The list of former UConn players heading to the Canadian Football League grew this week as running back Andre Dixon was signed by British Columbia and Hamilton signed tight end John Delahunt.

They join long snapper Martin Bedard (Montreal), defensive ends Cody Brown (Montreal), Julius Williams (British Columbia) and Lindsey Witten (Edmonton), safety Jordan Younger (Toronto) and receiver/return specialist Larry Taylor (Calgary) as UConn products on CFL rosters.

Delahunt, who had 18 catches for 223 yards as a senior, becomes the ninth member of the 2012 UConn football team to make it into a pro training camp.

The American Athletic Conference, headlined by UConn, has unveiled its logo.

“As with the creation of our name, we worked directly with our institutions, sports marketing experts, media partners and design agencies to create and evaluate a variety of logo options,” said AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco in a statement. “We took our preferred marks to each institution within our conference for an open forum with school presidents, athletic directors and student athletes to get their input."

The American Athletic Conference will launch the full version of its website at www.TheAmerican.org on July 1.

Beginning with the 2014-15 academic year, the conference will consist of Central Florida, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Southern Methodist, South Florida, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa. The U.S. Naval Academy will become a football-only member in 2015.

UConn football signee Tommy Myers won the shot put and javelin at today's CIAC Class S Track and Field Championships.

Myers, a Coventry High senior who projects to be a tight end for the Huskies, was the top-seeded competitor in both events. He won the shot put with a winning throw of 52-6.5. He won the javelin by more than 25 feet recording a best throw of 194-11.

Myers had a chance to set the Class S mark in the javelin of 199-4 set by Lyman Memorial's Miles Snelgrove in 2008 as his season best was 200-11.

Myers has qualified for the State Open in both events.

The last obstacle standing between Jamar Summers being a part of UConn's incoming freshman class was an improved SAT score.

Well, yesterday I confirmed with Summers' high school coach that he got the necessary SAT score. Orange (N.J.) High coach Randy Daniel said that the talented defensive back/receiver who projects to play cornerback at the next level "has qualified."

Summers has received congratulation posts on his Twitter account but he replied by tweeting "I appreciate all the love from everyone but the ink isnt on the paper yet. Its not official yet #HumblePie"

UConn still has to get the test results and make sure everything is set before he becomes an official part of the program. Since he never signed a letter of intent, UConn coaches are prohibited from commenting on Summers but it is looking more and more likely as if he will be able to enroll at UConn during the fall semester.

Summers was a two-way star at Orange and is currently competing with the track team. He has Orange's season bests in the 100 (11.17 seconds), 200 (22.87), 400 (51.1) and discus (126-1).

Hopefully I will have something more concrete to report on this matter as early as next week.

Former UConn running back Donald Brown will be a part of the Jersey Shore Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

Thomas ran for 2,032 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior at Red Bank Catholic High School before embarking on a record-breaking career at UConn. As a junior in 2008 Thomas ran for 2,083 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Brown announced his decision to enter the 2009 NFL draft after rushing for 261 yards in a win over Buffalo in the International Bowl. Brown was taken by the Indianapolis Colts with the 27th overall pick to become the first UConn product to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft. Thomas is entering his fifth season with the Colts.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on June 29 at FirstEnergy Park before the Lakewood BlueClaws game against West Virginia.

When former UConn defensive end Trevardo Williams was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round following the third-round selection of LSU's Sam Montgomery, Houston linebackers coach Reggie Herring was quoted as saying that starting outside linebacker Brooks Reed could be shifted inside.

Well, a few days later Texans coach Gary Kubiak was quick to put an end to that speculation saying that he expected Reed to remain outside.


"First off, Brooks is our starting SAM linebacker and he’s a great player," Kubiak said on April 27. "We’re not going to do anything to impede the progress of Brooks Reed. Now he is a guy who can give you flexibility. We’ve been caught in some situations where he’s done that for our football team. What we’ve done right now is just add more quality players at the depth of our linebacker position. Brooks is lining up at the SAM position and we expect him to be a great player. We’ve got to get these other guys to fit what they do best and what they can do best for our football team. But there’s no decisions made like that at this point. We think too much of what Brooks is doing at that position to start thinking about that.”



