Philly Stars Blog

  Stetson Bennett and Doug Flutie's collegiate careers could not be more different. Flutie was a Heisman Trophy Winner after all and was a four-year starter at Boston College. Flutie also engineered one of the greatest victories in college football history with a Hail Mary in 1984 to take down then college football power, Miami. Bennett had one FBS offer from Middle Tennessee State and was a walk-on who did not start a full college football season until this past year. However, despite what could be viewed as obvious setbacks, he was able to take Georgia to its first national title in 41 years and in doing so led UGA through the SEC during a time where the talent level was unlike any Flutie would have faced during his time at Boston College.  Given all of the differences of the two quarterbacks collegiate careers their respective professional careers could be much more similar. Bennett will be labeled too small and simply “not good enough” for the NFL, as was Doug Flutie....

  The Philadelphia Stars have their first head coach. Bart Andrus is a well-traveled football coach who has coached all over the world and across all different varieties of professional football. Andrus head coaching experience spans from the NFL Europe to the CFL. Andrus also had a brief stint as a position coach in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, serving as an Offensive Assistant and QBs Coach. Andrus most recent head coaching experience was with the Spring League Generals organization, where he would preside over the best offense in the spring league. The year before that, Andrus served as the Head Coach of Team 9, the XFL`s development team.   Andrus has received high praise from former players he coached in the spring league saying that he is a great offensive mind who has a great attention to detail. Former players also stated that Andrus led well run practices and was very organized. Andurs was able to put together the best offense in the Spring League in a rela...

  In our second player interview, we talk with another player familiar to the City of Philadelphia, Jarey Elder, a two-time All-American defensive back out of division II powerhouse West Chester. Elder, hails from Allentown, PA, the same hometown of Philadelphia Stars legend Mike Lush. Elder was an All- Area player at wide receiver for powerhouse eastern PA high school, Parkland. Elder would then transition to defense at the collegiate level and go to have a truly generational career at West Chester including All-American, All-ECAC and PSAC Defensive of the Year Selections.  Elder played this past spring in The Spring League for the Blues organization.  So, just a basic question to start, what will you bring to the Philadelphia Stars? I will bring my ball hawking ability, leadership, and my ability to play both the free and strong safety as well the nickel position. Awesome. So, what NFL player would you compare yourself too? Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker. They both ar...

  In speaking with a source directly after the USFL announced its player selection meeting on February 22-23, it was indicated that this announcement could and most likely means the league has finalized all but one major detail before spring play. The last major detail being player selection. So essentially all the league needs are players and coaches, as the funding has been secured through Fox and the operating plans have been finalized.  Now, what about coaches? It has been the prevailing thought among sources that head coaching searches are underway now to what depth and how far along those searches are remains speculation. Sources also said USFL fans should expect coaching staffs to be mostly, if not all filled out before the USFL draft, due to the importance of assistant coaches to the evaluation and draft process. Now as for who will be coaching the teams, sources also stated that due to the similarity of the two the leagues and the player and coach relationships forme...

Philadelphia sports fans love their athletes, especially when they are from in and around the Greater- Philadelphia Area. Shane Simpson grew up in Easton, PA, just about an hour from Philadelphia and a short drive from where the Philadelphia Eagles held training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Simpson first burst onto the scene as an electric running back at Easton High School, earning himself not only an opportunity to participate in the illustrious Big 33 Classic, but a scholarship opportunity at the division 1 FCS powerhouse Towson of the CAA. Two first team all-American and three All- CAA seasons later, Simpson took a leap of faith and transferred to Virginia of the ACC, jumping from FCS D-1AA to one of the power five conferences of college football, a rare move in the transfer happy world of modern college football. Simpson finished off a productive career at Virginia, however an injury and the COVID-19 pandemic derailed Simpson`s NFL opportunities. Shane Simpson is ju...