Michael L. Huyghue (born September 21, 1961; pronounced "hewg") is a sports lawyer and businessman and former

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the United Football League, having served in that capacity since the league's founding in 2007. He was previously a member of the legal department of the

NFL Players Association The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and president J ...

before joining the NFL Management Council. Uniquely positioned from having thus worked on both sides of the player/management relationship, he called for the 2011 NFL labor standoff to be settled by keeping the lawyers for both sides out of the negotiating process. After the formulation of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

, the predecessor of

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

, Huyghue joined the

Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire were a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. They were a member of the North American West division of the World League of American Football (WLAF) and played their home games at Legion Field. The c ...

as general manager. After the league's demise in 1992, he moved to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

as vice-president, a role he also fulfilled for the expansion

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

from 1994 until 2001. Huyghue was also previously a

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

, managing NFL players such as

Adam "Pacman" Jones Adam Bernard Jones (born September 30, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. Nicknamed "Pacman", he played college football for ...

. Huyghue is originally from suburban

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, a situation that was a factor in his placing a UFL franchise, the

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominall ...

, in the area. His family is from St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Huyghue was a three-year

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player while at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, and received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He now is the Terry Cullen Head Coach of

Sprint Football Sprint football is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. Since the 2022 season, the sport has been governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football League and the Midwest Sprint Footba ...

, where he is also a visiting professor at the law school. His expertise is in

Sports Law Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

Controversy

On August 16, 2011,

Yahoo! Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...

reported that

Nevin Shapiro Nevin Karey Shapiro (born April 13, 1969) is an American fraudster who received a 20-year prison sentence for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme. The remainder of Shapiro’s sentence was commuted by President Biden in December, 2024. Acco ...

, a former

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

booster incarcerated for his role in a $930 million

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

, was alleging that he had provided "thousands of impermissible benefits to at least 72 University of Miami athletes from 2002 through 2010." In the article, Shapiro claimed that during his time as a University of Miami booster, he also co-owned a sports agency, Axcess Sports & Entertainment, with Huyghue. Shapiro alleged that he introduced Huyghue to several

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

players, leaving it to Huyghue to provide "his own set of extra benefits to athletes as he saw fit, including cash payments, travel and other inducements." Shapiro "told federal prosecutors that's precisely what Huyghue did, giving multiple illicit benefits, including cash, to several players at Miami." Huyghue rejected Shapiro's claims. "He's a convicted felon," Huyghue said in the same article. "I just don't want to get into such fantasy. I just wouldn't want to even go down that path. I don't even care what he said. Whatever he could say, there's just no substance to it." On January 31, 2012, Huyghue resigned as commissioner of the United Football League.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huyghue, Michael L. 1961 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American lawyers 2011 University of Miami athletics scandal African-American sports executives and administrators American sports executives and administrators Cornell Big Red baseball players Cornell Big Red football players Detroit Lions executives Jacksonville Jaguars executives NFL executives NFL Europe executives People from Windsor, Connecticut Place of birth missing (living people) United Football League (2009–2012) executives University of Michigan Law School alumni Delta Chi members