The Rivals Professional Football League (RPFL) is a low-level

american football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

owned by Quentin Hines and consisting of 12 teams in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. Since December 2021, the league arranged additional "College Bowl" style scouting event, called RPFL Super Bowl, which athletes paid $1,000 to participate.

History

The league was founded in 2012 and played its inaugural season in 2014. Initially Hines announced that the league will have five teams: ''Akron Blaze'', ''Chicago Kings'', ''Detroit Cougars'', ''Indianapolis Racers'' and ''Southern Michigan Mustangs''. At the time, Hines indicated that he was sole owner and would continue as such for the league's first stage before selling franchises. In the end, only two teams played in the first season, Macomb County Bearcats and Detroit Cougars. The Cougars were first season champions, and according to the league, 14 league players end up getting other pro opportunities: four players tried out for the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

and 10 others earned CFL workouts. In April 2015, the league indicated two more Michigan teams, Pontiac Generals and Oakland County Racers, with two stadium as game sites, Mount Clemens High School and

Wisner Stadium Wisner Memorial Stadium is an athletic facility located in Pontiac, Michigan. History Wisner Memorial Stadium was built in 1941 and named for Moses Wisner, the 12th Governor of the State of Michigan. Wisner, a resident of Pontiac, was a lawye ...

in Pontiac. The Cougars won their second championship, and their star player, DeAndre Smith, signed a $64,100 three-year performance-based contract with the Generals. For the 2016 season the league added four teams in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

area: Miami Blaze, Atlantic Sharks, Florida Wolves and South Beach Silverbacks. For the 2018 season the league added four teams in Georgia: Atlanta Sting, Cobb County Kings, Georgia Power and Peachtree Heat. in the 2019 season, the South Beach Silverbacks signed a 61 year old rookie name Mark Eberwine, after he attended the league tryouts and selected in the 2019 RPFL draft. Eberwine claims it wasn't a

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. The Silverbacks won the Conference championship, after defeating the Miami Blaze 28-8.

Structure and players

The league divide to three abbreviated "seasons": the Florida teams play from February to March, the Michigan teams contend from August to September and the Georgia teams compete from November to December. Each team plays a three-week regular season with the top two teams competing for the league championship. 11 of 12 teams are centrally owned and operated by the league (Detroit Cougars owned by Ryan Reed), while each team consists of 50 players with a "small practice squad". Every year the league conducts a draft, consisting of 10 rounds with 20 selections per round to construct the teams rosters. The registration fee for the league tryout is $200, while salaries can range from $100 to $1,000 a week, but the majority of the players are on fully incentive based contracts. The league also provides housing for $15 a day and charge $400 for equipment. As result of the pay scale the league is subject to criticism, as some openly called it "a scam".

Teams

Michigan Conference

* ''Detroit Cougars'' * ''Michigan Bearcats'' * ''Oakland County Racers'' * ''Pontiac Generals''

Florida Conference

* ''Atlantic Sharks'' * ''Florida Wolves'' * ''Miami Blaze'' * ''South Beach Silverbacks''

Georgia Conference

* ''Atlanta Sting'' * ''Cobb County Kings'' * ''Georgia Power'' * ''Peachtree Heat''

Notable players

* Daunte Akra - former

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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

player. * Anthony Baskin - former

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

player. * Mark Eberwine - oldest player in league history (61 years). * DeVozea Felton - former

Birmingham Iron The Birmingham Iron were a professional American football franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played the ...

player. * Keith Franklin - former Saskatchewan Rough Riders player and 2016 league MVP. * Kris Pettus - former New Mexico Stars player. * Jessie Scroggins - former Wichita Force player. * Jalen Simmons - former

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

player. * Austin Webster - youngest player in league history (18 years).

External links

Rivals Professional Football League games

References

{{Professional gridiron football leagues in North America American football leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2014 Professional sports leagues in the United States