UFL's Florida Tuskers Run the Table

Whether the UFL succeeds in the long run became irrelevant Thursday for the Florida Tuskers, who will forever own the accomplishment of an undefeated regular season after a 34-27 victory over the California Redwoods at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The main focus for the league has been its search for fan interest, a place in the crowded sports landscape, and thus the ability to stay solvent the way other similar alternative professional football leagues did not.

As a result, the particulars of the UFL's play on the field -- and the Tuskers' success -- have been a sidebar, though not to Florida coach Jim Haslett.

"I think 6-0 is pretty good in anything you do, especially when you are playing seven (games)," said Haslett, referring to the team's remaining contest, the UFL Championship Game, against the home-standing Las Vegas Locomotives at Sam Boyd Stadium on Nov. 27.

"Six-and-0 in any league, whether it's high school, college, NFL, is what you want to achieve. We need to get one more to top it off though. If we don't get that, then it really doesn't make a difference."

That's what you would expect any good football man to say -- it's all about a championship. The truth is, however, the players on the Tuskers' roster, thanks to the team's extraordinary success, already have stood out in an otherwise invisible league.

Speaking with FanHouse late last month, UFL general manager Rick Mueller admitted that he fields calls weekly from NFL personnel types, who -- it can only be assumed -- are attracted to winning football players. Haslett, for his part, said that his players have that winning resiliency but can afford to play better.

"We made a lot of mistakes," he said of his team's play against the Redwoods. "We had too many turnovers. But we find a way to win. We've been doing that the last three weeks. I just wish we played better. They played extremely well, and we didn't play well so it was a combination of the two."

Florida showed its mettle late in the fourth quarter, when Michael Pittman's 1-yard touchdown plunge with six minutes remaining proved to be the game-winner, though the outcome remained uncertain with less than two minutes to play.

"We have guys that can play on Sunday, Monday or any other day in the National Football League as well as the United Football League."
- Dennis Green, Redwoods Head Coach The Redwoods gave themselves a chance when defensive end Earl Cochran forced a fumble by Pittman, and nose tackle Jason Stewart recovered at the Florida 47-yard line. On the ensuing possession, however, Tuskers defensive end Josh Cooper returned the favor by forcing and recovering a fumble to seal the win.

With the loss, the Redwoods ended their season at 2-4 -- with both wins coming over the winless New York Sentinels -- a record that was not indicative of their play as the season progressed.

"I think the Redwoods are the most improved team in the league by far," Haslett said. "They do a lot of good things."

California coach Dennis Green, whose team lost its last two games by a combined 13 points, hopes his players are rewarded for those good things.

"It's exciting to see what the NFL thinks about it, examining their rosters and seeing if they can improve," Green said. "I wish we were still playing."

The veteran coach went on to praise linebacker Dontarrious Thomas, who recorded 36.5 tackles in six games. A former second-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, the 29-year-old Thomas still has tread on his tires according to Green, who called him "one of the top linebackers in the game, particularly in this league."

What is the significance of stellar play in "this league"? Well, it may take another season to find out. The UFL had a truncated training camp and a short season. Both will be extended next year, allowing for a larger sample size to make it easier to evaluate the league's current play and its future.

"We put this together very quickly," Green said. "The key thing that we stand on is that there are a lot of guys in America that can play. Anyone that saw the game was entertained ... good athletes making good plays. We have guys that can play on Sunday, Monday or any other day in the National Football League as well as the United Football League.

"I'm hoping that everyone enjoyed it, was entertained and will come back for more next year."

The UFL's final regular-season game will take place at Sam Boyd Stadium on Friday night, when the Sentinels face the Locos.