Some will be rekindling a lost love, while others will grab the attention of NFL scouts.
Either way, two football-addicted family men are forming a new, semi-professional football team in Baton Rouge, and they are hoping to recruit about 60 ex-players who want to in get back into the game this spring.
The owners even hope to win the league championship during the team’s first year.
The Baton Rouge Eagles is holding tryouts this Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Plank Road BREC Park in Zachary. Interested athletes must be at least 18 and pay a $30 tryout fee.
The Eagles will join the 100-team North American Football League and will have five home games and five away games.
The athletes will not be paid for playing.
Team co-owners Willie Sept — a home re-modeler — and Keith Wright — a landscape contractor — said they are looking for experienced athletes who played in high school and possibly college.
Johnathan Moore, a 24-year-old ex-high school football player for Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge, who is a mechanic at Duplessis Cadillac dealership, said he is just looking for a chance to play again.
“I never knew when I would get the opportunity, but I kept working out in case,” Moore said. “Now, I can see if I can still play.”
And Moore said he is sure he still can.
He said he even hopes to catch the attention of professional scouts to try out for a professional team.
The schedule is not finalized, but Sept said the team most likely will play the Lions in Lafayette, some teams in Texas and maybe in California starting in June.
And Sept said he is serious about sending some players to the NFL.
“Oh yes, we expect to send some to the pros,” he said. “The scouts will come out and look. They will check the stats. If the Beer Man can make it, our guys can.”
Sept was referring to Saints kicker Michael Lewis — the “Beer Man” — who did not play college football and drove a Budweiser beer truck around the Saints practice field in New Orleans before making it on some arena and indoor football teams.
Wright, a Baton Rouge native, said the team hopes to play games at Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge.
“A lot of the guys just come out for the love of the game, but we also want to do something positive for the community,” he said.
Each game ticket will cost about $10.
Charles Toussaint, a New Orleans Saints and Southern University season-ticket holder, said he is excited about the Eagles because it is important to give people in the community a reasonably priced sporting event to attend.
“You go to a Saints game, and those tickets are $85 a piece and that means $170, because you know I got to take my wife,” Toussaint said. “Then you add 20 bucks for a parking spot — a lot of people can’t afford those tickets to LSU or Southern or Saints games.”
Wright said the team will set up programs for youth in the community and help them identify their own goals and aspirations on and off the football field.
Sept said the team will practice twice a week and be expected to work out on their own time.