The UFL’s Florida Tuskers, who had more than 1,000 players show up for an open tryout on August 22, have announced 12 new additions to the preseason roster.
They are linebacker Colby Bockwoldt, defensive end Mkristo Bruce, defensive lineman Patrick Chukwurah, cornerback Curtis DeLoatch, receiver Doug Gabriel, defensive back Grant Mason, linebacker Terrence Melton, guard Gene Mruczkowski, quarterback Craig Nall, tackle Rob Pettiti, and defensive back Michael Waddell.
Most of these guys have NFL experience.
The Tuskers, coached by former Saints and Rams coach Jim Haslett, previously named 21 players who have signed with the team, including tight end Jermaine Wiggins.
CRAIG NALL!!!
When do they come out with the fantasy rankings?
What’s a tusker?
Insert Doug/Peter Gabriel name joke here.
Yet again…another former bronco out of the NFL and into a lower-class league.
Like the Nall and Gabriel signings.
Watch out for Mkristo Bruce. With a little more seasoning, he could be the UFL’s version of Jason Taylor.
You sure that’s not the free agent pool in Madden 2006?
This is UFT. Not PFT.
Man, fantasy football with the UFL would be sweet!
@Wrathchild:
Um…I’m thinking a Tusker is like, well, one of those wooly mammoths with big long tusks.
Or maybe not. (But if not, it should be.)
The UFL needs more old, big names to make it interesting. And they need some players to get cut from the NFL that were pretty good in college.
I think they are coming, though. And soon.
In other news, TJ Duckett is out of a job. Who needs red zone help?
A tusker is a Wild Boar. Jim why didnt you call me, the Turtle has a few plays left in him.
Hoping Colby Bockwoldt is successful. His father was a pretty good high school QB.
The league needs to get a little bit of a clue here… If it’s going to really succeed in the eyes of the fans, it needs to take some chances and become a true minor leagues feeder… aka, get players who still have a shot at development, not retreads like Craig Nall. Nobody’s going to pay to see guys that we know (and no disrespect to Nall) have no shot at ever making it back into the NFL.
Of all the sports that could have minor leagues, the NFL minors could be the most intriguing if done right because there’s just not enough snaps for the good players out there to prove themselves in preseason, and then some that do, are bafflingly cut and fall off the map for whatever reason. NFL Europe was too poorly planned out IMO because it was composed either strictly of the 3rd string NFL players under some league minimum contract, or a combo of that and no-namers (I can’t remember and don’t care) plus you had to watch European broadcast quality (sucks) and at odd times in cities you could care less about here. So who wants to perpetually watch the equivalent to a 4th quarter preseason game for all 4 quarters (aka the talent level in NFLE)? And I would have loved to have followed Kurt Warner’s rise out of the AFL (and grocery store) but it was so damn gimmicky that I never cared for it and you couldn’t tell if a player could translate from gimmics to the real deal… the UFL has my attention loud and clear… now if they’d just get some players I have a faint interest in seeing come back, it’d be killer.
I want to see the Maurice Clarett’s use this league (Vick would have been a great fit if he went unsigned), I want to see every QB who was a bust 1st rounder from the last 3-4 years, the guys who had freak injuries knock them out of the NFL but are still young and had promise… I want to see a return of FredEx (who can get enough FredEx in their lives? LOL) those kinds of guys with compelling stories. Maybe Craig Nall HAS a compelling story, but I have no idea what that is… let it out of the bag already if so please… or maybe somebody can leak some racy pics of him and a cheerleader or some shit… IDK but I want intrigue… some (a lot) of these guys are severely lacking in that dept.
“Lineman Patrick Chukwurah”
Chukwurah is a LB not a lineman. He’s a pass rush specialist and a special teams ace. This is an awesome signing. Patrick did a good job in Denver. He looks like the predator with his dread locks
JoeSchmoe has it right, I know nothing about Nall, but from Wikipediaing him I see that he’s 30, unless he has a brilliant six games no NFL team is going to take on an aging quarterback with the potential to become a marginal backup at best.
I would like to see players, quarterbacks in particular, who didn’t get a chance in the big league because they were deemed “system” quarterbacks, Brian Johnson of Utah for example (who is with the New York UFL team I believe). It’s a great opportunity to see how these guys perform in pro-style offenses and maybe if they do well they’ll get a shot in the NFL.
There’s a strong thirst for football in this country, and there’s plenty of quality players in need of live game action to warrant a minor league, hopefully the UFL is able to gain some traction and eventually (hopefully with the new CBA) become the NFL’s minor league, with maybe 12 to 15 teams and each team being affiliated with 2 or 3 NFL franchises, and then hopefully the NFL teams would allow more than just their practice squad players get some playing time.
Wishful thinking, I know
They should change their name from the Tuskers to the Consonants. Mruczkowski!
I think half those guys have been signed by the Pats in the past five years.