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UFL Football Commentary: Hartford Colonials arrive with a BOOM!
By David F.P.
With anything new, there are always questions. Will people be interested? Will the product perform as advertised? Will anything go horribly wrong? Fortunately on Saturday the answer was yes, yes, and no, the best possible combination for the Hartford Colonials. 14,384 fans turned out at Rentschler Field to see the new team take on the Sacramento Mountain Lions, a team led by familiar faces to football fans, Coach Dennis Green and quarterback Daunte Culpepper. The on the field result was a 27-10 win for the Colonials, a game far more out of reach than even the score indicated.
UFL Colonials Game Day: Tweets and more.
I’ll be at Rentschler Field for the UFL Football Hartford Colonials opener vs. Sacramento. You can follow my tweets from the game at
davegymnastics on twitter. I will also write up a commentary after the game about the sights and sounds. It won’t be a report per se, just a color piece.
Football Commentary: It’s time.
by David F.P.
Rentschler Field awaits the first college football game of the season and a week later the first game of its new professional team. This blog puts out in the open that in areas of football, the author is biased. In all other areas, it’s completely down the line, if WVU’s (or any other team) is playing UConn in any other sport there’s not a hint of preference (except possibly basketball on the twitter feed, but it’s all out in the open.) Thus the home openers for the UConn Huskies and Hartford Colonials is quite a big deal. Not just because UConn has been built into a credible dangerous program in mere years from the times when Georgia Tech was slaughtering the Huskies back at Memorial Stadium, and not just because since the Whalers left Hartford has turned UConn to fill the void, and now has a new entrant to help pick up the sports slack in the region. The Colonials are packed with high quality former college players and NFL veterans. Football fans now have as much football as they could want taking place out at the Rent, and that’s not even including the semi-pro NEFL games going on all over the region and state for a few more weeks as well.
Is this a short fluff piece. Yes. Do I care? No. It’s football time in Connecticut.
Hartford Colonials Hold Saturday Open Practice
Josh McCown under center as his offense takes on the defense in an advanced drill.
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
UFL: Hartford Colonials sign McCown
Chris Palmer presents Josh McCown with his new jersey. (Credit: David F. Pendrys)
By David F.P.
EAST HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Colonials had promised a big signing and delivered up Josh McCown in a press conference attended by a contingent of media and fans in the club level at Rentschler Field Tuesday afternoon. McCown was most recently a member of the Carolina Panthers and was likely known for starting roles in both Oakland and Arizona prior to that.
Colonials Head Coach Chris Palmer spoke of the desire to have a veteran in the Quarterback role and said that McCown’s name had come up several times in his search. Palmer said that McCown said all the right things int heir conversation and never asked if he was going to be the starter. He added later in the conference that McCown never talked money, just wanted to get out there and play. The Coach did note McCown had requested and was granted number 12.
When McCown spoke he mentioned that the process of finding a team had been going on and he had to consider the possibilities of fighting through NFL camp only to be a backup again and not play another year. McCown had spoken of that being a backup led him to miss the joy of playing. He spoke of the desire to play, and he spoke of how he had good opportunities in past in the NFL, but found the Colonials opportunity now to be the “the right one.”
Coach Palmer makes a point as Josh McCown looks on. Credit: David F. Pendrys
Coach Palmer jumped in to say that when someone is a backup QB “you prepare as if you’re one play away from playing…” and that leads to a buildup of energy that isn’t released if you don’t play. “If you haven’t been a backup Quarterback it’s hard to understand,” he added noting that he has been. McCown jumped back in to added “you go through the game emotionally, but hen it’s done, but you haven’t exerted any physical energy.”
Questions led to other discussions about what made McCown choose the Colonials “Coach Palmer was a huge factor,” the new arrival noted saying he wanted a coach with a reputation for developing Quarterbacks.
When asked if the UFL already existing a year helped him make the move McCown said he had gotten feedback from players including longtime NFL veterans and described the league as “pure…people out there having fun.”
McCown compared his physical status to similar to that of when he had been in college. He seemed to indicate his time as a backup may have preserved him a bit physically, but that his 8 years in the NFL had given him a great deal of knowledge.
The organization was asked if McCown contractually could move onto the NFL if he so desires. That seems to be the case, but it was unclear if it was after the UFL season was over or if there was a provision during the season. That was unclear.
Coach Palmer took the question to take the opportunity to mention that the league is expected to be scouted very heavily, especially as the NFL moves towards the model of 18 regular season games.
McCown’s rights are not held by any NFL team though, so should he seek to return he can negotiate freely, though he quickly added “My focus is playing football here at a high level.” He noted his competitive spirit and desire to win whatever the trophy was in whatever competition he is playing in.
Asked a more procedural question Coach Palmer outlined that players will be undergoing physicals August 16th, conditioning tests the 17th, and the will be on field practicing the 18th. A member of the press asked if McCown is expected to pass the conditioning test, leading to laughter and an affirmative from Palmer.
McCown and Palmer also announced the QB’s donation to the Boys and Girls club. McCown emphasized the importance of reaching out to the city, fans, and especially young people stressing the opportunity professional athletes have to give back.
The UFL staff had taken the step of inviting fans to the press conference, a welcome development to say the least, and a few even got in some questions after the media finished up. Palmer also took the step of noting the fans in attendance and personally thanked them for coming by spending the time to meet and greet them as McCown took more questions with the major media in attendance.
The Colonials start the season at home September 18th when the Sacramento Mountain Lions come to the Rent.
