Category: Alternative Football

BIRMINGHAM – After 1,112 days – or three years and 16 days, if you prefer – professional football returned to Birmingham Saturday night.

Before the Birmingham Stallions and New Jersey Generals mixed it up at Protective Stadium in the debut of the new United States Football League, the last time a Magic City-branded gridiron club played was on March 31, 2019. That was the day the Birmingham Iron topped the Atlanta Legends, 17-9, at Legion Field in what would be the final weekend of competition for the Alliance of American Football.

The AAF folded after eight weeks of a scheduled 10-week regular season.

FIRSTS

Let the record show that Birmingham Stallions kicker Brandon Aubrey was the first player in USFL history to make contact with the ball – at least in an official capacity.

Birmingham won the toss and deferred until the second half, allowing Aubrey to make first contact in this new football universe.

Trey Williams received the kickoff, giving him a piece of history as well.

Need more?

OK.

Birmingham’s JoJo Tillery made the first tackle in new USFL history; New Jersey’s pass/catch combo of Luis Perez and Randy Satterfield combined for the first pass completion, first down, and touchdown; New Jersey’s Nick Rose kicked the first PAT and both missed and made the first field goal.

; Generals running back De’Andre Johnson had the first run from scrimmage; New Jersey safety Shalom Luani had the first interception; and Birmingham safety Nathan Holley recovered the first fumble. Rose

OPENING NIGHT CROWDS

How many people showed up for tonight’s game? Announced attendance was 17,500 at the 47,000-plus venue. And if you’re wondering how that stacks up against other Birmingham home debuts (all at Legion Field), I have some figures.

Keep in mind the numbers are based on official attendance figures released (and sometimes adjusted years later) by the Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board: World Football League Americans vs. Southern California Sun on July 10, 1974 (43,799); WFL Vulcans vs. Chicago Winds on August 2, 1975 (31,000); original United States Football League Stallions vs. Michigan Panthers on March 7, 1983 (30,305); World League of American Football Fire vs. Montreal Machine on March 23, 1991 (52,942); Canadian Football League Barracudas vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 15, 1995 (31,000); XFL Thunderbolts vs. Memphis Maniax on February 4, 2001 (35,321); and Alliance of American Football Iron vs. Memphis Express on February 10, 2019 (17,039).

The largest crowd to ever watch a Birmingham pro team play at home came on February 26, 1984, when 62,500 fans showed up to watch the New Jersey Generals defeat the Stallions, 17-6, in the second season of the original USFL.

REMEMBER THE DATE

April 16 is a notable date in Birmingham pro football history. While until tonight there had never been any outdoor games played on that spot on the calendar, it was April 16, 1990, when news leaked that the city had been awarded a franchise in the World League of American Football.

That team, named the Fire, would last two seasons before the WLAF went on hiatus and re-emerged as NFL Europe. It was the second spring league to call Birmingham home, following the original USFL (1983-85).

HOW DID THEY GET HERE?

The players you saw Saturday and will watch today were mostly secured through a 45-round draft held in February and March. Players were selected by position (quarterbacks first) and a modified snake system was used between positional rounds so that each team had two number one picks at two positions.

In theory, that created about as much parity as you could hope for in a league starting from scratch.

Obviously, injuries and other factors have altered rosters from the original 38 active to the men playing this weekend. One of the most notable additions is Generals starter Luis Perez, who was signed after New Jersey’s top draft pick, Ben Holmes, was cut due to injury.

BIRMINGHAM – With the game televised live on Fox, NBC and Peacock and shown in more than 130 countries – and 17,500 fans braving iffy weather to rock Protective Stadium – the city of Birmingham was a big winner on opening night of the 2022 United States Football League.

As for the team that represents the city of Birmingham, well, it got to claim a pretty big “W” as well.

J’Mar Smith, called into service after starting quarterback Alex McGough was injured in the first half, scored on a two-yard touchdown dash with 23 seconds remaining to lift the Birmingham Stallions to a 28-24 victory over the New Jersey Generals on Saturday.

After misfiring on all of his passes in the first half, Smith – who played for Stallions coach Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech – finished 11-21-0 with 156 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 13 yards – the final two the most important.

Trailing 24-21 with time slipping away, Birmingham wasted no time moving the markers and a facemask call helped give the hosts first-and-10 deep in Generals territory with :48 left on the clock.

Smith threw incomplete twice, then on third down a pass to CJ Marable placed the ball at the seven with :33 showing.

Marable then ran down to the two with 29 seconds remaining and Smith closed the deal, scrambling in for a touchdown at the fourth frame’s :23 juncture.

