ORLANDO—With the Bethune-Cookman band showing up and showing out, and he and his co-horts alternating on introducing the opposing quarterback to Mr. Turf, no wonder Ryan Davis was having flashbacks to 2011 and 2012.

"I'm on the sidelines, singing along with the band," Davis said. "Them I'm looking around and wondering why no one else knows the lyrics and realized, `Oh that's right … this ain't Bethune-Cookman.'"

What this was, was the inaugural game of the Alliance of American Football, which includes the Orlando Apollos, who join the long line of Orlando-based teams in non-NFL leagues and what it also was a successful 40-6 romp over the Atlanta Legends before an announced crowd of 20,159, many of whom came just to see the BCU band's halftime show.

While Head Ball Coach/Evil Genius/Gridiron Gandalf Steve Spurrier was up to his Spurrierian antics such as going deep on the team's offensive play from scrimmage and calling a Philly Special that resulted in quarterback Garret Gilbert catching a touchdown pass, Davis and the Apollo defense kept the Legends out of the end zone and combined for three sacks and two picks.

An ankle tweak kept Davis from more playing time Saturday, but let the record state that his second quarter sack of Matt Simms will forever be remembered as the first sack in Orlando franchise history. That puts the "Selfie King" alongside Alvin Wyatt Sr. [First touchdown in World Football League history] and Jeff Parker [Longest TD reception in Arena Football League history] as BCU players forever enshrined in Non-NFL football lore.

If it felt look 2011 and 2012, it was understandable. Good times. Davis was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player Of The Year and FCS National Defensive Player Of The Year and the Wildcats were starting their domination of the Florida Blue Florida Classic. Those were good years.

Better than 2018 for Davis. 2018 blew chunks.

Let's review.

The Jacksonville Jaguars let Davis go when they wanted to go young. The Dallas Cowboys let go Davis go after one year. And despite helping the Buffalo Bills make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, that didn't end well, either, 

 "Business side of the game gets nasty," admitted Davis, who went through an agent change himself.

2018 should have been the year. Even during the offseason, the buzz was Sean McVay was putting a Los Angeles Rams squad together that could make a Super Bowl run. Davis was projected to be a piece of that puzzle, and reported to training camp with high hopes.

Which faded with an injury to the ankle that wasn't' tweaked Saturday. The recuperation process went longer than projected. The Rams cut Davis, and other teams remained leery of signing an injured pass rush specialist. So Davis spent the year waiting for a moment and a phone call that just wouldn't' come.

It carried over a little bit into 2019. Super Bowl Sunday. Instead of joining Larry Little, Maulty Moore, Nick Collins and Eric Weems as former Wildcats who made it to the mountain, Davis had nothing. And remember, one of Davis' 14 career sacks was on that Tom Brady.

"I'm not going to lie, that was hard," Davis said about Super Bowl Sunday. "I'm not bitter though … was very happy for those guys."

The one call Davis did get was from the AAF, and the startup league's territorial allocations puts him back home. With several of his former Jaguar teammates on the Apollos roster and dispersed among the other seven teams, Davis said there's no thoughts of "how did we end up here?" among the NFL alum. Players wanna play.

"We're all grateful for the opportunity, hopefully we keep our foot in the door," Davis said. "The AAF has been better than what I thought it would be – they know what they're doing."

Of course, Ryan. They signed you and brought over the band for good measure.