Tag: New Orleans Breakers

Former Vikings QB Kyle Sloter pulled a Patrick Mahomes with ridiculous pass

Sloter was channeling his inner Mahomes with this throw.

It was a rough weekend for Kyle Sloter and the New Orleans Breakers, but the former Minnesota Vikings quarterback did manage to complete one of the best plays of the week during the USFL playoff semifinals against the Birmingham Stallions.

Sloter has been noted for his willingness to stand in the pocket and make throws under pressure. Granted, it cost him a couple of times with two ugly interceptions on Saturday.

But on one particular play, he channeled his inner Patrick Mahomes with the pocket closing in around him.

While being twisted around by a defender, he was able to maintain his balance just enough for a side flick to tight end Sal Cannella for the duo’s best Mahomes and Travis Kelce impersonation.

Things didn’t end the way Sloter hoped, but overall, it was a successful year with him nearly leading the Breakers to the championship in the USFL’s inaugural season.

It’s clear he’s going to need to cut down on the turnovers in the future. He was second in the entire league in passing yards (1,798), but he also threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that turnovers ultimately sealed the deal in the Breakers’ 31-17 loss.

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Big plays propel Birmingham Stallions to USFL Championship Game

Birmingham topples New Orleans to gain the USFL Championship Game.

A couple of huge plays and a time-consuming drive powered the Birmingham Stallions to victory in a USFL semifinal on Saturday at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Oh.

The Stallions were the best team in the South Division during the regular season and they reinforced that by downing the New Orleans Breakers, 31-17.

Birmingham struggled early but got a pick-six and a kickoff return to take control of the second semifinal.

Birmingham, which is coached by Skip Holtz, will meet the Philadelphia Stars on July 3 in Canton for the USFL championship. Earlier, the Stars eliminated the New Jersey Generals, 19-14.

The big plays for Birmingham were courtesy of the pick by DeMarquis Gates, who returned it 71 yards, and the kickoff return by Victor Bolden, who took it back 90.

The pick-six:

Gates, by the way, plays with a floss pick in his mouth.

The kick-six, if you will:

The game-sealing drive devoured 87 yards and 15 plays before J’Mar Smith scored on a 2-yard run with 45 seconds left.

One player on New Orleans worth noting was tight end Sal Cannella, who had a dozen receptions for 154 yards. Do not be surprised if he turns up in an NFL camp later this summer.

 

Former Vikings QB leading the USFL in passing

A familiar face is leading all USFL QBs in passing yards and completions

Former Minnesota Viking Kyle Sloter isn’t convinced there are 80 quarterbacks in the world better than he is right now. He isn’t even convinced 32 quarterbacks are better than him.

Clearly, no quarterback has been better in the UFSL with Sloter currently leading the league with 1,449 passing yards and 138 completions with the New Orleans Breakers.

That immediate success has him hoping another NFL opportunity will fall into his lap at some point. At only 28 years old, he isn’t ready to give up on the dream of competing against the best in the world.

“There’s not 80 or 90 quarterbacks in the world who are better than me. I don’t think there’s 32 better than me. I know I can play [in the NFL],” Sloter said in a phone interview with the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson. “…I think I’m showing that I can lead a team. I’m showing that I can win games, and finish in big situations. I think I’ve made a bunch of NFL throws with guys breathing down my neck.”

Sloter was signed briefly with the Vikings last December as a stand-in when backup quarterback Sean Mannion was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. He was waived less than a week later.

However, opportunity could come knocking once more if he continues to produce in the USFL.

With only three games left on the regular season schedule, the Breakers have their toughest matchup of the season on Saturday against the unbeaten Birmingham Stallions in a nationally televised game.

It’s as good of a time as any for Sloter to remind the world he’s NFL-ready.

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Former Titans WR Taywan Taylor shines in USFL Week 4

Former Titans WR Taywan Taylor had his best game in the Breakers’ Week 4 win over the Gamblers.