Brandon Aubrey made the kick, and Birmingham was victorious in its first time out.

“Sometimes it takes a little longer to get in rhythm, and tonight showed it,” Smith said. “After going oh-for-four, I got in a little rhythm and got the machine going and we ended up winning the game.”

After hot starts by both teams Birmingham’s offense bogged down, and by the end of the night the Stallions had just 283 total yards to 424 for the Generals.

“The defense kept banging that rock and kept us in the football game,” Holtz said. “As ugly as it was in the first half, there was never a complaining word on the sideline. I’m just really proud of these players, especially defensively. They were out there for three quarters of the game because we kept getting three-and-outs, and at some point, it’s like we only had five first downs.

“But then in the fourth quarter, it’s like a switch turned.”

Birmingham cornerback Tae Hayes, who finished with 10 tackles, was glad to help hold down the fort.

“I’m proud of the whole team,” Hayes said. “That was an impressive win. We just kept telling each other on defense we can’t lose this game, and we didn’t.”

Luis Perez, former Birmingham Iron quarterback during the city’s brief Alliance of American Football era in 2019, showed some skills on the game’s opening possession. He started with a 49-yard pass to Randy Satterfield on the first play from scrimmage, and ended the drive with a three-yard scoring toss to the same receiver at 11:45 of the first quarter. Nick Rose kicked the Generals to a 7-0 lead after Perez finished the march three-for-three with 57 yards.

McGough decided two could play at that game.

Following a seven-yard run plus an extra 15 yards added on for a late hit, McGough moved the home team down to the New Jersey 35.

From there he dropped back and lofted a beautiful strike to wideout Osirus Mitchell, who outmaneuvered coverage in the end zone to snag the touchdown pass.

Brandon Aubrey split the pipes, and this one was tied at 7-all at 11:18 of the first.

Casual fans – especially those watching on TV – couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining start to a contest featuring two new teams in an upstart league.

Both defenses asserted themselves the rest of the first quarter and early in the second, but Perez got busy again and helped put New Jersey back in front with 9:08 left before halftime.

Traveling 51 yards in seven plays and doing most of the damage through the air, Perez hit Braedon Bowman on a 13-yard TD pass to put Mike Riley’s team back on top.

Rose booted the score to 14-7, and that ended all scoring over the first 30 minutes. (Rose missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired).

Perez finished the half with two touchdowns, 142 yards and a 12-16-0 passing line.

Smith still had the starting designation when the third quarter started and led the red and gold offense the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Generals backup QB De’Andre Johnson was getting plenty of work in spot duty – running as well as passing – and giving his team a potent platoon option behind center. He finished with 98 of his team’s 222 rushing yards.

“As I was going through training camp and as things went on, that’s how we kinda practiced,” Riley said. “Basically, we knew we had to prepare two guys. We did some switching play to play in practice, and they didn’t know what we were gonna do and that’s just kinda the way we worked. We got into a certain kind of game today that De’Andre fit really well.”

Midway through the third frame Johnson mostly used his legs to march New Jersey down the field, setting up a first-and-goal situation. The Birmingham defense held firm, however, and Rose missed his second field goal of the night at 4:50 of the third – this one a 22-yard shank – to leave the score at 14-7.

Smith then helped even things up.

Making connections for 17, seven, 15 and 27 yards, he passed the Stallions down to the three. From there Marable finished the job on the ground, Aubrey kicked straight, and an 80-yard drive ended with the ballgame tied at 14-14 with 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Back came the Generals.

With Johnson behind center the team went with a run-first philosophy, and Trey Williams and Darius Victor added their leg power to the effort. After getting a first down the Birmingham 17 and then another one at the five, Johnson called his own number on a second down play at the four and scooted around right end for a TD with 9:14 to play.

Rose made the extra point, and the pressure was on the Stallions, down 21-14.

They responded.

Smith’s newfound accuracy continued, and he set his team up with a first-and-10 at the New Jersey 28. On the next play he connected with tight end Cary Angeline, who caught a bullet and proceeded to bull his way across the stripe six minutes from the end of regulation.

The kick was good, and the teams had an even split of 42 points.

But stopping the Generals offense completely proved to be too tall a task. With what amounted to a three running back attack, Riley’s crew advanced to the enemy 37 at the two-minute warning.

The drive stalled at the 29, but Rose trotted out for another field goal try. The third time was the charm as his 47-yard kick was on target, and New Jersey led yet again, 24-21.

The Stallions then had 1:54 to pull off some late heroics.

“J’Mar stepped up with Alex’s injury, and I thought he stepped in and did a phenomenal job,” Holtz said. “I’ve been watching him do this a long time in college, so it was neat to see him get out on that field to do it.

