On July 6, 2020, JoJo Tillery posted on his Instagram account: “Dear Football, I miss you.”

The safety was on the roster of the Calgary Stampeders, and the Canadian Football League had canceled its 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tillery felt the same way earlier this year, when missed the final five games of the Birmingham Stallions’ United Football League regular season because of a leg injury incurred while returning an interception during a 32-9 victory over the Houston Roughnecks on April 27.

Tillery returned to the field on Saturday in the Stallions’ 31-18 victory over the Michigan Panthers in the UFL playoff semifinals. Birmingham will play the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL Championship Game at 4 p.m. CDT Sunday at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis.

“Mentally, it was hard not being out there with my guys,” Tillery said of his absence. “A lot of guys look to me as an emotional guy, an emotional leader on the field, so I try my best to come out there and bring the energy. Everybody sees me as the best trash-talker in the league, so I take that accountable and I try to just be there for my guys whenever they need me. If I know we messed up on a play or whatever it is, I try to be there for the guys. I’ll come up and make sure we’re all on one accord. It was good to get back out there.”

A former Wofford standout who was on the Tennessee Titans’ roster in 2019, Tillery played in The Spring League in 2021 before joining the Stallions in 2022.

“I’ve been playing this game since I was 4 years old,” Tillery said on Wednesday, “and every time I step on the field, it don’t matter who I’m playing against, I think I’m the best player out there. I always say, even though it might not be true, that I love football more than anybody else in the world. It’s my passion. I love doing it, so I think me carrying that chip on my shoulder going into every game, I think that’s why I am the way I am – providing energy, talking smack, making plays. I think it’s all the confidence. Anytime I walk out there on the field, I know I’m the best player, so I think that’s where it comes from. …

“I can’t imagine not playing football. Like I said, I’ve been playing since I was 4 years old. My only year not playing was the (2020) Covid year. I was supposed to go to Canada, and that’s when they didn’t have it, so that was my only year since I was 4 years old not playing, and I’ll be 27 here in a couple of weeks. I can’t imagine not playing. And if I’m not playing, once I retire, I have to be around it somehow, which is why I want to get into coaching.”

Tillery ranked as Birmingham’s second-leading tackler during the first season of the USFL revival, which ended with the Stallions’ 33-30 victory over the Philadelphia Stars in the league championship game on July 3, 2022.

In 2023, Tillery missed the first half of the season because of an ankle injury. Birmingham had a 3-2 record when Tillery returned to the secondary and swept the rest of its games, including a 28-12 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers in the USFL Championship Game on July 1, 2023. Tillery totaled 10 tackles and had a strip sack in the title contest.

“Coming in that first year, we didn’t know what to expect,” Tillery said. “At practice, we were very skeptical. But seeing those fans at the very first game, it went down to the wire, we knew then we were going to be around for a while, especially winning that first championship, so we’re very grateful and we’re thankful for another opportunity.”

The USFL and XFL merged to form a single spring-football league this year. The Stallions’ only loss came to the Brahmas 18-9 on May 25 while Tillery was sidelined. He’s back for the championship rematch.

“With me, it’s kind of more personal because I didn’t get to play the first game,” Tillery said. “I was just sitting at home and not able to help my guys fight and try to get that win. It hit hard.”

Birmingham has not lost a game in which Tillery has played since June 11, 2022, when the Houston Gamblers edged the Stallions 17-15.

Birmingham has won all 16 games in which Tillery has played since that loss, and the Stallions are 24-1 over the past three seasons with the safety on the field.

“JoJo brings more than just a football player,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said on Tuesday. “JoJo is a leader. JoJo is vocal. JoJo is outspoken. You would never have to ask where’s JoJo. On the practice field, on the game field, you know where he is because he is the one that is running his mouth. He communicates. He’s loud. He’s vocal. He’s ‘Left, left, down, down, right, right, dig, dig, combo coming.’ Man, he is telling everybody what to do. He is a leader on the field. …

“He’s a guy, once he got hurt, we knew we wanted him back. It was a lower-leg injury. It was a muscle injury. You never know how those are going to heal. But we were certainly hopeful. And he came in, he worked extremely hard during his IR days to get back. And I’m glad we have him back because he does more than just play a position — he makes everybody around him better with the way that he communicates and what a vocal leader he is and how positive he is.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.