AFI kicks off 29th season of men’s flag football

The American Football in Israel’s men’s flag football league kicked off its 29th season with 40 teams. Sponsored by FM Home Loans, league officials announced that the three divisions of the league will be named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame player Jim Brown, President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame David Baker, and New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman.

AFI President Steve Leibowitz announced the division names after receiving approval from each of the honorees.

A former legendary Cleveland Browns running back, Brown visited Israel this year as a participant in the “Touchdown in Israel” delegation that brought 18 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the Holy Land on a mission initiated and led by Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

While in Israel, Brown spent a great deal of timing talking to football fans, including a special meeting with the local Cleveland Browns Fan Club. Brown told the Cleveland Jewish News, “It’s something that I was impressed with when I went many years ago to Israel and then this time,” “It was my second visit and I am impressed with determinations of the Israelis as a people.”

Baker coordinated the trip of the 18 “Gold Jackets” and organized a similar mission called in 2015.

During his speech to more than 1,000 football fans at Kraft Family Stadium in June, Baker had warm praise for Israeli football saying, “10 years ago, the Kraft Family Israel Football league, the IFL, took the field as the first tackle football league in this part of the world. Israelis of all backgrounds took the field with a shared passion to play American football, the greatest sport in the world. In the past decade, more than 2,000 Israeli players competed for the love of the game. It’s more than just a game for these hearty Israelis. You are building camaraderie through competition and building bonds through teamwork, which are positively impacting communities throughout Israel.”

Patriots’ receiver Edelman is certainly the most successful Jewish player currently in the NFL.

Visiting Israel in the summer of 2015 with Birthright, Edelman spent time meeting Israeli flag and tackle football players. Edelman told the gathering, “Exploring my heritage is something I started in the past few years and seeing Israel for the first time, really getting a sense of its history and culture – I now truly VOEFSTUBOE XIZ JU T TP TQFDJBM u