Tag: Auburn in the USFL

Eli Stove to make gridiron return in USFL

The former Tiger wideout is set to make his return to football by debuting with the New Orleans Breakers on Sunday evening.

Former Auburn Tigers wide receiver [autotag]Eli Stove[/autotag] is set to make his return to the game of football for the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL against the Pittsburgh Maulers on Sunday in Birmingham.

Stove was an effective receiver for the Tigers during his five years with the program. Stove rushed for 554 yards and four touchdowns off of 55 carries and caught for 1186 yards and six touchdowns off of 136 catches.

Stove was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021. Injuries prevented Stove from ever making it to the Chargers’ minicamp.

Stove is one of four former Auburn players that will begin the season on a USFL roster. Several notable former Tigers include OT [autotag]Broadarious Hamm[/autotag] (Michigan Panthers) and C [autotag]Xavier Dampeer[/autotag] (Pittsburgh Maulers.) New Orleans leads all USFL teams with two former Auburn players on its’ roster. Stove is teammates with former Auburn LB [autotag]Zakoby McClain[/autotag], who played for the Tigers from 2018-21.

The Breakers game against the Maulers is set for 5:30 p.m. CDT on Sunday at Protective Stadium. FS1 will have the television broadcast of the game.

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Former Auburn DT Tony Fair signs with USFL team

Tony Fair is getting his chance to play professional football.

[autotag]Tony Fair[/autotag] is getting a shot in a professional football league.

The former nose tackle signed with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL on Friday, the team Tweeted out. The move comes after Fair did not sign with an NFL team following the draft.

Fair, who is from South Bend, Indiana, has had a long journey to playing professional football. His career started at Indiana State before transferring to Pima Community College. He then spent two seasons at UAB before transferring to Auburn last summer.

He appeared in 12 games and was Auburn’s starting nose tackle. The 6-foot-1, 330-pound Fair made nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, and generated two quarterback hurries.

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Former Auburn safety signs with USFL’s Gamblers

Another former Tigers player is getting a shot at professional football.

On Friday, the Houston Gamblers announced that they had signed former Auburn safety [autotag]Bydarrius Knighten[/autotag]. This news comes three weeks after Knighten received an invite to the Chicago Bears’ rookie minicamp.

Knighten transferred to the Plains from Southeast Missouri State. He was a four-year starter at safety for the Redhawks. Over the course of those four seasons in Cape Girardeau, he was named as an All-OVC selection twice. He recorded 255 tackles and six interceptions during his time in the FCS. After the 2020 season ended, Knighten decided to enter the transfer portal.

He chose to transfer to Auburn where he served as a starting safety for Derek Mason’s defense. In his lone season at Auburn, he tallied 46 tackles and two interceptions. Since he was a fifth-year senior, Knighten had to enter his name into the 2022 NFL draft.

After going undrafted, he received the opportunity to attend rookie minicamp with the Chicago Bears. Things didn’t go as planned, so he will now focus on making the most of his opportunity with the Houston Gamblers. Several other players in the league are Sal Cannella, Christian Tutt, Marquis McClain, Calvin Ashley, Xavier Dampeer, and John Franklin III. It will be interesting to see what Knighten does with the Gamblers moving forward.