Players Hope Europe Can Make World Of Difference Former Area Stars Using World League To Tune Up For Or Step Up To Nfl

The NFL sends them out like missionaries, seeking to educate and convert.

And once they spread the word of American football to the soccer-loving heathens, then little kids all over Europe will be free to harass their parents into buying them officially licensed 49ers jackets for $149.99 each.

Such is the design of the World League.

Except for the players.

“We’re all in this for the same thing, to try to improve and get a better opportunity to play in the NFL,” said Shaumbe Wright-Fair, a former Washington State running back with the Rhein (Germany) Fire. “Because if you’re in this for anything other than loving football, you can forget it.”

Wright-Fair, who has spent the past two seasons on practice squads with Detroit, San Francisco and Kansas City, is one of a dozen players with local ties who were on World League rosters last week.

Others include former Cougars Anthony McClanahan (Amsterdam), Michael Wright (Barcelona), Clarence Williams (Frankfurt), Deron Pointer (Rhein) and LaVar Ball (London).

Idaho has contributed Doug Nussmeier (Rhein) and Alan Allen (London), with other local athletes including Pullman High’s Will Furrer (Amsterdam), Post Falls’ Rollin Putzier, and Lewiston High’s Brad Lebo.

“The talent is pretty good,” Wright-Fair said. “Most, if not everyone, has been with an NFL team in one way or another. Some of them are even players drafted in the first round that have had things happen in their careers, and a lot of players allocated from NFL teams.”

Nussmeier fits that second category, having been asked by the New Orleans Saints to see the world and get some game-time experience before coming back to camp for his second season with them.

“I feel like I’ve gotten better just being here, so it’s been a good experience for me,” Nussmeier said from Atlanta before decamping for Germany. “The whole idea was to get to a chance to play in 10 games and get the experience.”

Nussmeier was uncertain if he’d be the starter, as he’s competing against former Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta for the position.

What he and everyone else who is playing in the league is certain of, though, is that this is NOT the NFL.

“They told us from the start that you have to be flexible in this league,” Nussmeier said. “Things are going to change from time to time and facilities may not be what you might expect some times, but you have to go with the flow and remember that the main thing here is to play football.”

Pay is allocated in fixed amounts, with quarterbacks receiving $20,000 and all others getting $15,000, except for punters and placekickers who cash in for $10,000.

The league has been dormant for a year, and was formerly known by its full name - the World League of American Football - until administrators grew tired of an acronym that everyone pronounced “We Laugh.”

In its previous incarnation, the league included several teams in the United States, but the current format calls for six teams spread across Scotland, England, The Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

After 10 games - beginning next Saturday - the winner of the first half of the season takes on the winner of the second half in the World Bowl.

“I guess the travel is kind of an added incentive,” Wright-Fair said. “Travel broadens ones horizons and gives you a chance to see how different cultures live.”

Nussmeier’s mother, Barbara Nichols, commented that her son probably will not be moved by the radical change in venue. “He’s so focused on football, he probably won’t even notice he’s in Germany and not with the Saints,” she said.

Galen Hall, the ex-Florida coach who also coached Orlando in the previous World League, handles Nussmeier’s and WrightFair’s Rhein club.

“We run a basic pro-style offense, twoback stuff going to one-back on third down,” Nussmeier said. “The league limits how much you can do during the first couple weeks of the season.”

The league is also experimenting with scoring, granting four points for any field goal in excess of 50 yards.

Aside from a few such gimmicks and the European marketing, this is basically a group of Triple-A feeder-clubs for the NFL.

“Really, I have to look at it as a good opportunity to get some film, to get seen more and play with some other professioanls who have been in the league,” Wright-Fair said. “I think it can be a platform to springboard my career. That’s why I’m here.”