Hartford Colonials Hold Saturday Open Practice

Josh McCown under center as his offense takes on the defense in an advanced drill.

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by David F.P.

BERLIN, CT- The Hartford Colonials of the United Football League only opened up practices a few days ago, but when they did the public was invited. This continued Saturday afternoon in Sage Park as the Colonials went through some drills and then gradually scrimmaged. [Editor's note: left before the scrimmage got underway to get to the WPS game down the road.]  Several fans were there at 3, and more steadily arrived throughout filling the parking lot.  Several media outlets were on hand as well to take in the ongoing building of the team.  Quarterbacks Josh McCown, Andre Woodson, and Ryan Perrilloux were running drills and alternating in operations with the offense, the special teams units were testing their return plans and defensive attacks as well. The team started out with light run throughs, then got the helmets on and started contact.  Towards the end of my time there they were moving towards scrimmage mode lining up two full units on either side and seeing what happened. Coach Palmer and his assistants stood shouting commands and advice throughout. Even in the practice environment, the players were getting heated up when a play was made. Many of the players most familiar to the Connecticut crowds, including Andre Dixon, Dahna Deleston and others were going through their motions as well.

It’s interesting to note that aside from the Connecticut alums and local products like BC’s Ryan Glasper, there was a slew of players from Florida State, and Louisville, as well as representatives from nearly every college imaginable from the top of the BCS on down. For those who played the game, the football practice might have seemed like a familiar environment, albeit with some high quality players battling not only to learn and operate the coach’s directives, but also gain playing time. For those who did not play the game, such as this writer, it was a fascinating display of the elements that contribute to the on the field performance come gameday. For any fan of the team, it offered a remarkable opportunity to see the players up close before the big games that are to follow.

For more information on the Colonials activities including practices, interested people can always check out The Hartford Colonials Website