Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – When COVID ended the 2020 XFL season, it also ended Brandon Silvers’ season with the Seattle Sea Dragons. But he didn’t want it to be the end of his career.

“When COVID killed it, I didn’t want it to be the last time I played ball,” Silvers said. “That’s why I keep going and my family obviously enjoys it. We were just hanging on hoping to have a good year. We’ll see what happens after this.”

What’s happened is Silvers has led the Houston Roughnecks to one of four playoff spots in the revival season of the eight-team XFL.

Follow Brandon Silvers on Facebook to keep with up his preparations for the XFL playoffs. His team plays at 6 p.m. April 29 on ESPN2.

In the playoffs, the Roughnecks will have a rematch with the Arlington Renegades on April 29 at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. Just six days prior on April 23, Houston beat Arlington 25-9 in the last regular season game. Silvers dressed but didn’t play because the Roughnecks had already secured a playoff spot.

The north division will be decided between the D.C. Defenders and the Seattle Sea Dragons on April 30 at 2 p.m. and televised on ESPN. The Sea Dragons were selected for the playoff spot over former Alabama player A.J. McCarron’s team, the St. Louis Battlehawks. The league had to go through five tiebreakers to narrow it down to Seattle.

The XFL Championship game will be May 13 at 7 p.m. in the Alamodome in San Antonio. For more information on the XFL Playoffs, click here.

Silvers is the Gulf Shores product and Troy University graduate who grew up in playing sports in Orange Beach. His dad is long-time Orange Beach councilman Jeff Silvers.

In eight starts this season, Silvers has completed 156 of 262 passes for 1,551 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He missed two games with various injuries.

Silvers graduated from Troy in 2017 after a stellar career that included a win over LSU in Baton Rouge.

“It was probably one of the biggest football moments of my life and I’m sure it will always be in the top three to five,” Silvers said.

He wasn’t selected in the 2018 draft and was called up to the Eagles for their mini-camp but didn’t stick. In 2019, he spent the off-season with New York Jets but didn’t make the squad. His next stop was the AFL for Memphis but the league folded midseason.

A highlight of his time in Memphis came when the team added former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel but kept Silvers as the starter. Silvers won praise from Manziel after a game he threw a touchdown pass with less than 30 seconds left to force overtime and then threw the game-winning pass in the extra period.

His first XFL stop was in Seattle but that season was shut down by the COVID pandemic. He next went to the NFL spring league in Indianapolis for one season. He declined an offer to play in the Canadian Football League and returned to the XFL when it was bought by Duane “The Rock” Johnson where he landed at the Houston Roughnecks.

Silvers’ coach with Houston is the legendary NFL coach Wade Phillips who is known for his great defensive teams. He’s the son of even more legendary Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips.

Other coaches of note in the league include Bob Stoops with Arlington, former Alabama State and NFL player Reggie Barlow with D.C., former Florida State player Terrell Buckley with Orlando, former Georgia player Hines Ward with San Antonio, former NFL head coach Jim Haslett with Seattle and legendary NFL defensive back Rod Woodson with Las Vegas.