFL and Charlie Ebersol's Alliance of American Football. Now, former NFL stars Ricky Williams, Terrell Owens, Simeon Rice and Mike Alstott have founded their own pro league called the Freedom Football League aka the FFL.
"The purpose of this league ... is about community and the development of players," Williams told OTL (H/T ABC News). "... In thinking about creating this league, I wanted to create a league that I could have stayed in and been comfortable and really thrived.
"The NFL started a long time ago, and since then a lot of things have changed. And we want to create a league that's ready for that change and invite some more of it."
According to Williams' OTL interview, there are 50 former players among the approximately 100 stakeholders. Other founders include former NFL players such as Byron Chamberlain, Jeff Garcia and Dexter Jackson, according to ABC News.
The FFL has not announced when it would begin play, though it did say the first 10 teams would be the San Diego Warriors, Oklahoma City Power, Portland Progress, Texas Revolution, Ohio Players, Florida Strong, Birmingham Kings, St. Louis Independence, Connecticut Underground and Oakland Panthers.
The FFL said in a statement (H/T ESPN) that its mission is "to attract football players at their highest level of athletic ability, including those defecting from the NFL, graduating college or high school or playing in international or alternative professional football leagues."