ORLANDO, Fla. _ Amid reports that the Alliance of American Football is suspending operations, Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier called off practice Tuesday afternoon and called a team meeting for 2 p.m., presumably to say goodbye to his team.
"Everybody wanted to play out the season and everybody is disappointed," said Spurrier, who came out of semi-retirement and was the first head coach named by the AAF. "Everyone was led to believe that the Alliance was well funded and we could play three years without making any money and this, that and the other. Obviously, everything that was said was not very truthful."
Spurrier added the league hasn't officially shut down yet.
"It isn't official until it's official," Spurrier said.
If it shuts down, Spurrier said the team has already said its goodbyes.
The news of the league suspending operations is doubly disappointing to the Apollos, who had a league-best 7-1 record and were the clear-cut favorite to win the championship.
The AAF didn't even have enough money to make it through the first two weeks of the season before it had to be bailed out by billionaire NHL owner Tom Dundon, who bought a majority stake in the league in mid-February. According to national business reporter Darren Rovell of Action Network, Dundon has already dumped $70 million into the league before deciding to pull the plug.
The league was co-founded by Hall-of-Fame NFL executive Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol _ the son of Dick Ebersol, the legendary former chairman of NBC Sports.
When Dundon took control from Polian and Ebersol, according to Rovell's report, he funded the league payroll, but did not pay vendors who worked with the AAF, many of whom are still looking for their money. When Dundon agreed to back the league, sources told Rovell that he took unilateral control of the board, meaning any decision he wanted to make, including folding the league, was his to make.
Suspending operations with just two weeks remaining in the regular season did not sit well with Spurrier.
"When the new owner came in, we thought we had financial backing and we'd be able to at least play out the season," Spurrier said. "We never thought it would end like this."
