Hitz Sports client Clifton Smith signs deal to play for the Chicago Rush of the AFL for the 2010 season.  Clifton is no stranger to the AFL, playing for the Philadelphia Soul in 2008 before the league folded a year ago.  Prior to playing for the Soul, Clifton was a member of the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns from 2003-2007, as well as playing for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe in 2007.

The AFL regular season will kick off with a full slate of games the weekend of April 2-4. The 15-team league will play a 16-game schedule leading into the playoffs and the Arena Bowl the third weekend in August.  Also, new for the for the 2010 season is a partnership with the NFL network, where the NFL Network will televise a Game of the Week each Friday night during the AFL season along with the playoffs and ArenaBowl. The lone exception will be the weekend of the NFL Draft (April 22-24), when the network’s AFL broadcast will air on Sunday, April 25 from Allstate Arena.

The Chicago Rush will be featured prominently and will be the most-televised team in the new AFL in 2010, with 6 of the team’s 16 games featured as part of the league’s national television package with the NFL Network.  The Rush is a storied AFL franchise having qualified for the playoffs every season of their eight year existence, and winners of ArenaBowl XX in 2006.