There aren’t any Alliance of American Football (AAF) teams located remotely close to Detroit. So for Lions fans who are unsure of which AAF team to root for, look no further than the San Diego Fleet, where their ties to the Lions make it easy to cheer them on.
First off, every AAF team is assigned to four NFL teams, meaning that they have rights to former players from those four teams. For San Diego, those teams are the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, and Oakland Raiders.
Currently, the Fleet has six former Detroit Lions on their roster.
Wide Receivers Brian Brown and Dontez Ford are both expected to be in the starting rotation for San Diego’s receiving corps. Brown was signed by the Lions near the end of 2018 training camp but was released during final roster cuts. He spent most of the season out of a job but was signed to the practice squad at the end of the season. Ford came to Detroit as an undrafted rookie in 2017 and spent the entire season on the team’s practice squad. Ford returned to the team during the 2018 offseason but was also released during final roster cuts.
The Fleet also have offensive linemen John Montelus and Beau Nunn, who were both undrafted free agent signings by Detroit during the 2018 offseason. Neither player made the roster or practice squad after being cut by the Lions, although, Nunn is expected to be the Fleet’s starter at right guard this season.
On defense, there are some familiar faces as well.
Starting at defensive end for San Diego is Alex Barrett. Barrett signed with the Lions as an undrafted rookie out of San Diego State in 2017 and impressed enough in training camp to make the 53-man roster. He appeared in two games for the Lions, recording just one tackle. He was expected to take on a bigger role in 2018 but never made it out of training camp.
Cornerback Kendall James is also on the Fleet’s roster. James signed to the Lions practice squad at the end of the 2015 season but was not offered a contract once the season concluded.
One other player with ties to Detroit is Fleet defensive lineman Meffy Koloamatangi. His older brother Leo is an offensive lineman who has been with the Lions since the 2017 season.
Players aren’t San Diego’s only connection to Detroit though, as their coaching staff also has some familiar names.
Former Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz is now the head coach of the Fleet. Martz was the offensive coordinator in Detroit from 2006 to 2007. Also on their coaching staff is wide receiver’s coach Az-Zahir Hakim, who played receiver in Detroit for four seasons, one of those seasons being a part of Martz’s offense.
The San Diego Fleet will play their first game on February 9th at 8:00pm against the San Antonio Commanders.
