Usually, after the Super Bowl, there is a dead period in sports as fans wait for pitchers and catchers to report and for March Madness to begin to fill the time until the draft and training camp. The off-season is a little different. Football fans across the nation did not have to wait long for football return to their television screens.
Last Saturday night a brand new football league kicked off that included many former NFL head coaches and players. The Alliance of American Football (AAF) features 8 centrally located teams. The league includes 11 former Green Bay Packer players.
The 8 teams in the AAF are the Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Apollos, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antionio Commanders, and the San Diego Fleet.
The most notable former Packers playing in the AAF are Linebacker Carl Bradford, Outside Linebacker Jayrone Elliott, and Cornerback LaDarius Gunter.
Here are the former Packers in the league and the teams that they are on. The Salt Lake Stallions featured running back Joel Bouagnon, linebacker Greer Martini, and linebacker Chris Odom. On the Arizona Hotshots is linebacker Carl Bradford. The Atlanta Legends feature wide receiver Montay Crockett. The San Antonio Commanders highlight outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott, defensive tackle Joey Mbu, and quarterback Marquise Williams. Playing for the Orlando Apollos is cornerback LaDarius Gunter and wide receiver Charles Johnson. The Memphis Express have former Packer running back Rajion Neal.
Here is how some of those former players fared in their AAf debut:
Jayrone Elliott had three tackles, half a sack and one quarterback hit in the Commanders victory.
Carl Bradford finished with one tackle in the Arizona Hotshots win.
Greer Martini posted seven tackles and one sack in the Salt Lake Stallions loss.
Chris Odom had two tackles in the Salt Lake Stallions loss.
Joel Bouagnon had 39 yards on 16 carries for the Stallions in their loss.
The Alliance of American Football league has partnered with CBS, the NFL Network, and Turner Sports. The league was highly talked about on Twitter during their opening week. We will see how the league and former Packer players do moving forward. But for now, there is football on our screens.
Anthony Haag is a writer for PackersTalk.com. He has been a Packers fan since the day he was born and truly bleeds green and gold. He makes annual visits to Lambeau Field and has attended his fair share of games. You can follow Anthony on Twitter at @anthony_haag
