The Eagles of Warsaw have signed former GFL2 and Arena Football League (AFL) ball-hawk Darrain Winston from Baker University.
The 6’0, 205 pound safety began his college career at Northeastern State University, Oklahoma (NCAA DII) before transferring to Baker (NAIA) where he led the team, conference and nation (NAIA) in interceptions; earning himself first-team All-Conference safety honors.
After being invited to the New Orleans Saints regional combine, Winston made it onto the AFL’s Duke City Gladiators roster towards the back end of the season where he totaled 23 tackles and 3 interceptions. Winston also had a short stint in minicamp with CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In 2019, Winston signed with the Rostock Griffins (GFL2) where he led the team in both interceptions and passes defended. The following year he signed with the Wroclaw Panthers before COVID delayed and inevitably ended the safety’s season.
“Signing with the Panthers was a dream come true. I played for the #1 Little League football team in America called the Panthers. So when I signed with the Panthers, it was like I finally made it to the big league. Like playing for my hometown team again. Then Covid snatched everything away from me. It was a life changer for me. Definitely knowing I wasn’t going back because Coach Gunn retired after we flew back to America.”
Winston then signed with cross-town rivals Warsaw Eagles for the 2021 season in the hope of winning the Polska Futbol Liga – who are now without European powerhouse Wroclaw Panthers due to them playing in the European League of Football.
“I signed to the Polish league again for a couple reasons; I heard we had signed the top 3 best QB in Europe, Shazzon Mumphrey. I was happy about that; then I wanted the Panthers to get first sight of what I can do.”
Winston and the Eagles will kick off their season opener this Saturday against Tychy Falcons.
“I feel like this game will be a dog fight. This game will be like OU vs Texas or Alabama vs Auburn or even OSU vs Michigan. Nobody believes in us and thinks we can win. But then they haven’t seen imports and a head coach like Coach Wise before. We are coming and we want all the smoke.”
Make sure not to miss out by watching it on AFI.tv. Warsaw Eagles @ Tychy Falcons, April 17, 14:00 CET (2 pm, 08:00 am ET)