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AAF Orlando Apollos

January 22, 2019 - Orlando Apollos Daily Update

January 22, 2019 - Alliance of American Football (AAF)
Orlando Apollos News Release


TODAY'S NEWS

The Apollos held their 15th practice of training camp on Tuesday in San Antonio.

Tomorrow morning at 8:15 a.m. ET, Apollos head coach Steve Spurrier will call-in live with an update from #ApollosTrainingCamp on "Open Mike" on iHeartRadio's 96.9 FM The Game.

LITO SHEPPARD JOINS COACHING STAFF: The Orlando Apollos announced today the addition of assistant coach Lito Sheppard, who will be the team's safeties coach, to head coach Steve Spurrier's staff for the 2019 inaugural season. Sheppard is a 10-year NFL veteran, two-time Pro Bowl player and was First-team All-Pro as a cornerback for the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship team. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Sheppard compiled 345 total tackles, 19 interceptions (three returned for touchdowns) and three forced fumbles in his NFL career playing for the Eagles (2002-08), New York Jets (2009), Minnesota Vikings (2010) and Oakland Raiders (2011). The Eagles drafted Sheppard out of Florida with the 26th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. Playing under head coach Steve Spurrier while at Florida from 1999-2001, Sheppard was a two-time All-American (first-team in 2000, second-team in 2001) and two-time First-team All-SEC (2000, 2001) with 87 career tackles, eight interceptions, three forced fumbles and two punt returns for touchdowns.

GROWING TOGETHER: Training camp is about coming together, even for the Apollos coaching staff. Head coach Steve Spurrier has put together a group mixed with connections, including his former players like Willie Jackson and Lito Sheppard, individuals he's coached with before like Bob Sanders and Jim Collins, and others who are new faces like Jim Jeffcoat and Donnie Abraham.

On the group, Spurrier said, "We're all separated right now. Every coach is trying to get his players ready to play. I've been spending most of my time with the quarterbacks and receivers, and the offense."

ENERGIZER: If there's one voice that can consistently be heard attending any Apollos' practice, it's wide receiver Donteea Dye Jr. The Heidelberg University product and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player loves to bring the energy to help pump up his teammates on his side of the ball.

On his receiver group, Dye said, "It's crazy. We've got too much speed, we've got too much sauce. It's easy for us, so we're just making it look like routes on air everyday. The team, we've got a lot of adversity and diversity on our team, so I'm just liking the angle it's going."

Read more from Apollos training camp on OrlandoApollos.com

The Orlando Apollos team headquarters while in training camp in San Antonio is the University of the Incarnate Word - all practices are open to the public.

A member of The Alliance of American Football, the Orlando Apollos are led by an experienced professional coaching, playing and front office staff featuring head coach Steve Spurrier, team president Mike Waddell and general manager Tim Ruskell.

The Apollos compete in The Alliance of American Football with the Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antonio Commanders and San Diego Fleet. The name Orlando Apollos is inspired by Apollo, Greek god of the sun, who is often depicted as an archer. The Apollos' colors are derived from two shades of orange which are reflective of the warm Florida sunshine that is common to Orlando and central Florida, and the color navy also pays respect to the Apollo Space mission and the entire Florida Space Coast. The Apollos' arrow points east toward Florida.

Orlando Apollos' home games will be played at Spectrum Stadium. Fans can purchase season tickets for as low as $75 at www.orlandoapollos.com or by calling 833-AAF-2019. Apollos game day parking is also now on sale. For more information on the Apollos, visit the team's website and be sure to follow The Apollos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Alliance of American Football Stories from January 22, 2019


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