Georgia football: Aaron Murray, other Bulldogs return to action in AAF
Even though Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend, football isn’t over. Former Georgia football stars Aaron Murray, Damian Swann, Quincy Mauger and Cameron Nizialek return to pro football next weekend with the Atlanta Legends and the Alliance of American Football.
Super Bowl LIII won’t be the last time you can watch former Georgia football stars on the field this winter. Just six days after the Super Bowl, the Alliance of American Football kicks off its inaugural season. The Bulldogs have four former players competing in the AAF all for the Atlanta Legends. Atlanta plays their first game in franchise history on February 9 on the road against the Orlando Apollos.
At quarterback, the Legends have a true Georgia Bulldog legend in Aaron Murray, the best statistical quarterback in SEC history. On defense, Quincy Mauger and Damian Swann are expected to play a vital role much like they did for the Bulldogs earlier this decade. And Georgia’s one-year-wonder at punter, Cameron Nizialek is going to be booting balls for Atlanta.
If you are unfamiliar with the Alliance of American Football, they are a new league founded last year who begin play next weekend. The league was co-founder by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian. Ebersol is the son of former NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol. He’s served as executive producer on several large television projects. Polian spent 13 years as president of the Indianapolis Colts from 1998-to-2011, also serving as general manager from 1997-to-2009. Prior to that, he was the GM of the Carolina Panthers (1995-to-1997) and Buffalo Bills (1984-to-1995).
The front office includes J.K. McKay as head of football operations, Troy Polamalu as head of player relations, Hines Ward as head of football development. The AAF has eight teams spread throughout the United States with each team playing a 10-game schedule.
Very early in the leagues development, it struck a deal with CBS to have games broadcasted nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Recently they completed deals to have other games aired on the NFL Network and Bleacher Report Live. Without college and NFL, the AAF will have four games each weekend, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. The season features a four-team playoff and a championship game on April 27.
Next. Top 30 players of the Mark Richt era. dark
The Atlanta Legends first game against the Orlando Apollos is next Saturday at 8 p.m. on CBS. Brad Childress was supposed to be the team’s first head coach, but he stepped down earlier in the month and long-time college and NFL assistant Kevin Coyle is the new head coach. This is the first head coaching job of his 40-plus-year career. A week later, the Legends return to Atlanta for their first home game. They host games at Georgia State Stadium, formerly known as Turner Field.