National Felons League (National Football League or NFL nickname)
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league, headquartered in New York City. The NFL has been dubbed the “National Felons League” by those who’ve noticed the number of convicted criminals who are allowed to play. “National Felony League” was cited in 1986 and “National Felons League” was cited in 1991.
Other NFL nicknames include “National Fixed League,” “Not For Long,” “No Fan Left,” “No Fan Loyalty” and “No Fun League.”
Wikipedia: National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL’s 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.
30 November 1986, Park Forest (IL) Star, The Star magazine, pg. 31, col. 1:
Until they start to address this problem, maybe NFL should stand for National Felony League.
31 July 1991, State-Times (Baton Rouge, LA), “Sam’s Kingdom of Sports” by Sam King, pg. 2-C, col. 3:
Don’t forget, you also have the NFL. That doesn’t stand for the National Felons League, but if you look around you could find a few good reasons it should.
Google Groups: rec.sport.football.fantasy
Brain Blades?
Kallen Jenne
8/21/96
(...)-
Brian will, once again, be the 1 receiver on the Seahawks. His case was dismissed the day after he was found guilty. Welcome to the National Felons League.
Google Books
November 1996, Spin, “Out of Bounds” by Mike Rubin, pg. 113, col. 1:
Well, just in time for the fall campaign of the “National Felony League,”
New York (NY) Times
Backtalk; N.B.A.‘s Silent Season Is Giving a Voice to Others
By ROBERT LIPSYTE
Published: November 8, 1998
Listen to the daunting questions in the silence of the hoops, questions we never have time to ponder because the beat of a bouncing basketball is usually so insistent this time of year. Is Doug Flutie too short, is Bill Bradley too tall, is Katarina Witt too naked, is Mike Tyson too crazy, and should the pro football conglomerate be renamed the National Felony League?
Los Angeles (LA) Times
The Danger of Treating Athletes Like Gods
July 11, 1999|PATT MORRISON
(...)
This sports-besotted nation has forgiven its pro athletes for doing far worse than stealing a parking spot from a cripple. Still, those men play in the National Badboys Assn. or the National Felons League, and still, whatever their offenses, they get big paychecks on Friday and big cheers on Sunday.
Google News Archive
15 February 2000,
(Ocala, FL), pg. 1C, col. 2:
National Felon League?
A few bad apples spoil rest of players’ reputations
By JOHN McCLAIN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Violent acts by NFL players this season created so much controversy that critics are calling it the National Felony League.
Google Groups: rec.sport.football.pro
NFL, National Felons League?
KULMEYEH Y. ODAY
3/30/00
NFL it use to mean the National Football League, but today some say it means the National Felons League. Should the National Football League impose stronger penalties for what players do off the field?
Google Books
Grottogate
By Peter K. Connolly
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse
2010
Pg. 14:
Player focus not on teamwork but on finding a launch pad into the National Felon League.
Irish Times
Dave Hannigan: America shows true colours in case against Newton
Treatment of NFL’s most exhilarating quarterback is a window into race relations in US
February 3, 2016
Dave Hannigan
(...)
In a world where the old joke is that NFL stands for National Felons League, a criminal record involving some teen idiocy on a college campus is choirboy stuff compared to the lengthy and disturbing rap sheets (rape, domestic violence etc) of so many of Newton’s peers.