UFL Rosters Cut to 52 Players

Published on September 9, 2010 under United Football League (UFL 1) News Release


JACKSONVILLE, FL - Thursday, September 9 - The five teams of the United Football League are another step closer to the September 18 kickoff of the 2010 season, having reached the league-mandated roster cut down to 52 players on Thursday.

For the defending champion Las Vegas Locomotives, roster continuity continues to be a key theme. Of the 52 players on the initial opening-day roster, 29 saw time with the Locos in 2009.

Although Locos head coach JIM FASSEL likes his roster to be as stable as possible, he said of the current crop of players: "I told them nothing is etched in concrete. They still have to keep proving themselves. There's a lot of good football players looking for work and if we can improve our team, we will."

Of the 23 newcomers, linebacker EDGERTON HARTWELL returns home to Las Vegas after an extended career in the National Football League. The Locos also get back a key starter along their offensive line from a year ago in JASON CAPIZZI, who started all six regular-season games and the UFL Championship Game at left tackle in 2009.

The Locos take on the Florida Tuskers in a repeat of the 2010 UFL Championship Game at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas at 8pm PST on September 18 live on HDNet.

The Tuskers will feature three new running backs - all NFL veterans - in DOMINIC RHODES, AVEION CASON and MAURICE HICKS. Reigning UFL Most Valuable Player BROOKS BOLLINGER will have plenty of targets to choose from, as Florida kept six wide receivers and three tight ends. The Tuskers' defensive strength again is expected to be at linebacker, where starters ODELL THURMAN and TIM MCGARIGLE return.

"We had some extremely difficult choices to make today, but unfortunately it is part of the game," Tuskers head coach JAY GRUDEN said. "The other hard part about this is that you know in these situations you are almost always going to make a mistake or two but only time can be the judge of that."

The Sacramento Mountain Lions worked to surround quarterback DAUNTE CULPEPPER with a bevy of targets, and he has them with seven wide receivers and three tight ends on the roster. Included in that group is recently acquired wide receiver TAYE BIDDLE, the 2009 UFL receiving yards leader. Defensively, Sacramento elected to keep eight linebackers despite running a 4-3 defense.

"I feel great," said Sacramento head coach DENNIS GREEN. "Some of the position battles were very close and all week has been very hard deciding who to cut. The guys are just so close - some good guys we had to let go. And there is a chance that they can get back on the team."

The Hartford Colonials were busy in recent days, and got to the 52-player limit by cutting 12 players on Thursday. The revamp of the ex-New York Sentinels now is complete - only nine of the players on Hartford's roster played for New York last fall during the UFL Premiere Season.

The Colonials introduced seven new players at the tail end of training in camp with the focus along the offensive line and in the secondary and all have made the final roster. Center TIM MATTRAN, guard/tackle ISAAC SOWELLS and guard CAMERON STEPHENSON were all brought in after NFL training camp appearances, as were defensive backs TREVOR FORD and MARCUS BROWN. Hartford also added wide receiver TAURUS JOHNSON and ex-Connecticut standout defensive end JULIUS WILLIAMS. and

The Colonials open at home at Rentschler Field in East Hartford against the Sacramento Mountain Lions at 2.30pm EST live on the New England Sports Network (NESN).

In Omaha, where the Nighthawks have a bye in the opening week and will play their first-ever game September 24 at Rosenblatt Stadium, the roster is a veteran-laden one. Among the experienced heads leading the Nighthawks into their first season are quarterback JEFF GARCIA, running back AHMAN GREEN, safety STUART SCHWEIGERT, linebackers CATO JUNE, MORLON GREENWOOD and NICK GREISEN, tackle GEORGE FOSTER, wide receivers DEVARD DARLING and ROBERT FERGUSON and defensive tackle DUSTY DVORACEK. Omaha's roster also features former Ohio State running back MAURICE CLARETT, who will make his professional football debut with the Nighthawks.

Omaha head coach JEFF JAGODZINSKI said: "We feel that we've put together a talented group of players with a great mix of experience and youth. We faced some very difficult decisions to get to this point because everyone gave tremendous effort throughout training camp. But we feel confident heading into the first game with this final group."

The 52-man rosters are available at the official United Football League website www.UFL-Football.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Football League Stories from September 9, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central