Arkansas Athletes Narrowly Avoid Pro Dream Vanishing

Agreement to return to football by UFL players keeps NFL dream alive

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive lineman John Morgan III (6) knocks the ball loose from BYU Cougars quarterback Kedon Slovis (10) during the second quarter at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Several athletes with Arkansas ties can breathe a sigh of relief after narrowly avoiding the danger of watching their professional football dreams go up in smoke after a collection of quarterbacks reportedly have decided they are willing to play football after all.

The UFL, the product of a merger between the USFL and the second iteration of the XFL spring football leagues, found itself in a bit of a pickle. Last week, every quarterback in the league, including former SEC quarterbacks Matt Corral, Kellen Mond and Spencer Sanders, signed a letter of solidarity to sit out early season training camp exercises and presumably all preseason practices that follow.

It created a lot of leverage for the players as the season starts at the end of the month and spring football leagues are notorious for having limited budgets. TV revenue and strong relationships with broadcast partners are vital to the UFL staying afloat.

To make matters more difficult, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a primary executive in the one season old organization and head of one half of an ownership team made up of Fox and Johnson's Redbird Capital group, is currently tied up in his role as "The Final Boss" in WWE as part of a storyline building to the upcoming WrestleMania premium live event. 

He spent the weekend on screen shocking the world turning ultimate Babyface (good guy) John Cena heel (bad guy) in the build-up to Cena's match against current champion Cody Rhodes.

As a board member of TKO, the organization that owns UFC and WWE, Johnson is currently under a lot of pressure to make sure he and WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque, known to most as Triple-H, pull off a flawless WrestleMania that breaks financial records.

While Johnson focused on his WWE obligations, UFL president Russ Brandon and former Dallas Cowboys fullback turned UFL vice president Daryl Johnston handled the labor dispute.

When the 24 quarterbacks jointly refused to attend a camp in Arlington, Texas last week over a collective bargaining agreement that resulted in a league proposal setting minimum wage at $55,000, it caused quite a stir. It also put the expected start date in jeopardy.

"The United Football League continues to negotiate in good faith with the players union to finalize a Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will be beneficial both to the players and the league,” the UFL said in a statement. 

While it's unclear what concessions were made, all players are expected to now report to training camp in Arlington this morning where all teams are officed and practice to keep costs at a minimum.

The UFL, viewed as a final proving ground for keeping NFL hopes alive and a real time testing opportunity for potential changes that eventually appear in the NFL, had higher than anticipated ratings last year. While both the XFL and USFL averaged roughly 600,000 viewers per game, the UFL came out the gate with approximately 820,000 viewers per game, including six that topped 1 million.

Players with Arkansas ties include:
Arkansas DE John Morgan
UCA WR Lujuan Winningham
UAPB guard Mark Evans
ASU DE Chris Odom
Fort Smith CB Tre Norwood
Nashville TE La'Michael Pettaway
Fort Smith CB Kiondre Thomas
ASU RB Kirk Merrit
Bryant LB Marvin Moody
ASU WR Jonathan Adams

HOGS FEED:

• Former Razorback Smith makes spring training debut

• Razorbacks becoming destination for small school transfers

• Razorbacks must rebound, avoid Vandy's "Memorial Magic"

• Immaculate inning highlights Arkansas' Charlotte sweep

• INJURY ALERT: Former Hog Great Out With Broken Right Hand

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