Players who spent time in Green Bay are well-represented in the new football league.
The Alliance of American Football has officially arrived, with the new football league starting up over the weekend. In the league’s first games, 18 players who have previously spent time on the Green Bay Packers’ rosters were in action, and several saw their first taste of victory.
On Saturday, the San Antonio Commanders beat the San Diego Fleet 15-6 while the Orlando Apollos defeated the Atlanta Legends 40-6. Both victorious teams got some nice contributions from former Packers, as each squad had at least one player who had previously played for the Green and Gold in their starting lineups. Sunday’s games saw the Birmingham Iron rout the Memphis Express 26-0 before the Arizona Hotshots beat the Salt Lake Stallions 38-22. In that final game, both teams’ starting running backs have Packers connections.
Here’s a look at all of the former Packers who are on AAF rosters to start the league’s inaugural season, along with details on their connection to the Packers and a recap of notable performances from those players.
Arizona Hotshots
- RB Jhurrell Pressley (1 game in 2016)
- G Josh Allen (practice squad 2014)
- C/G Patrick Lewis (training camp 2013)
- LB Carl Bradford (4th-round draft pick in 2014, 4 games)
Pressley gained 64 yards on 18 carries for Arizona and added a 30-yard touchdown reception as well. Allen and Patrick started at left and right guard, respectively. Meanwhile, Bradford had one solo tackle on defense as Arizona won 38-22 over Salt Lake.
Atlanta Legends
- WR Montay Crockett (training camp 2017)
- CB Donatello Brown (4 games in 2017)
Both players were inactive for Atlanta’s game on Saturday.
Birmingham Iron
- RB Ladarius Perkins (training camp 2014)
- LB Beniquez Brown (training camp 2016)
Brown started at linebacker for the Iron and had a nice game, picking up seven tackles (two for losses) and recovering a fumble. Meanwhile, Perkins had five carries for 13 yards and caught six passes (a team-high) for 36 more yards.
Memphis Express
- RB Rajion Neal (training camp 2014-15, practice squad 2014)
In Memphis’ loss to Birmingham, Neal was primarily a backup, carrying the football three times for four yards and picking up 12 yards on three receptions.
Orlando Apollos
- WR Charles Johnson (7th-round draft pick in 2013, signed by Browns off practice squad)
- C Jordan McCray (training camp/practice squad 2014, twin brother of current OL Justin McCray)
- G Andrew Tiller (practice squad 2013/training camp 2014)
- CB LaDarius Gunter (28 games, 18 starts from 2015-17, including playoffs)
McCray and Tiller started at center and left guard for Orlando, who routed Atlanta 40-6. Johnson led Orlando in receiving with four catches for 60 yards; Gunter did not record any statistics.
Salt Lake Stallions
- RB Joel Bouagnon (training camp/practice squad 2018)
- WR Adonis Jennings (training camp 2018)
- C Austin Davis (training camp 2018)
- DE Chris Odom (7 games in 2017, training camp 2018)
- LB Greer Martini (training camp 2018)
Bouagnon got the start for Salt Lake in their loss to Arizona, and he had a similar performance to his preseason games with the Packers last August; he ran for 39 yards on 16 carries (just a 2.4-yard average). Meanwhile, Martini started at middle linebacker and had a nice day with seven tackles and a sack. Odom had two tackles and a pass breakup as well, and Jennings caught two passes for 19 yards.
San Antonio Commanders
- QB Marquise Williams (training camp 2016)
- DT Joey Mbu (training camp 2018)
- LB Jayrone Elliott (38 games, 4.0 sacks from 2014-16)
Mbu had one sack while Elliott added a half-sack in the Commanders’ 15-6 victory over San Diego.
San Diego Fleet
- G Darrell Greene (practice squad 2017)
Greene played in Sunday’s loss to San Antonio but did not start.
(Editor’s note: this article originally omitted the names of four former Packers from the lists above. We apologize for the error.)
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