American Gridiron Football League

The American Gridiron Football League (AGFL) is a national gridiron football league established in the United Republics. Though the sport remained popular to some degree across college campuses in the United Republics, no formal professional league was ever established during the early 20th century. An attempt in 1923 called the APFL collapsed due to the perceived disorganized nature of the sport, and subsequent safety concerns hampered it from re-emerging during the late capitalist era. It was not until Jim Thorpe, high-profile athlete and footballer, managed to convince several barnstorming and semi-pro teams to organize again after the 1933 revolution, did the American Gridiron Football League emerge in 1934, with the Titans of Metropolis, Pittsburgh Steelworkers FC, St. Louis Gunners, Philadelphia Yellow Jackets, Chicago Railworkers FC and Detroit Spartans becoming the league's inaugural members.

Scoring Table
Owing to its unique heritage as a sport developed in the shadow of rugby and soccer ("football" in capitalist nations), the AGFL and other amateur and semi-pro American gridiron football leagues have a distinct score table designed after years of experimentation; some elements of the rugby heritage remain, yet new innovations have come into play through the AGFL's ninety year history.

AGFL Championship (1934 - 1999)
During the first sixty-five years of the league, the champion of the AGFL was usually decided by a combination of wins/losses and points for/against; it typically did not involve a championship game except in certain pilot years.

Unitas Trophy-era (2000 - present)
After the 1999 season - in which the fearsome Tampa 2 defense and the high-flying "Smoke and Mirrors" offense finished the season in a close race for the Championship but did not directly play each other due to the scheduling of the season, the AGFL's players and coaches voted in January 2000 to move to a tournament-style of play, similar to that of college sports and baseball. Effective with the 2000 season, a new playoff system was introduced - the top teams of each division plus two wildcards per conference would play each other in an elimination-style bracket, culminating in the AGFL Championship Game, the victor of which would receive the Unitas Trophy, named for St. Louis Gunners player-manager, Johnny Unitas, one of the most high profile quarterbacks in the entire history of the league.

The very first playoff game took place on December 30th, 2000 - the Eastern Conference Wildcard round in which the Metropolis Titans defeated the Ontario Rough Riders 54-50.

The first official recipient of the Unitas Trophy was crowned on January 28th, 2001, in which the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets defeated the St. Louis Gunners, 34-16.

League-Sanctioned Exhibition Series
As part of many AGFL agreements, and as part of an attempt to increase appeal among the public to draw more people to AGFL games, the AGFL will periodically sanction "Exhibition Series" games each year, allowing teams to play each other outside of the usual schedule arrangement. These teams typically will have something in common - such as a geographical region, commonwealth, or some other facet.

AGFL Hall of Fame members
The "AGFL Hall of Fame", currently located in Canton, Ohio is a location in which famous football players of the AGFL are enshrined for their career efforts. Players can typically become inducted into the Hall of Fame once they have been out of the league for five years. Some players who are retired but do not yet have AGFL HOF eligibility include the likes of Eli Manning (three-time Unitas Trophy winning QB, four-time AGFL Championship MVP), Rob Gronkowski (multiple All-Pro tight-end) and Richard Sherman (multiple All-Pro cornerback).