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The Arizona Hotshots, one of eight teams in the new Alliance of American Football, revealed their uniforms and selected their presumed starting quarterback on Tuesday.

Like the team’s name, the uniforms were inspired by the Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters.

The AAF said in a release that the “colors are inspired by the uniforms worn by most hotshot crews – forest green, orange and golden yellow, while the crossed axes are depicted as “pulaskis,” a cutting and digging tool used by these heroic men and women.”

Longsnapper Nick Dooley, who played high school football at Scottsdale Christian Academy before playing college football UTEP, donned the new uniform during the Hotshots’ “Pick or Protect” quarterback draft watch party at Lumberjaxes in Tempe. 

“Being born and raised here, I have a lot of friends and family who didn’t get an chance to see me play in college, so this will be a great opportunity,” Dooley said. “It means a lot to me to be a part of this team because my dad is a firefighter, and he puts his life on the line every single day.”

The “Pick or Protect” draft gave teams the opportunity to protect their rights to quarterbacks with local ties or pick from a larger pool of passers.  

With their first pick, sixth overall, the Hotshots decided to pick Trevor Knight. 

Knight, 25, played college football for three years at Oklahoma, then played for Texas A&M as a graduate transfer. His brightest moment came in the 2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl, when he led the Sooners to an upset victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

In the second round, the Hotshots picked John Wolford, who started four years at Wake Forest.

The AAF season starts on Feb. 9 with two games. The Hotshots’ first game is on Sunday, Feb. 10 at Sun Devil Stadium, which will host all the Hotshots games in 2019.

Five former Sun Devils are currently on the Hotshots roster, including LB Carl Bradford, LB DJ Calhoun, RB Demario Richard and DT Will Sutton. There are two former Arizona Wildcats on the team: G Jacob Alsadek and T Lene Maiava. Also, former NAU DT Siupeli Anau is on the team.

The head coach is Rick Neuheisel, who attended Tempe McClintock High School before heading off to UCLA. As a pro quarterback, Neuheisel played two games in Sun Devil Stadium for the San Antonio Gunslingers in the USFL in 1984 and 1985.

The other teams in the league are the San Diego Fleet, Birmingham Iron, Orlando Apollos, Atlanta Legends, Salt Lake Stallions, Memphis Express and San Antonio Commanders.

MORE HOTSHOTS COVERAGE

  • Nick Aliotti, Hugh Freeze, Steve Axman join coaching staff
  • Is the Hotshots name disrespectful or paying homage?
  • Here’s what you might not know about Rick Neuheisel

 

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