Former Tennessee Titans third-round pick and wide receiver Taywan Taylor was a standout performer in USFL Week 4, as his team, the New Orleans Breakers, held on to win against the Houston Gamblers, 23-16.

Taylor had a game-high 112 yards on four catches, with a long reception of 43 yards in the winning effort. The Western Kentucky product’s career-high in receiving yards in a single game during his time in the NFL was 104.

Three of Taylor’s catches came on scoring drives. Taylor had gains of 27 and 25 on receptions during New Orleans’ first touchdown drive of the game in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, Taylor’s long reception of the afternoon helped set the Breakers up for a game-tying field goal.

New Orleans would go on to get the ball back with just under one minute left to play and orchestrated a touchdown drive to ultimately grab the win and improve to 3-1. New Orleans sits in second place in the South division.

Taylor also chipped in with a pair of kick returns for 27.5 yards per, including a long return of 35 yards.

On the season, Taylor has 169 receiving yards, ranking fourth on the team, and another 127 kick return yards, which leads New Orleans.

After spending two disappointing years in Tennessee and totaling 53 catches for 697 yards and two touchdowns, Taylor was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2019 for a seventh-round pick.

He failed to record a catch in six games over two seasons with the Browns. In 2021, Taylor was signed by the Houston Texans but never played in a game. He was taken in the 16th round of the USFL draft back in February.

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Former Georgia LB Davin Bellamy has breakout USFL debut, wins inaugural award

Davin Bellamy becomes the first player to receive the award of Defensive Player of the Week for the USFL’s inaugural season.

Last weekend, the United States Football League (USFL) returned for the first time since 1985, and Davin Bellamy, former UGA linebacker and member of the 2017 SEC championship team, had a breakout game.

Bellamy, who signed with the Houston Texans after going undrafted in 2018, was selected by the New Orleans Breakers as the first pick of the second round of the 2022 USFL draft. The 6-foot-5 linebacker spent time with five NFL teams before eventually landing with the Breakers.

On Saturday, Bellamy’s dominant performance came in the Breakers’ 23-17 win over the Philadelphia Stars.

He recorded 3 sacks, one of which came on third-and-twelve play that set up an unsuccessful field goal attempt by the Stars. In addition to the sacks, Bellamy had 6 tackles and 4 solo stops.

Due to his stellar showing, Bellamy became the first player to be awarded the Defensive Player of the Week for the USFL’s inaugural season.

At UGA, Bellamy played in all 15 games of the 2017 season, and he recorded 34 stops, 7.5 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, and had the third-most quarterback pressures on the team with 14.

Former Vikings QB leads team to win in USFL debut

The New Orleans Breakers get a 23-17 season-opening win with a familiar face at quarterback

There were plenty of familiar faces kick-starting the festivities over the weekend in the season-opening week of the USFL. One of those faces was former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyle Sloter.

As the leading signal caller for the New Orleans Breakers, Sloter stepped under center on Sunday and helped lead the team to a 23-17 win over the Philadelphia Stars.

Granted, the team was carried by the defense for the most part with linebacker Vontae Diggs snatching a pick-six early in the ballgame. The team also leaned heavily on the legs of running back Jordan Ellis, along with the versatile playmaking abilities of T.J. Logan Jr.

Sloter, who was actually signed to the Vikings’ active roster last December, went 17-of-27 passing for 150 yards and one interception. So it wasn’t necessarily the big coming-out-party he hoped it would be. But the outcome played out in his favor, and he can look forward to improving in his next outing.

The 28-year-old quarterback played for six different teams during his time in the NFL, including two pit stops in Minnesota.

At the very least, it’s a positive turn of events seeing a former journeyman get some well-deserved shine as a starter in a new league.

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New Orleans Breakers outlast Philadelphia Breakers in USFL opener

The New Orleans Breakers had a succesful debut in the new USFL

The New Orleans Breakers and the Philadelphia Stars gave football fans a little of everything in their USFL opener in Birmingham on Sunday.

