Former Alabama defensive lineman joins USFL’s Stars
The Philadelphia Stars have signed two linemen with Alabama football roots, the USFL team announced on Wednesday.
Former Troy offensive tackle Tony Garcia and former Alabama defensive tackle LaBryan Ray joined the Stars, who have seven games remaining on their 10-game regular-season schedule.
Garcia comes aboard from the XFL. Ray was most recently with the NFL’s New England Patriots.
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Ray came to Alabama from James Clemens High School in Madison after winning the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 7A Lineman of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016.
An undrafted rookie, Ray stuck with New England as a practice-squad member after playing 102 defensive snaps in three preseason games in August. On Oct. 26, the Patriots placed Ray on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, and he finished the season there.
Ray re-signed with New England on Jan. 10, but the Patriots waived him on Feb. 17.
Garcia started the XFL season with the Vegas Vipers, was traded to the D.C. Defenders on March 6 and was released on April 17.
New England chose Garcia with the 85th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, but he spent the entire season on reserve/non-football illness because of blood clots in his lungs, according to reports in Boston media.
Between the Patriots and the XFL, Garcia has played in the NFL preseason with the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, spent time on the practice squads of the Colts and Miami Dolphins and been on the rosters of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elks.
The Stars are based in Detroit and share Ford Field as their home stadium with the USFL’s Michigan Panthers. Philadelphia faces the Houston Gamblers at noon CDT Saturday in Detroit in its next game. FOX will televise the contest.
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On the other side of the USFL’s transaction report on Wednesday, the Birmingham Stallions released defensive back T.J. Green. The former Sylacauga High School star entered the NFL as a second-round selection of Indianapolis in 2016. In five NFL seasons, he played in 41 games with the Colts, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans spread over six years.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.