[revrew]

Are the Dragons 'Serious'?
Jason Todd, Des Moines Register

The joke is on you, National Football League!

Or is it?

Jack Ledger, the "Clown Prince of Social Media," has set the stodgy pro football league on its ear by building his new Des Moines Dragons franchise entirely from Iowa-grown players. Over the objections of his fellow NFL owners and NFL Commissioner James Gordon, Ledger has only bought toys for his team's brand-new roster from one store: Iowa high schools and universities. The approach contrasts sharply with a league that typically drafts and signs all-star talent from across the country.

Ledger has been uncharacteristically quiet about his unorthodox approach to building an NFL team. Requests for interviews have gone unanswered. His public appearances have been limited to other business interests.

The only clue we have to Ledger's thinking is the Dragon owner's post on Joker.com depicting a slithering green dragon emerging from the heart of Iowa on a darkened map of the U.S. and clutching a pair of footballs. Then, the dragon turns its face up in a massive, red grin, pops the footballs in its talons like a pair of whoopee cushions, and intones the cryptic line, "Why so s-s-serious?"

What did Ledger mean by it? Sports pundits have interpreted the post to mean everything from a joke being played on the NFL to Ledger intentionally trolling the very pundits trying to make sense of it all.

There's little doubt, however, that the fans are definitely buying into Ledger's particular, peculiar brand of humor.

The first Dragon has yet foot on a practice field, and Joker Field (currently under construction) has yet to boast a single blade of grass, but the team has already sold out its first three home games of the season and every season ticket package available. That's right – if you want to hop on the Dragon bandwagon, you're going to need to get in line.

"I'm lovin' it! I'm absolutely lovin' it," said Bob Kane, a University of Iowa alum from West Des Moines. "I see it all as a challenge to the rest of the nation. Ledger is basically saying, 'Our Iowa boys can take on the rest of the country all by themselves!'"

Bill Finger, a Drake grad from Beaverdale and a proud, new, Dragon season-ticket holder, couldn't agree more.

"I had stopped watching the NFL years ago, but I'm all in now," Finger told the Register. "We've got our own team, and it's OUR team, and that's something I can cheer about!"

And while the other NFL owners may be looking at Ledger askance, for a professional sports league that has seen its popularity plummet over the last decade, the enthusiasm Dragons fans have for pro football in Iowa is something the NFL should be cheering about as well.

Hm, perhaps "the Dragon experiment" isn't such a joke after all. Or at least, perhaps Ledger isn't as crazy as the pundits say he is.