While it is dangerous to read too much into one day at Houston's Organized Team Activities, it should be noted that Reed lined up at inside linebacker yesterday. Of course, the absence of starting inside linebacker Brian Cushing left Houstoin a little thin at the inside linebacker position. However, the more time that Reed spends playing inside linebacker is the more time that Williams can show what he can do while lining up as a strong-side outside linebacker.


"Brooks (Reed) is repping inside right now, so that lets Sam (Montgomery) and Trevardo (Williams) rep with the first and second groups and (OLB Bryan) Braman rep with the first group, so I think right the key is that we just get them all going," Kubiak said after Monday's OTA session. "We can settle them down. Brooks can always move, but we wanted to make sure these young guys stayed in one spot so we could really evaluate them.”

It hasn't taken former UConn linebacker Sio Moore long to make a good impression with the Oakland Raiders.

An entry on the CSNCalifornia.com site focuses on how quickly Moore, a third-round pick of the Raiders in last month's NFL draft, has been picking things up.


"His ability to understand multiple positions has been good," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said in the report. "He's a guy that, like I said after we drafted him, he loves football. He wants to work. He wants to get better. And he's a guy that I just think is going to continue to get better as he gets comfortable with the scheme."

The last report I had on UConn commit Jamar Summers was that the cornerback out of Orange (N.J.) High was dealing with some NCAA clearinghouse issues preventing him from signing with the Huskies.

Well, I spoke with Orange HS coach Randy Daniel earlier today to see if I could get an update. He said that Summers has taken care of business in the classroom and the only thing standing between him and being a part of UConn's incoming freshman class is an SAT score to UConn's liking.

I asked Daniel if Summers was close to getting to SAT score he needed and he said he was and that the rest "was up to UConn.

"He's been working hard and doing the work. He in taking care of his part."

The next opportunity for Summers to take his SAT is June 1.

Daniel said that obviously Summers wants to head to UConn but if the Huskies decide that he would benefit from heading to prep school then he would enroll at Milford Academy. If that is the case, there's a decent chance that Summers could enroll at UConn in January which would allow him to take part in spring practice.

Summers is in competing with Orange's track and field team in the spring. His personal bests this year have been a time of 11.22 in the 100, 23.05 in the 200, 52.21 in the 400 and a discus throw of 126-1. At the Super Essex County Conference Championships last week Summers finished second in the discus, was third in the 100 and fourth in both the 200 and 400.

Speaking of prowess in track and field, UConn signee Tommy Myers out of Coventry High has posted the best marks among CIAC athletes in both the shot put (52-2) and javelin (200-11). Myers' season best throw in the javelin came at last month's Penn Relays when he finished second in the high school division.

Myers was not the only future Husky to compete in the prestigious Penn Relays. Josh Marriner out of Western Branch High in Chesapeake, Va. finished 18th in the long jump (11th among U.S. competitors) with a leap of 21-1.5. He also ran a leg on Western Branch's team which finished 12th in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.78. Marriner also competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals in February. He placed 23rd in the long jump and was a member of the Western Branch team which placed third in the 4x200 and was 11th in the sprint medley relay.

Although SNY did not televise UConn's spring game live, it was granted extra access and the first airing of the "UConn Spring Football All Access" will be shown tomorrow at 9:30 p.m.

 

The show will also air on Friday at 6 p.m., Monday at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 25 at 6 p.m., Sunday, May 26 at 5 p.m. and Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) at 3 p.m.

The documentary is produced in a similar fashion to SNY’s Huskies All-Access program – which followed the UConn women’s basketball team during the intense first week of practice as they prepared for their 2012-13 championship season.

 

ESPN just released some details on the bowl games it owns and operated and on the list are a pair of bowls affiliated with UConn's new conference the American Athletic Conference.

A team from the AAC would meet up with a Conference USA team in the Beef O'Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Dec. 23 at 2 p.m.

