On Thursday afternoon, it was thought that former UConn Huskies defensive end Lindsey Witten would be joining the Hartford Colonials of the UFL after his release from the Pittsburgh Steelers the day before. They even sent out a press release stating that they had signed Witten.

Lindsey WittenApparently that’s not the case though as Witten hasn’t even signed a contract, let alone received one.

Here’s the details from Neill Ostrout of the CT Post:

That’s not exactly true, according to a source close to Witten. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder has not signed with Hartford. In fact, the source says, he hasn’t even received a contract to sign.

Witten has been added to the Colonials’ roster and the team does own his UFL rights, a spokesman for the team confirmed Friday night. However, Witten is still free to pursue his NFL options.

Witten was briefly with the Pittsburgh Steelers but did not catch on.

It may be a moot point for some, and Witten is very likely to end up playing in Hartford this year. Still, the Cleveland native is apparently holding out hope that his NFL dreams can still come true.

Like Ostrout, I think Witten ends up playing for the Colonials. But pretty interesting that the Colonials would “jump the gun” on announcing a signing that hasn’t happened yet.

Photo credit: Hartford Courant