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Ex-Ravenwood, TSU standout Chris Rowland looks ahead following successful USFL season





Philadelphia Stars wide receiver Chris Rowland runs after a reception during the first half of the USFL championship game against the Birmingham Stallions Sunday, July 3, 2022, in Canton, Ohio. David Dermer / Associated Press

Philadelphia Stars wide receiver Chris Rowland runs after a reception during the first half of the USFL championship game against the Birmingham Stallions Sunday, July 3, 2022, in Canton, Ohio. David Dermer / Associated Press

Coming off a successful season in the USFL, former Ravenwood High School and Tennessee State standout Chris Rowland says he didn’t have any set expectations about the league, in fact if anything he had a little bit of trepidation.

“I was kind of concerned about what I have heard about these supplemental leagues and folding here and there,” Rowland said Sunday as he was taking a break in preparations for moving back to Nashville from Birmingham, Alabama, where he made his home during the past season of the rebooted USFL.

“I was real surprised at how the USFL handled everything and how professional it was,” he said. “It was really enjoyable.”

The league played all of its regular season games at Legion Field in Birmingham, and its games were carried on the NBC and Fox family of stations.

By the time the season ended, Rowland had established himself as one of the league’s top all-around threats and he saved his best performance for the USFL championship game July 3 in Canton, Ohio, the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

 

Though his Philadelphia Stars fell short, dropping an exciting 33-30 decision to the Birmingham Stallions, Rowland racked up 143 all-purpose yards and caught a touchdown pass that brought the Stars to within three points late in the game.

Rowland said it was all part of what he looks to bring to every game.

“I just try to go and do the same thing week-in or week-out, whether it’s more snaps on offense or more snaps on special teams,” he said. “I just come in and try to do my part, whatever it is to win the game. That happened to be the biggest stage and I ended up having my best game. I can thank God for that performance. We didn’t finish the job, but I’m still happy with how our team handled everything in the season.”

The Stars rallied from a 20-9 halftime deficit and eventually took the lead 23-20 before quarterback Case Cookus left the game in the fourth quarter with what turned out to be a broken leg. Rowland, who called Cookus “one of the toughest people I have ever been around,” said the team knew Cookus’ injury was a big blow. “I think everybody knows if Case Cookus had been able to finish the game it would have been a very different outcome,” he said.

Rowland’s late touchdown catch from backup quarterback KJ Costello was illustrative of his versatility and football knowledge.

On the play, Rowland said he lined up in the backfield hoping to get a mismatch against either a linebacker or safety when he motioned out. “I noticed the linebacker had stayed and they were going to bring the safety over. He is playing inside leverage and I am going to have to give a nice move,” he said. Rowland made his move and Costello threw a pass just as he was being hit.

“It’s kind of an unbelievable pass … I wasn’t even out of my break when he threw the ball,” Rowland said. “It was just an amazing job to be able to pick a spot and I was just able to locate it.”

It was a successful conclusion (aside from the final score) for Rowland, who peaked at the right time. The 24-year-old was a 6th round selection in the USFL draft, but immediately had to deal with an injury, suffering a sprained AC joint and separated shoulder in his first game, which kept his season numbers down. He rehabbed for two weeks, but there were still lingering effects.

“It really didn’t heal until later in the season and I was in a lot of pain, so that’s why my snap count went down over the course of those 3-4 weeks. I couldn’t move my shoulder and my catch radius was shortened. You know my arms are already short,” Rowland, who stands 5-8 and weighs 170 pounds, said with a laugh. “I ended up healing at the right time when we kind of caught fire.” The Stars went 5-1 down the stretch.

There should never have been any doubt about Rowland’s playmaking ability, though.

Following his senior season at Tennessee State in 2019, he was named the Deacon Jones Black College Hall of Fame Football Player of the Year in addition to being the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and was invited to the NFLPA Bowl. He set school records that season with 104 receptions and 1,437 yards receiving. His 104 receptions broke the FCS HBCU receptions record of 103 previously set by Jerry Rice in 1983.

Following TSU, Rowland was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 and spent most of his time on the practice squad before being activated for the Falcons’ final two regular season games. But he was waived by the Falcons in August 2021. In November he was signed to the Tennessee Titans practice squad, but was released later that month.

He said being cut was the only time he had questions about his football future.

“Someone told me ‘hey, I don’t think you’re good enough to be part of this ballclub,’ Rowland recalled. “I was on the streets for about a month or two and I was thinking ‘man, can I play, what is it?’ But that quickly left my mind.”

Rowland acknowledges it’s more difficult for a player coming out of a non-FBS school that doesn’t get the kind of media coverage Power 5 schools receive. But he is not one to use that as an excuse.

The USFL came along at the right time for him.

“I really felt I needed the USFL because I needed to remind myself I can perform at this level,” Rowland said. “Everybody in this league can play. The thing is in this league contracts have nothing to do with playing time. In the NFL, a lot of that has to do with who is getting paid more and opportunities are limited.”

Rowland is hoping to catch on with an NFL squad and hopes to hear more on that when NFL teams’ front office people are back from summer vacations and he can “shop around the films.”

“Obviously, everybody wants the NFL,” he said. “I would like to have an opportunity to get back into an NFL training camp. Right now I am just training, doing whatever I can to stay healthy until my number is called.”

He is going to head to Atlanta for offseason workouts with his trainer, if you can really call it offseason.

“This has been an offseason to remember,” Rowland said. “I’ve never played football all summer. I am feeling really good about going into the fall this season because I have an edge on everybody else. I have had my helmet on all summer. I’m ready to go.”

Rowland, a voracious reader who recently finished Will Smith’s book, “Will” and “The Alchemist,” is currently reading “Caucasia,” said he wouldn’t think twice about playing again in the USFL if the NFL doesn’t beckon.

“Absolutely,” he said. “The way the league is going, it can only get better.”

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