Connor Davis hails from Stony Brook. At 6’7″, 275, the tight end towers over other defenders, but he played all over the place during his time with the Seawolves, playing defensive line, offensive tackle… and tight end. He bulked up and turned some heads at mini camps with the Giants, but did not make the squad. The Alliance of American Football liked his athletic skill set in tryouts and thought he’d make a great fit for the league, so Davis was signed by the Birmingham Iron. Connor played in two games, starting one, and had 3 catches for 9 yards on 5 targets- before he was injured and his season ended on IR.
Connor’s football journey continued as he was selected by the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL.
Acquired: IP 2020, Houston Roughnecks Season Ticket Holders Kickoff Party See Also: Charles James
Charles James has continued to stay busy as a defensive back playing football and keeping the dream alive since his last stop in Houston going back to 2016. He joined the Colts for a game in 2016 and then spent the 2017 off-season with the Bills and the Jaguars.
After a year out of football, Charles found a home in the Spring league of the Alliance of American Football (2019). Charles was the old vet in a very young secondary, for the Memphis Express, posting 18 tackles and 5 pass deflections. In the final contest against the Orlando Apollos, Charles had his best game with 6 tackles and 4 pass deflections- as the Express almost upset Orlando, but lost in the closing seconds.
Charles next joined the XFL for the 2020 season originally with the St. Louis Battlehawks. He’d be traded to the Houston Roughnecks before the season, and added to an already capable secondary. In 4 contests Socks had 7 combined tackles and a pass deflection, before the league was ended by COVID.
James as a defensive back by nature is skilled in the art of smack talk, and with the XFL being very upfront and personal with sideline interviews you know they were bound to catch some quality audio from James, and indeed they did.
During the league’s week 4 contest against the Dallas Renegades- Renegades QB Landry Jones had a particularly poor game, throwing 3 interceptions in the first half. As the camera rolled on the sidelines, Socks blurted out to the camera crew, “Get that quarterback the f*** outta here!”
I met James at the Roughneck’s Season Ticket Holder Party. He was very grateful to sign autographs and meet fans, and he very much enjoyed his short time in the AAF.
I lobbied hard to get Charles an official football card from Topps, but surprisingly he was neither included in the AAF or the XFL card sets. About a year after the AAF folded I went ahead and designed Charles his card out based on the above shot he signed. Looking back I wish I had thought of doing this sooner, as I am sure he would have appreciated this card.
Chuck Long made his mark at Iowa. Playing for the Hawkeyes from 1981 to 1985, showing growth in every season as he cemented his name in Iowa lore. In 1983, he threw for 2434 yards- on a gaudy 10 yards per completion. Chuck would be named to the All Big 10 in ’84, passing for 2871 yards, completing an unheard of 67.1% of his passes (216/322) and throwing 22 TDs. He’d finish his final year in 1985, breaking his single season passing records again, passing for 2978 yards, 26 TDs, on 351 attempts, and 231 completions. Chuck Long left the school owning virtually nearly all the Hawkeye’s passing records, both for single season and career passing numbers. His impressive resume included 70 career TDs, 721 completions on 1111 attempts, and 9671 yards.
Chuck was the second overall quarterback taken in the 1986 NFL draft, (behind Jim Everett) at #12 overall by the Detroit Lions. Chuck worked his way through training camp, and was entrenched behind incumbent Joe Ferguson. Head Coach Darrell Rogers planned to groom Chuck as the quarterback of the future, sitting on the bench that year.
Unfortunately almost right out of the gate, Joe Ferguson went down in the opener against the Cowboys, forcing Chuck into action early. Chuck played the next three games going 21 of 40 for 247 yards, and 2 TDs to 2 interceptions. In 1987, Chuck was handed the reins to the franchise. He responded by going 3-9, throwing for a career high 2598 yards and 11 TDs, however he led the NFL with 20 picks. With Rogers on a short leash for 1988, the Lions got off to a fast start winning their opener against the Falcons 31-17. Chuck was workmanlike efficient, going 13 of 19 for 107 yards and 2 TDs. Then the Lions proceeded to lose the next 6 games. Chuck was benched and soon thereafter Rogers was fired. He’d spend one more year in Detroit- but was firmly behind not only Rodney Peete, but Bob Gagliano, and Eric Hipple as well. Chuck was traded to the Rams in 1990 where he backed up Jim Everett at quarterback, before returning to the Lions to ride the bench in his final season in 1991.
Chuck went into coaching where he quickly rose up the college ranks, first at his alma mater Iowa, and then over to Oklahoma. He earned his first head coaching gig with San Diego State in 2005. He finished his tenure at SDSU at 9-27, and then was named offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks. In 2020, Chuck was named the offensive coordinator of the St Louis Battlehawks of the XFL. The Battlehawks finished second in offensive yardage averaging 349.6 yards per game, before the league was aborted due to COVID fears.
G/GS
ATT
CPD
YDS
PCT
TD
INT
RAT
27/21
607
331
3747
54.5%
19
28
64.5
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
34
88
2.6
0
15
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