WELCOME, to the Bradley NFL Ownership Group. I am your founder and Team President, Aaron Bradley. The majority shareholder, when that is determined, will also add his name to our group title. We will get into shares and other financials in a bit, but first let me tell you about my background. I was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. I have been a diehard Chicago Bears fan my entire life and have always loved the game of football. I received the Bank of America Award for Excellence in the field of computer science in 1988. I attended the University of California, San Diego off and on between 1988-1997 majoring in everything from psychology to literature to computer science to cognitive science. I was the captain of my college intramural softball and flag football teams. I started running online businesses in 1996 and own a web hosting company called Smart Elf and an online auctions community called Auction Fire. Both of these companies are profitable and expanding rapidly. I have authored my own software written in the highly complex Perl language, some of which I share for free, some of which I sell for profit, and some of which is used to run my websites. I have always studied the strategy of football and have read many fine books on the subject and have played thousands of hours of simulation games versus human and computer opponents. I study football personnel and I write articles about the Chicago Bears, which I either publish on the official team website, in the message board area, or on my own Bears fan website which is known as DaBears.org. I have learned a lot by following the Bears, mostly what NOT to do as an owner or GM. The Chicago media is brutal and every action taken by the owner, president, GM, coaches, and players is put under the microscope, dissected, analyzed in detail, and potentially used to hold that person accountable for the team's failures. All media does this to a degree, but it is particularly bad in Chicago because it is a large market and the team has made only 2 brief playoff appearances in the past 11 years. The futility is particularly embarrassing when you consider that the Bears are the founding franchise of the NFL and have a rich, storied tradition. Why does football appeal to me so much? It is a tremendous physical and intellectual challenge. The athletes are courageous beyond compare and the coaches are masterminds. The game is constantly evolving, adapting, becoming so much more than what it was. The sport has a life of its own and it encompasses in many ways the very nature of human survival: self-sacrifice, competition, determination, teamwork, and striving towards success and ultimate reward. My son Skyler is 4 years old, and he is already excitedly learning how to play football, and it brings me great joy to teach him the game. Anyhow, that is a little bit about myself and about my passion for football. I am qualified to be our team president because I have a strong and diverse educational background, a high level of intelligence, computer science training, business experience, sales experience, and management experience. I am seeking an ownership group with the intent of purchasing an NFL franchise, whether it be an existing franchise or a new expansion team, and together through hard work and dedication we will hopefully win numerous Lombardi trophies over the course of our lifetimes. So, what's an NFL Team worth these days? Below are the 2003 NFL team valuation charts as determined by Forbes (click for details):
$952 mil: Washington Redskins Team Value.
I have denoted the teams that might be attainable with an asterisk (*) but the most likely route of new ownership may be an expansion franchise. Due to football's ever-increasing popularity nationwide, more and more cities want to join the league. The NFL has deferred some of this to the AFL (Arena Football League) using it as a minor-league recruiting grounds, but football is not truly football unless it is played on a 100 yard field and all major cities prefer a real pro football team over an Arena team. There is no doubt the league will continue to expand, but at a very controlled rate, maybe 2 teams every 8 years or so. Expansion causes changes in the playoff odds and potentially a change in the playoff format, as well as diluting the talent pool. The talent pool is very strong now, however, thanks to ever-improving college programs and NFL Europe & Arena football serving as waystations for players requiring more fine-tuning before they are deemed NFL ready. It is very likely the league will expand within the next year or two, as evidenced by the change in divisional formats. By adding an extra division in both the AFC and NFC it will be very easy to expand the league. Los Angeles is definitely chomping at the bit for a new franchise. So our timing is very auspicious for this new ownership group, and I hope you will join us in this exciting venture.
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