Also, a team from the AAC will play a team from the SEC in the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 4 at 1 p.m.

I thought I would pass on what Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak had to say about former UConn defensive end Trevardo Williams after a recent practice during the team's rookie mini-camp.


"(Williams) was exactly what we thought,” Kubiak said in a post-practice report posted on the team's official site on Sunday: “Tremendous speed. He can really run. (He) is a little ahead of (third-round pick Sam) Montgomery.”

In other notes from the Texans, former UConn tight end Ryan Griffin was signed by the team on Friday. Griffin was taken by the Texans in the sixth round. Meanwhile,former UConn receiver Michael Smith was one of 19 undrafted rookie free agents signed by the team on Friday.

UConn recruiting target Arkeel Newsome, an Ansonia High running back, is the first rising high school senior to be nominated to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Newsome ran for 2,245 yards and 38 touchdowns as a junior to lead the Chargers to the Class S title. In the Class S semifinals and finals he ran for 449 yards and seven touchdowns.

About 400 players are expected to be nominated to play in the prestigious all-star game with the final roster of 90 to be announced during the fall. The game will be played on Jan. 4.

Just over a week after a program record five UConn players were selected in the NFL draft, another Husky was selected by a professional football team.

Defensive end Jesse Joseph was taken by Montreal with the 23rd overall pick in Monday's Canadian Football League draft although the earliest he would make his CFL debut is during the 2014 season since he is returning to the Huskies for a fifth season of eligibility.

Joseph, a native of Laval, Quebec, has 118 tackles and 13 sacks in 37 career games at UConn.

Joseph, an immediate starter as a true freshman, had 11 sacks in his first two seasons before being slowed by injury as a junior and senior. Joseph suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in a 24-21 win over Maryland. He was granted a fifth season of eligibility and is expected to be one of the leaders of a Connecticut defense which lost six starters including five who were either drafted or invited to NFL training camps.

Joseph is the fifth UConn product taken in the CFL draft since 2004. Receiver O'Neil Wilson was taken by Montreal with the 25th selection in 2004, defensive end Shawn Mayne went to Hamilton with the 18th pick in 2006, tight end Martin Bedard was selected with the 14th overall pick by Montreal in 2009 and in 2011 center Moe Petrus was chosen 10th overall by Hamilton.

                                                                                     (Associated Press photo)
Former UConn quarterback Zach Frazer, seen throwing a pass in the 2011
Fiesta Bowl, had a strong first half performance as he made his debut in the
Arena Football League with the San Antonio Talons on Friday night.

Former UConn quarterback Zach Frazer made his Arena Football League debut with the San Antonio Talons on Friday night.

Frazer got the start in place of injured starter Nick Hill and was 19 of 40 for 225 yards with three touchdown passes and three interceptions in a 48-36 loss to Iowa. Frazer had 186 yards and two TDs in the first half to stake San Antonio to a 29-14 lead.

Frazer is the fourth quarterback to see action for San Antonio this season. Hill leads the team with 660 yards and 13 touchdown passes, John Dutton had 370 yards and five touchdowns in a pair of games while Rohan Davey appeared in one game and had 67 yards with a pair of TD passes.

Frazer started 19 games at UConn from 2008-10 and passed for 3,422 yards and 17 touchdowns.

According to the Talons' official Twitter page, Hill is expected to be back when San Antonio hosts Jacksonville on May 11.

Shortly after Bruce Arians was named the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals he began to let it be known that the fullback position was not a high priority in the offense he was planning to install. That was not good news for former UConn fullback Anthony Sherman.

What happened next was rather predictable as Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star is reporting that Sherman was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sherman, selected by Arizona in the fifth round in the 2011 draft, appeared in 28 games over the last two seasons with the Cardinals. He had one carry for three yards in a win over Seattle on Jan. 1, 2012 and caught 13 passes for 111 yards. His biggest impact, however, came on special teams as he was named the Cardinals' special teams captain and he had 16 tackles in his two seasons.

Reports are that cornerback Javier Arenas was acquired in return for Sherman.