Nearly four decades removed from a stint in the short-lived USFL

Pierre Desir Color Rush Jersey , Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Polian will preside over the opening weekend of the newest spring league, the Alliance of American Football.“It’s one more challenge at the end of a long career,” said Polian, 76, who co-founded the AAF with Charlie Ebersol, a TV and film producer whose father, Dick, defined NBC Sports’ programming for more than two decades and created “Sunday Night Football.”Polian simply wasn’t ready for retirement after an NFL career in which he helped build Buffalo, Carolina and Indianapolis into Super Bowl teams, with the Colts winning the NFL championship after the 2006 season.This alternative league seems to stand a better chance of surviving than others, such as the USFL and the World League, because of the people and philosophies involved.“I’ve been pretty vocal about channeling the thoughts of so many of my friends in the NFL, in coaching and player personnel, that since the demise of NFL Europe, it’s needed a developmental league, where players can come in and learn and develop skills,” Polian said. “When Charlie approached me about this, we discussed it at great length and finally I said www.coltsfanshop.com/Kemoko-Turay-Jersey , ‘I’m going to put my effort where my mouth is and see where we can make this work.”Polian will catch half of the opening-weekend games in the eight-team league. He’ll be in San Antonio on Saturday night to watch the Commanders play the San Diego Fleet — broadcast by CBS in prime time — and in Tempe on Sunday night to see the Arizona Hotshots host the Salt Lake Stallions. The other opening-weekend games are the Atlanta Legends at the Orlando Apollos on Saturday night and the Memphis Express at the Birmingham Iron on Sunday night.Polian said the USFL took about 22 months to get up and running, and the expansion Carolina Panthers took about 19 months.“We’ve done this in nine months because of so many great former NFL people who are excited to do it, excited to be in it,” Polian said. “We started with nothing and we’re going to open it up on Saturday with eight teams playing what I think will be pretty good football.“That’s a credit to the people involved. We could not have done it if we had not had quality former NFL people.”The AAF is indeed stuffed with executives, general managers, coaches and players who’ve had various NFL experience.Hall of Fame linebacker and Super Bowl winner Mike Singletary is Memphis’ coach.Mike Martz, who was offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” Super Bowl-winning team in the 1999 season, returns to the sidelines as coach in San Diego, which two seasons ago lost the NFL’s Chargers to Los Angeles.Mike Vick is the offensive coordinator in Atlanta.Dennis Erickson is head coach in Salt Lake and will face off against Arizona’s Rick Neuheisel.The AAF even has the Head Ball Coach himself, Steve Spurrier, who is coaching the Apollos.Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is an executive in the league office, where former Pittsburgh Steelers stars Hines Ward (head of football operations) and Troy Polamalu (head of player relations) also work.Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino are officiating consultants. Pereira helped develop the unique rules that include no kickoffs, no extra-point tries, overtime rules that call for each team to get one possession and a ninth official, the SkyJudge, who from his perch in the press box can instantly correct “obvious and egregious” officiating errors, like the one that marred the NFC championship game.San Diego hired so well that it lost quarterback Josh Johnson to the Washington Redskins in December and offensive coordinator Jon Kitna to the Dallas Cowboys as their quarterbacks coach.Ebersol said the AAF players can leave for the NFL between April 29 and Dec. 29. He said the AAF released 71 players to the NFL and 35 came back and are playing. The AAF says that of its more than 600 players signed to date, 98 percent have been in the NFL at some point over the past 18 to 24 months.Polian and Ebersol said every NFL team had scouts in San Antonio when all the teams recently held training camp and then each played an exhibition game.“We’re not competitive Anthony Castonzo Jersey , we’re complementary,” Ebersol said. “We look at the NFL as, we’re going to support your existence, let them play in your league, put content on your network. They’re a partner. The goal is to improve and support the ecosystem of football.”Games will be carried on CBS, NFL Network and Turner.Ebersol is backed by some heavyweight investors from Silicon Valley and also MGM, and has told them he has a five-to-seven-year business model.The Alliance has built a proprietary tech platform that will allow for a real-time, rewards-based system of integrated gaming and in-game wagering for fans in states where sports gambling is legalized.In a nice touch, Kurt Warner is the pregame and halftime analyst for Saturday night’s games on CBS. After being cut by Green Bay, Warner was working in an Iowa grocery store before playing in the Arena Football League and ultimately landing with the Rams, leading them to a Super Bowl victory and being voted NFL MVP in 1999.