It was supposed to be the Sweet 16th for NFL Europa.  The league had its share of growing pains and a few pimples, but she had also contributed very few useful players to the NFL itself. The league also had lost $30 million from NFL Europa last year, a number so large that it wouldn't pay a third of Michael Vick's contract. Finally and most damning of all, most people in Europe didn't really give a crap about poor NFL Europa.

So with that, the other huge-ass cleat dropped and and the NFL tackled the league.

I can't say I'm sad to see it go, either. In the NFL players are either ready to go or they're not, and a couple years playing in front of Hans and Lord Britton isn't going to change that for many. There are some great success stories, like Delhomme and Kurt "My Arm's Too Weak To Thump a Bible!" Warner, but by and large the league is simply made up of players too mediocre to land an NFL job. As a separate league designed to introduce football to Europe, it would've been a great idea. As a minor league for the NFL itself, it was about a billion rungs down from MLB's minor leagues and about on par with the NBA's development league. I feel bad for all the guys who are out of work because of this, but football in Europe--especially minor league football--was never going to work out completely.

Expanding the practice squads to full teams that play in smaller American cities, however....that could work. If the NFL wants to dump a paltry amount of money like $30 million down the drain, why not just do it at home?