tillery’s return to stallions defense brings ability and veteran leadership.
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JUNE 15, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
By Steve Irvine
JoJo Tillery’s interception during a Week 5 win at Houston should have been one of the Birmingham Stallion safety’s personal highlights this season. Instead, it served as the beginning of a big roadblock for one of the emotional leaders for the Stallions.
On the play, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Tillery returned the interception for 59 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Houston Roughnecks 21-yard line. It looked like he was headed toward a pick-six. However, a hamstring injury not only ended the play but it appeared it would end his third season with the Stallions. The next week, Tillery was put on waivers by the team.
It wasn’t a quick recovery but Stallions head coach Skip Holtz and his staff hoped it was a temporary move. Losing such an integral part of the team for the season would have been huge. But there was no guarantee he would be back.
“JoJo brings more than just a football player,” said Holtz, whose team will play the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL Championship on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT in St. Louis. “JoJo is a leader. JoJo is vocal. JoJo is outspoken. You don't never have to ask where's JoJo on the practice field or the game field. You know where he is. I mean, because he is the one that is running his mouth. He communicates. He's loud. He is telling everybody what to do. He is just, he is a leader on the field.”
Tillery’s importance to this team was evidenced by the timing of his return. Tillery wasn’t fully healed and ready to go by the deadline to add players to a roster. Holtz said that deadline was heading into the ninth game of the season.
“Well, we made the move knowing JoJo wasn't ready for that week, but that he would be back for the playoffs,” Holtz said. “I think that speaks to how much value JoJo brings to this football team. We were willing to bring him back as an inactive player and let him sit and risk maybe that there was gonna be another injury on the field.”
Tillery sat out the final two weeks of the regular season and returned for last week’s 31-18 USFL Division playoff victory over the Michigan Panthers. It wasn’t a surprise that his third down pass breakup in the fourth quarter was one of the bigger defensive plays of the game.
For Tillery, he was happy to be back on the field.
“With me, mentally, it was hard not being out there with my guys,” said Tillery, a former All-Southern Conference player at Wofford. “You know, a lot of guys look for me as an emotional guy, as an emotional leader on the field. I try my best to come out there and bring the energy. You know, everybody's seeing me as the best trash talker in the league. I take that accountable and I try to just, you know, be there for my guys.”
Tillery has been a stable force – both verbally and physically – for the past three seasons. He had 56 tackles in 2022 and followed that up with 17 tackles in 2023. He missed five games of the 2023 season after suffering an ankle injury in the opener but returned to play a key role down the stretch. His sack and forced fumble late in the fourth quarter sealed the Stallions win over the Pittsburgh Maulers in the 2023 USFL Championship game.
“It's just confidence,” Tillery said about his success as a player. “I've been playing this game since I was four years old. And every time I step on the field, it doesn't matter who I'm playing against, I think I'm the best player out there. I always say, I know it might not be true, but I always say 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 to every game, I think that's why I am the way I am.”