“Think about how many Kurt Warners are hiding among those kids who don’t get to the NFL,” Ebersol said. “Those are the guys we’re finding.” The Indianapolis Colts are set to square off at home against the Tennessee Titans this week in a battle of division rivals. The Titans come in after two dominating wins against the Cowboys and Patriots, looking for their third straight victory. They are led by a stellar defense that ranks high in many statistical categories. They boast many Pro-Bowl caliber players such as Kevin Byard and Jurell Casey along with highly touted rookies in Rashaan Evans and Harold Landry. With all of these high profile players filling out their defense, it is no wonder that former fifth round pick Jayon Brown is sliding under the radar. Brown is having a phenomenal year in his second professional season. He has been all over the field for the Titans and has made many clutch plays that have propelled the team to victory. For the year, Brown has tallied 55 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 6 QB hits, and 4.5 sacks. Here is my scouting report on the most underrated player on the Titans’ defense.College: UCLAMeasurables: Height: 6’0” / Weight: 226 / Age: 2340 Yard Dash: 4.70 / Bench Press: 17 reps / Vert Jump: 31.5 / Broad Jump 120StrengthsRush DefenseBrown is an excellent run defender despite his smaller frame. He understands his run fits very well and fills holes with ease. He is great at sifting through space and still being able to locate the ball carrier. When he does locate the ball carrier Ryan Kelly Color Rush Jersey , he is a very sound tackler as he breaks his hips down and makes good, clean tackles. He is best when operating in tight spaces when engaging ball carriers. He does tend to struggle with bigger lineman having their way with him at times but overall he understands his assignment and gets to his desired landmark to make a play.Here Brown (#55) makes an excellent play between the tackles against Ezekiel Elliott. He is able to bring down the All-Pro running back for a loss on the play.Here Brown is the strong side linebacker. He steps up and reads the run immediately and is able to fill the run lane for a minimal gain.AthleticismBrown is an excellent athlete at linebacker and really fits the modern day mold for the position. Coming out of college, Brown was seen as a safety/ sub-linebacker hybrid by many analysts. Mark Dulgerian of NFL.com said that “Brown is an rangy weakside LB/safety hybrid who needs to earn his keep on passing down subpackages and on special teams” when he was coming out of college. Obviously, Brown has built upon what those analysts thought back then and really has developed into more of a three down threat with his speed. His sideline-to-sideline ability and the ability to limit big plays are a huge asset to the Titans’ defense.Here Brown is either in a spy on the quarterback or in a mid-zone. Regardless of assignment though, Brown is able to come from his coverage down the field and swallow up Josh Allen for a big sack. His ability to close ground this fast is quite impressive.Pass Rush AbilityBrown is probably the best pass rushing linebacker in football at the moment. His athleticism is so key in this area as he is able to get into the backfield in a hurry by shooting gaps between lineman. He is unrelenting too as a pass rusher, as he is always involved in the play even if he is knocked down or blocked initially. He currently has 4.5 sacks this season which is the most in the NFL among inside linebackers. Brown poses as one of the bigger threats this weekend to end the Colts’ streak of 4 games without allowing a sack.Here Brown shoots right up the middle untouched to get to Carson Wentz for the QB hit. It is definitely worth noting that he blew past one of the league’s best centers in Jason Kelce on this blitz.This next rep is an all star play from the sophomore linebacker. He initially gets knocked to the ground by the running back on the blitz. He is then able to get back to his feet and sack Dak Prescott. On top of all this, he also forces a huge fumble on the play.Where The Colts Can Beat HimPlay Action w/ Tight EndsBrown is a very aggressive linebacker who needs that aggression to be a good run defender. The Colts will likely try to exploit this aggressiveness with a lot of play action combos over the middle to tight ends. Back before the Bills’ game, I wrote that the Colts should utilize their tight ends in playaction to expose linebacker Matt Milano over the middle (a player who is fairly similar to Brown). The result was this play right here for a touchdown.If the Colts want to find similar success against the Titans, they should incorporate similar plays to exploit these linebackers. Brown is a very good, young linebacker but the Colts can win against him by isolating him with their talented tight end group and utilizing play action plays. Here is an example of the Bills doing it against him in a game earlier this season: Allen misses the open throw across the middle but Brown gets beat badly by tight end Charles Clay here. I expect Frank Reich and Andrew Luck to notice this weakness of Brown’s a as a result, use their stout tight end group to much success on Sunday.Final Thoughts Brown is a very talented young player who is coming into his own in his second professional season. The Titans use him in a number of ways were he is able to maximize his talent and athleticism. He has developed into a very good run defender despite his size and he is one of the best pass rushing linebackers in the NFL.Despite his strong play, though, Brown can be beat by Coach Reich and company. The Colts have one of the top tight end groups in the NFL and are a handful for any linebacker who is asked to line up against them. I expect a heavy dosage of these quick hitters off of play action to these tight ends to open up the run game and take advantage of Brown’s sometimes too aggressive play.Overall Brown is a very fun and tenacious player who has excelled for one of the league’s top defenses. That being said though, it is going to take a huge game from him and the other key players on their defense to slow down one of the league’s hottest offenses.