United National Gridiron League The United National Gridiron League ( UNGL ) was a proposed minor professional football league . The league was formed in August 2007 and was originally called the United National Football League . The league ' s inaugural draft took place January 8 – 9 , 2009 . The league had planned to begin the season on February 8 , 2009 but , after a multiple postponements of the kick - off date , the inaugural season was pushed back to March 2010 , because of financing problems . On March 10 , 2010 , the league announced via an email to the media , that it was canceling the 2010 season and suspending league operations indefinitely . In the statement to the media , the league said , " We were very hopeful that this announcement would not have to be made ( or at the very least we might have been able to delay our season start a bit ) , if we had been able to secure certain assurances and arrangements from the investor group we had been working with these past 4 months . Unfortunately , as of this past Monday , we were unable to confirm these arrangements which prohibited us , in good conscience , from announcing our league start date , along with the other announcements everyone was expecting regarding our player draft , camp report date , etc . . " Financial struggles . The league pushed back its season three times . According to the UNGL ' s Web site , the start of the season had been pushed back from February to May because of a " dishonest commitment made by the league ' s primary investor . reported in February that the investor " suddenly withdrew its $ 15 million contribution . " There has also been scrutiney surrounding the Salem team . The League originally struck a deal with the City of Salem for use of their Stadium in April 2009 , then 10 days later canceled their season . Then in August 2009 the League announced that Salem would be home to a team in 2010 . That was news to Salem officials , who learned about it when the press release was posted on roanoke . com . Salem civic facilities director Carey Harveycutter said UNGL officials have not been talking with him about getting back in business with the city . CEO Marvin Tomlin ' s response , to the surprise of Salem officials , was " We are very interested in coming and playing in Salem , We haven ' t confirmed the facility yet out there in Salem , but we are very eager to talk . I just wanted everybody to know that this is where we want to come back to play . " An August 2009 news release said there will also be teams in Miami ; Columbus , Ga . ; Birmingham , Ala . ; and Akron , Ohio , as well as teams in unnamed cities in North Carolina , Texas and Louisiana . Tomlin refused to say how many actual facility agreements he has with those cities for 2010 . Harveycutter called UNGL president Ben Eison on Friday August 21 , 2009 after learning of the league ' s announcement . He said Eison told him Friday , " We ' re not announcing facilities ; we ' re just announcing areas , and you should not read into it that they have contracted any facilities . " Harveycutter said he told Eison , " As I left it last spring , if you will execute the contract and provide the cash deposits called for , then we will talk . " Tomlin refused to name his investors or say how much financing was in place . " Our financing is strong , " Tomlin said . The league had planned to debut last February , but the start of the 2009 season was postponed because of a " dishonest commitment made by the league ' s primary investor , " according to an announcement that used to be on the UNGL ' s Web site . The league had originally turned down Salem in favor of Norfolk , but the UNGL called Harveycutter in April to say that Norfolk didn ' t work out and that the league would be starting its season in May . The UNGL reached a deal with Salem , but 10 days later — on April 27 — a UNGL official e - mailed Harveycutter to say the league was suspending operations for the 2009 season . April 27 had been the deadline to mail the contract back to Salem , along with a $ 10 , 000 down payment . As of early 2010 , there have been no announcements as to where the league intends on playing football games in any of the eight team cities . League structure . The United National Gridiron League was to have the same professional rules as the NFL . The teams were named and selected by the Board of Directors . All teams were slated to be owned by the league . Inaugural draft . On January 8 and 9 , 2009 the UNGL held its inaugural draft . Those selected were primarily college players , however the draft also included players from other leagues , such as the All - American Football League ( AAFL ) , Arena Football League ( AFL ) , American Indoor Football Association ( AIFA ) , Continental Indoor Football League ( CIFL ) , af2 , Indoor Football League ( IFL ) , and some from practice squad s of National Football League ( NFL ) franchises . Dan Burks from the UAB was the first running back selected in the inaugural UNGL draft by the Alabama franchise . UNGL Regional Mini Camps . The UNGL held 3 regional mini camps to determine who would be invited to participate in the 2010 UNGL Draft . Teams . The teams planned for the 2010 season were :