We haven’t heard a whole lot about the defunct Alliance of American Football since the league suspended operations back in April. However, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, former league owner Tom Dundon has filed “as an unsecured creditor” for the AAF and is claiming he was convinced to buy the league via “misrepresentations.” Dundon is seeking the entirety of the $70MM he invested in the company.
The league initial secured financing from Reggie Fowler, who is currently under indictment for bank fraud. That’s when Dundon, who owns the Carolina Hurricanes, entered into the equation, as he helped make up for Fowler’s failed commitment by purchasing the league. At the time, the perception inside the league office is that Dundon simply purchased a majority stake in the company to obtain the technology behind its gambling app.
However, a lawyer told Kaplan that Dundon may have two new objectives. For starters, he was looking to “remove himself from any litigation from creditors.” Second, by opting for the “misrepresentation” charge, the league’s executive/board insurance policies could come into play, which would then “open a new pool of money.”
Let’s check out some more notes from around the football world…
- Dundon will have a difficult time convincing the courts that he’s not responsible for the AAF’s $48MM in liabilities, reports Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders. Specially, when Dundon “assumed all of the operational costs,” this meant he was responsible for making payroll. Furthermore, his public declarations that he would continue to invest money (around $250MM) into the league indicates that he was both prepared and capable to pay for any debts. Finally, considering Dundon’s standing as the Hurricanes owner, he has millions of dollars coming in each year that could be used to pay off creditors.
- Former NFL safety Rahim Moore auditioned for the XFL last week, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. The 2011 second-rounder bounced around the NFL during his professional career, and he started 41 games for the Broncos between 2012 and 2014. The 29-year-old recently participated in the AAF, and he understands that an opportunity in the XFL would also come with its fair share of risks. “It’s still football, you know?” Moore said. “There’s a risk in everything you do. But if you love something, man, just go do it.”
- Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman is currently on a promotional tour for an upcoming documentary, and the Patriots wide receiver discussed what he went through during his four-game suspension to start last season. “It was a low time,” Edelman said (via Florio). “You’re already battling mentally if you can do it like you did it. And then all of a sudden you have this, you’re dealing with this, and then you’re dealing with everyone outside of your life and what people are saying and dealing with and you can’t really get too involved into because you’re ultimately trying to get yourself back to playing football. It’s not like you’re 100 percent going out here and dealing with all these things, and you’re fine. You still have a task at hand, and that was one of the biggest parts of my journey back — one of the toughest times where I really had to compartmentalize with how to deal with my injury, my suspension, with being a balanced family member and getting back from my injury. And that was a very tough time. . . . It was honestly — it was probably the toughest time of my life at that point.”
HOF or GTFO
For Julian “steroid cheat” Edelman? He shouldn’t have been allowed to play in the playoffs. I like the MLB rule for cheating players.
NFL is a cheaters league. Cheat or lose. Patriots ftw
I dislike the MLB rule. Why hurt a team’s playoff series’s if they are able to make it there? Especially after losing a player for half the season.
Because they cheated.
Google “ethics”.
Dundon is a great reminder that the dumb and bold can often attain the success we erroneously assume is limited to smart people.
So, he’s EITHER…
A) A snake who is looking to get out of paying his debts.
B) A dunce who tossed $70 million at a company without looking at it’s books first.
These are the choices.
I don’t know too many dunces who have $70 million lying around that they can just flush down the toilet so I’ll choose A).
See Trump, Donald.
Or a snake….Obama
You don’t pay much attention to the wealthy, do you?
The people I pay attention to define wealth in more meaningful terms than just being financially greedy.
Well, maybe that explains your original comment, as there are plenty of people with a lot of money who aren’t really all that bright.
Yeah, I’m going with B) as much as I’m sure A) is also true.
After the AAF folded, Dundon floated this pathetic story to try to save face about really only buying the league to get the technology for it’s gambling app.
I said it was BS and any college interns could write that app.
Well, today, that app was sold for $125,000.
Dundon spent $70 million and is liable in the bankruptcies.
He’s a dunce.