Broken Promises, Inside a Semi-Pro Nightmare, Part Two

Broken Promises, Inside a Semi-Pro Nightmare, Part Two

August 19, 2016 by Terrance Biggs

In Part One, we delved into the world of the Rivals Professional Football League (RPFL). A former player named DJ Tucker walked me through his experiences during his stay. His viewpoint ran contrary to that of RPFL CEO Quentin Hines. (Note: After attempting to question Hines about Tucker’s claims, the CEO offered little evidence to disprove Mr. Tucker. Hines countered with attempts to discredit those brave enough to speak.)

Where DJ Tucker leaves off, Altamar Brown, James Daniel, and Tanner Melson begin to fill in the blanks. Brown, Daniel and Melson each possess similar RPFL experiences.

On the accuracy of Part One:

Brown: It was all accurate and some things DJ couldn’t speak on, because he left before it got worse.

Daniel: No, it actually got worse after DJ left.

 

Deteriorating Conditions after Tucker’s departure:

Brown: Hines told us he was going to get us an apartment. Once we left the hotel, we went to an apartment. It literally had no furniture, no food, or cable. The house was bare. He came and said “I have a couple of flat screens” and he was going to bring it to the house, but that never happened. Now after we left the hotel, some guys immediately went home. They knew it was sketchy. Hines was always late on paying our hotel bill. Also, he promised us jobs, but that never happened. It literally looked like a crack house. The coach told Hines what players said the Hines sent one home for being a cancer to this program. James Daniels and I stayed at the hotel to keep hope alive with our dream of playing in the NFL. After 2/3 days Hines came into the apartment with his idea of food. It was 3 cans of corn, 2 gallons of milk, and 4 loaves of bread.

 

Daniel: The living conditions were horrible. From the beginning, we were moving from hotel to hotel. Then, the league selected 14 that were considered out-of- state. Fourteen people cramped in a 2 bedroom house.

 

Melson: After DJ left, we were moved into the first floor of a house. On that floor, there were 2 rooms, a living room, and a kitchen. There were four of us on air mattresses in each bed room, 2 people on air mattresses in the living room, and 3 more were moving into the kitchen.

 

Pay Scale:

Daniel: I didn’t receive any compensation.

Melson: He never paid us. The contracts were incentive based such as getting 12 tackles a game, 3 sacks, 3 passing touchdowns, etc. What he didn’t tell you was that he was the one who kept stats. He kept one of our linebackers from reaching one of his incentives but not recording all of his tackles.

Brown: During first game he actually cut it short, because our running back hit the required number of yards to get paid, but Hines never paid him.

 

Duration of RPFL Stay:

Melson: I was there for 2 games before I went back to arena. I’ve played arena football now for two years along with my brief time in the RPFL and I’ve never been treated as bad as I was while I was there. I also know that not a single person was paid off of their incentives.

Brown: I played in 2 games.

Daniel: I played two games.

 

Out of State Players Cut:

Brown: He told us he folded a team, because they didn’t have enough players. That was a lie. The first two days of camp he cuts 60+ players. He cut most of the out- of- state guys. He called us together at around 8pm. Then, he came to the meeting at the hotel and cut the guys at 11-12pm. Told them if anybody needs a ride to the airport or bus station, he will take them and that’s it. Even if they didn’t have funds to make it home, they had to leave.

 

Amount of Player Expense:

Melson: $40 for a background check I never received, $300 flight to get there, $200 on food for a month, and $60 for cleats, so $600 total.

Daniel: I spent close to 1500 with buying food, toiletries, and gas. I also worked two jobs for the time I was in Michigan.

 

Why speak out?

Melson: We just want our story told, so that somebody else doesn’t have to go through what we did. Now that he’s waving around a 256k contract. He will get almost anybody he wants, and he can screw them as well

 

Brown: I’m straight forward and 1000% honest: this league is a rip off. Hines claimed that he doesn’t get any money out of league, but my living conditions and work situation was dependent on him. He didn’t come through on his word. In my opinion, he was selling a million dollar dream with chump change to many that really want to make it to the next level. There are plenty of people that will take advantage of others that are desperate and will do anything for a shot at the big time.

 

Daniel: It’s a tough and long road and many things we kept hush. But, this league had to get exposed. Well at first I wasn’t going to say anything, but then again I felt I needed to say something and let other athletes know about the RPFL. It looks intriguing that a former NFL player started a development league with huge checks being cut. But it’s not that at all.

 

Initially, this story sought to pursue the reasoning why a league founded by an allegedly wealthy man would charge 150 dollars for a tryout. Since the publishing of the first installment, more are deciding to speak.

Today:

James Daniel is currently preparing for Arena and CFL tryouts. He hopes to learns from this ordeal and channel his frustration into positivity.

Altamar Brown decided to resume his quest to play after soul-searching.

Tanner Melson currently plays for the New Mexico Stars of the American Indoor Football League.