American football in the United States the Fall Experimental Football League played two seasons in 2014 and 2015). Two professional football leagues are pending launch: the Alliance of American Football is scheduled to debut in February 2019, while the XFL, a revamp of a league of the same name that played one season in 2001, is set to return in February 2020. There are several professional indoor football leagues, played at basketball-sized arenas. The oldest one is the Arena Football League, which had several teams co-owned by several NFL owners but is officially independent from the NFL. Indoor football leagues play by significantly different rules that
Homosexuality in American football 2012. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Posthumously outed Homosexuality in American football Few American football players have come out as gay. Six former National Football League (NFL) players have come out publicly after they retired. There has never been anyone who has been publicly out while playing in the NFL. Michael Sam was selected by the St. Louis Rams in 2014 NFL Draft, and became the first publicly gay player drafted in the league, but was released before the start of the regular season. He became the first publicly gay player to play in the Canadian Football League in August 2015. In college football,