“And thank you to the people in Birmingham. That was awesome. What a great experience.”

USFL action resumes today at Protective Stadium with a tripleheader.

The Houston Gamblers and Michigan Panthers meet at 11 a.m. (NBC and Peacock); the Philadelphia Stars and New Orleans Breakers clash at 3 p.m. (USA Network); and Week One ends with the Tampa Bay Bandits facing the Pittsburgh Maulers at 7 p.m. (FS1). Birmingham (1-0) battles Houston next Saturday at 6 p.m. while New Jersey (0-1) will try to rebound against Michigan Friday at 7 p.m.

One of the few memorable scenes in The Godfather, Part III came when Michael Corleone, boss of the Corleone crime family, said, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

I can relate.

No, I can’t relate to being head of a mafia family. Nor can I relate to the movie, which was by far the weakest film of the trilogy (thus making it the Fredo of the franchise – sad, disappointing and ultimately lifeless).

Instead, I refer to professional football in Birmingham, something I thought I was done with when the Alliance of American Football went out of business before completing its inaugural season in 2019.

But I was wrong.

I opened Twitter on June 3, 2021, and saw Doug Flutie proclaiming on the Fox Sports account that the United States Football League was back.

How could it be back? It last played in 1985 after making the monumentally stupid decision to move to a fall schedule in 1986, won three bucks in its lawsuit against the NFL, and then became a vehicle for throwback apparel.

Was Flutie gonna suit up for the New Jersey Generals again? Was this going to be some kind of senior circuit – perhaps the United States Fossil League? I mean … what the hell.

But it wasn’t some elaborate joke. Fox Sports had partnered with Brian Woods, founder of The Spring League, to create a new venture that revived the name of the original USFL. And that bothered me.

One, the major league USFL is long gone and I wasn’t keen on seeing its name and team brands assumed by a minor league. And two, with Woods on board I wasn’t even sure this would be “professional” football at all.

In The Spring League, players paid for the privilege to participate. And Woods’ previous pro football experience came in the Fall Experimental Football League, which lasted only two seasons.

But Birmingham got involved, so I couldn’t look away.

Not only would my hometown get a new version of the Stallions, but it was in line to host the entire league for the 2022 season. Honestly, neither of those things made me particularly happy.

I wanted the 1983-85 Stallions to rest in peace, and I didn’t want to see Birmingham dole out millions of dollars on a jack leg operation that would go belly up before finishing the season and leave behind nothing but bitter memories and unpaid bills.

I spent the remainder of 2021 being dismissive of the USFL. I even wrote a snarky column in November, hinting that I’d give it a chance, but only grudgingly.

Then came January 25, 2022.

The Stadium Club at Protective Stadium was filled with Birmingham city and Jefferson County officials who had worked together to bring the USFL to town. These are folks who normally can’t agree that two plus two equals four, but somehow they got this done.

The USFL people were there, too, talking about how Birmingham was the perfect place to launch their new football league.

“We appreciate the tremendous support and commitment from the city of Birmingham, Jefferson County, Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board, and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau,” Edward Hartman, USFL executive vice president of business operations, said. “Birmingham is one of America’s most dynamic and welcoming cities with world-class facilities highlighted by the state-of-the-art Protective Stadium, now home to the USFL.”

Yeah, that’s scripted chamber of commerce-style talk, but I have to admit – as a citizen, it made me proud. And then when I returned to the same location almost a month later to watch the USFL Draft, things started to get real for me.

Since then I’ve watched a few practices, sat through a 90-minute scrimmage, and talked with several coaches and players. I’ve yet to encounter a single one who isn’t genuinely excited about being here. And honestly, it’s kinda rubbed off on me.

Look, I’m under no illusion that this is a continuation of the late, great USFL because it most certainly isn’t. The level of play will hopefully be good, but these athletes won’t be making major league salaries. Instead, they’ll be playing for the chance (first, second or last) to move up and earn major league salaries.

Still, it’s pro football in one city – my city – and I’ve decided to go into it with a positive attitude.

So tonight I head to Protective Stadium to watch Skip Holtz’s Birmingham Stallions tangle with Mike Riley’s New Jersey Generals. Just as I’ve done for the World Football League, American Football Association, first USFL, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, XFL and AAF, I’m on hand for Birmingham’s home opener in a new league.

I hope the inclement weather moves out and there’s a good crowd, and I hope the teams put on an entertaining show.

Like Michael Corleone, they’ve pulled me back in.

Now let’s see if the 2022 United States Football League can avoid Fredo’s fate.