Kyle Sloter used a different cadence with 1:49 left to draw Philadelphia offside on a third-and-2 and that first down sealed the 23-17 victory for the Breakers.

The first score of the game was the first pick-six in the 2022 incarnation of the league.

Former UConn LB Vontae Davis picked the pass off and took it back for six.

Then, New Orleans went up 9-0 on a blocked punt that was smothered and knocked out of the end zone.

One cool aspect of the broadcast was how quickly a call could be overturned USFL rules analyst and FOX Sports’ Mike Pereira spoke to the USA Network announce booth as he was talking to referee Larry Smith and said an incompletion should be reversed. It was in a blink.

The Stars got their first touchdown on a pass to former UNC player Bug Howard, who has been in five NFL camps.

After a Breakers TD in the second half, T.J. Logan somehow came up with this pass on a 2-point coversion. Magic!

Darnell Holland brought Philly back into a 17-17 tie in the third quarter.

Jordan Ellis then  gave New Orleans a 23-17 lead but the PAT was no good early in the fourth quarter.

WATCH: Former Nittany Lion Shareef Miller makes nice defensive play in USFL

WATCH: Former Penn State QB breaks down replay of former PSU DL in USFL broadcast

The USFL officially kicked off a new era of spring football this weekend, and those paying attention to Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Breakers and Philadelphia Stars may have seen some familiar names. In the broadcast booth for USA’s coverage of the game was former Penn State quarterback [autotag]Michael Robinson[/autotag], who has enjoyed a nice career in sports media since his playing days came to an end in the NFL. But one player looking to keep his career going, [autotag]Shareef Miller[/autotag], was seen making a nice defensive play in the backfield for New Orleans.

And Robinson was more than happy to break down the play and give a little shoutout to the alma mater.

Miller had 100 career tackles during his time at Penn State, between 2015 and 2018. Miller was a three-star recruit in Penn State’s Class of 2015, and he finished his career with two solid back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018 with 5.5 sacks and 7.5 sacks, respectively.

Miller went on to be a fourth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2019 NFL draft. After just one season, Miller was waived by the Eagles just before the start of the 2020 season. He was quickly signed by the Carolina Panthers and spent one season with the team before being waived once again and returning to the Eagles as a practice squad member. Miller was released again by the Eagles in December 2020, and he made a couple more quick stops with NFL franchises in Arizona and Atlanta before being drafted by the New Orleans Breakers in the inaugural USFL draft.

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Former Georgia LB Davin Bellamy drafted by the USFL

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The USFL (United States Football League) held its inaugural draft this week.

With first pick in the second round, the New Orleans Breakers selected former Georgia linebacker Davin Bellamy.

Bellamy, who played for UGA from 2013-2017, has contributed to NFL practice squads and offseason rosters since leaving Athens.

Bellamy was a strong piece of Georgia’s 2017 national championship run, racking up 34 stops, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks, with the third-most quarterback pressures on the team (14) for the SEC Champion Bulldogs.

The USFL is a football league currently set to begin on April 16 and run through July 3. Games will be broadcast on Fox, NBC and USA.

 

First look at new USFL jerseys and helmets for all 8 teams

The USFL is back and the jerseys are just as wild as you’d expect

Like most things in pop culture these days, the United States Football League is getting a reboot.

Unlike its predecessor, the league will feature just eight teams instead of 18. The New Jersey Generals and Tampa Bay Bandits are back along with the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, Michigan Panthers and New Orleans Breakers.

On Thursday, the new-look USFL—which begins play this spring—unveiled each team’s uniform and they are certainly embracing a level of creativity we don’t typically see in the NFL.

Fans will have a chance to see their team’s players finally try on the threads once the inaugural draft begins on Feb. 22 in Birmingham. Until then, the league’s models will have to do.

Here’s a preview of how each of the eight clubs will look once they take the field.

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