FAQ

A platform for verified former D1 football players to have a voice on the game. Reviews of programs, takes on the sport, polls on what’s coming next — all from people who actually played. Public to read. Restricted to verified former players to contribute.

This is not a recruiting site. Not a coaching site. Not an alumni-association marketing channel. The platform exists for the players themselves.

Anyone can read. Anyone can share. Anyone can show a Scouting Report post to anyone they want.

Only verified former D1 (FBS or FCS) football players can sign up and contribute. Verification is a $12 non-refundable fee, a Stripe Identity check (document + selfie), and a manual review by Mason within 72 hours.

If you didn’t play D1, the signup will reject your application and refund nothing (the $12 covers Stripe IDV costs whether you’re approved or not). Read freely as a guest instead.

Five steps:

1. Fill out the signup form (name, email, school, graduation status, years played, scholarship or walk-on).
2. Verify your email.
3. Pay the $12 fee (non-refundable).
4. Complete identity verification through Stripe — document scan plus selfie, about 2 minutes. If you’re on desktop, Stripe gives you a QR code to continue on phone.
5. Mason reviews your submission personally and either approves or rejects within 72 hours.

If you’re approved, your account is live and your voice is on the platform. If you’re rejected, you have one chance to appeal with evidence.

The $12 is a one-time verification fee. It covers the Stripe Identity check (document + selfie) that runs on every applicant — a real cost Stripe charges whether you’re approved or rejected — and it sets a low-but-genuine bar that keeps the verified pool real. It’s non-refundable; the full fee language lives in the Terms.

No. The $12 is non-refundable — including if your application is rejected — because it covers the Stripe identity-verification cost, which Stripe charges whether you’re approved or not. If you’re rejected, you get one chance to appeal with evidence; the full refund terms are in the Terms.

Because a single review of one school isn’t enough data to fairly score it. Two reviews aren’t either.

CFA uses a tier system based on review count:

• 1 review: school page activates (your voice is visible)
• 5 reviews: aggregated rating visible
• 10 reviews: per-dimension breakdowns visible
• 20 reviews: full surface

At the site level, The Gameplan tracks how much of the platform is unlocked overall. Site Track Q1 is “the founding 50 verified players.” Q4 is “500 verified players.” Until those thresholds are hit, some surfaces stay locked. That’s not us being coy — that’s us not faking the data.

See /gameplan for the full picture.

Day 1, the leaderboards are participation-based — which conferences and schools have the most verified players, and which have the most submitted reviews. Honest, real numbers, no inflation.

Score-based leaderboards (ranking programs by their alumni’s ratings) activate at Site Track Q4 (500 verified). Before that, ranking schools by score isn’t meaningful — sample sizes are too small.

If it’s on the Future Roadmap, it launches when the Gameplan retires (at 500 verified). Coach Ratings, NIL surveys, Transfer Portal surveys, State of the Game — those all live downstream of a verified community big enough to make them meaningful.

If it’s not on the Future Roadmap or the Gameplan: I haven’t built it because either it’s not the right time or I don’t think it’s the right feature. Open to hearing the case for it though — find me on X or LinkedIn.

By default, every review on CFA is anonymous — you appear as Player ###### with your verification context stamped on the review (e.g. Player 7841 — Walk-on QB · MAC · ’17).

If you want your real name on your reviews instead, there’s a single toggle on /me/settings. Flipping it changes every review you’ve written, past and future. Flip it back any time. The change is instant.

Admins always see your real identity. Anonymity is public-facing only.

Your account controls live on /me/settings — the same place as your anonymity toggle — where you can manage or close your account.

Short, recurring sentiment polling for verified players. Each Pulse survey is a set of 5–15 Likert-scale statements (Strongly Disagree → Strongly Agree) on topics like the transfer portal, NIL, coaching accountability, conference realignment, and the future of the game.

It lives as a tile on your dashboard once you’ve submitted your Alumni Review. Takes about 2 minutes. Skip any statement you don’t have a take on.

Why it matters: the Alumni Review covers your program. The Pulse covers your view on the game. Both are part of the voice this platform was built for.

Because the Alumni Review is the launch survey, not the only survey. The platform is built on a generic Survey Engine that handles many survey types. Day 1 kicks off with reviews of programs, but the broader project is verified player voice on every aspect of the game.

Coming downstream: Coach Ratings, NIL annual surveys, Transfer Portal surveys, State of the Game. The Pulse starts Day 1 for verified players.

A hardcoded review system would make adding the next survey type a rebuild. Instead, the infrastructure is generic from Day 1 — what changes is the content, not the architecture.

CFA is one founder, $300/month, and a small enough budget that I have to explain Stripe charges to my wife. Here’s what’s at risk:

• The platform depends on verification working. If Stripe IDV breaks or my manual review process can’t scale, signups slow down.
• The Gameplan thresholds depend on signups. If verified players don’t show up, Q2/Q3/Q4 don’t unlock. I’m trying to make the case for it. Some weeks that case will land, some weeks it won’t.
• Trust depends on me handling revenue transparently. The independence policy, the verification standard, and the voice of the platform are uncompromisable. Beyond those, any institutional revenue happens on terms I set and gets disclosed publicly. The only thing keeping me honest is my own commitment — and your willingness to call it out.
• One founder = real bus risk. If something happens to me, the site goes dark. I’m working on infrastructure to mitigate that, but Day 1 it’s worth being honest about.

Knowing the risks is part of being here.