Month: April 2024

Back in January, I did a bit of a flip-flop – all in the same column.

That’s when the United Football League announced that it would pay homage to the merger of the United States Football League and XFL by keeping their names alive in the form of UFL conferences.

While writing that I didn’t care for it and hoped to see the USFL and XFL abbreviations retired, I warmed to the idea as part of the fledgling circuit’s inaugural season.

Considering all the jawing between fans of the “old” leagues, I figured maybe they could get it out of their systems  by the end of the 2024 campaign. A little infighting might be fun.

On Wednesday, I asked Birmingham Stallions tight end Jace Sternberger how long he thought the USFL vs. XFL rivalry might last. Birmingham – the two-time defending champion of the USFL – is coming off an impressive 27-14 victory over the 2023 XFL champion Arlington Renegades.

Thus, Skip Holtz’s team and the USFL earned braggin’ rights in the blended family feud.

Sternberger, however, doesn’t think the “us vs. them” dynamic will last.

“I think it’s gonna die … it’s gonna fizzle out,” he said. “I think right now it’s kinda fun to say, and I know on our team we’re more joking because we had to hear about it from a lot of guys who aren’t even in the league anymore, like older XFL guys, but that was more like poking fun.”

The Stallions’ former league finished 3-1 in opening week, with the Michigan Panthers topping the St. Louis Battlehawks, 18-16, and the Memphis Showboats nipping the Houston Roughnecks, 18-12 (the Roughnecks are the USFL Gamblers rebranded).

The only intraconference XFL game saw the San Antonio Brahmas defeat the DC Defenders, 27-12.

Obviously, Sternberger’s opinion is just one of many; with more than 400 players in the league, I’m sure you’ll find a few who’ll want to take the trash talk as far as it’ll go.

But it makes sense that as the season progresses, the teams will be more concerned with their current identities, not their former ones.

Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu is one player who has already fully embraced the merger.

“I love how the USFL and XFL combined,” Ta’amu said. “I love the eight teams that they chose to keep. I expected this level of competition … I think this is the best level of competition that we’ve seen in spring league football because it’s kinda like all-star teams from the 16 teams we had last year.

“After they shrunk it down to eight, it’s the best competition we’ve seen in the spring in a long time.”

You had to realize with two professional spring leagues competing against each other, the only realistic options were the merging of two or the dissolution of one.

In a way, we got a bit of both.

Only half of the USFL and XFL came together, meaning eight of the 16 USFL and XFL teams didn’t make the cut.

That’s not to say that sides called the New Jersey Generals and Seattle Sea Dragons are gone forever, but if they do come back, they’ll have no ties to their old leagues other than repurposed nicknames.

And really, if the UFL survives and thrives, I’m hoping expansion teams won’t be confined to a USFL or XFL box.

In other words, if Los Angeles get a franchise, maybe give strong consideration to calling it something besides the Express (original USFL), Xtreme (original XFL) or Wildcats (XFL 2.0).

And once more cities are added, perhaps the USFL Conference and XFL Conference designations will have run their course. Personally, I like “Legacy Conference” and “Heritage Conference,” but In the grand scheme of things what you call a division or conference is a small matter. The key now is for all the teams in the UFL to grow strong together, regardless of where they came from.

“Week in week out, we’re really not thinking about that anymore,” Sternberger said. “It’s fun and it’ll get some clicks here and there, but at the end of the day, we’re all pushing toward the same goal and want to do the same thing.”

When it comes to season-opening games, there have been two constants about the modern-day Birmingham Stallions.

One, they’re going to win.

And two, one of their quarterbacks is going to get hurt.

When they debuted in the United States Football League in 2022, starter Alex McGough was injured against the New Jersey Generals and replaced by J’Mar Smith.

The next season, it was Smith who got the start but was knocked out of the contest against the Generals, leading to McGough taking over.

However, as Skip Holtz’s former USFL club moves forward in the United Football League, perhaps we’re seeing an important alteration to that script.

Sure, Birmingham still got a “W” – 27-14 over the Arlington Renegades – but the odds are good that both starter Matt Corral and backup Adrian Martinez will see time against the Michigan Panthers on Sunday at Ford Field.

Corral finished 12-21-1 through the air for 201 yards and a . Martinez was just 2-6-1, but was the team’s second-leading rusher behind C.J. Marable with 52 yards on three carries.

Unfortunately, he injured his foot on the third tote and left the game in the second quarter.

Holtz said today he hopes Martinez will be back in action this weekend.

“He looked good walking around out there today,” Holtz said. “I think the trainer’s very encouraged. So, he’s not ruled out right now. We’re gonna have to wait and see what he can do, but he felt really good this morning and we’re gonna take him out on the field here a little bit later this afternoon and see him run around a little bit and throw the ball.”

Holtz has been a proponent of using a two-quarterback system ever since he took the helm of the Stallions, and the approach was quite effective against the Renegades.

“People wondered what Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez were gonna look like, and  I certainly don’t think they disappointed with their first game performance,” Holtz said. “I know Matt had an interception early on the opening drive that kind of went through a receiver’s hands, and then Adrian had an overthrow down there on the goal line, but I think some of the plays Matt made with his arm shows the excitement and energy and what he can be as a quarterback.

“But I also think what Adrian Martinez did with his feet, rushing three times for 52 yards, helped change the complexion of the game. And I’ve said it all along … we’re going to play both quarterbacks and I feel that way strongly, not just in the opening game, but going forward. I think they both earned the right to play. I think they both deserve to play, and I think they both bring a winning formula to our football team right now.”

The signal callers were aided by strong offense line play. The big men up front allowed just one sack and one tackle for loss the entire afternoon.

“You’ve got Alex Taylor-Prioleau, Zack Johnson, guys who weren’t here last year, and Cole Schneider and Derwin Gray.” Holtz said. “But then we have Deonte Brown, who unfortunately got injured in the first quarter and ended up coming out of the game, but I think when you look at it, I think it speaks to the level of depth.

“We had three guys that were on our offensive line a year ago that came to camp that were no longer here when we went into the opening game. It speaks volumes for those gentlemen we just mentioned and the job they did coming in, in learning the offense and showing their talent level.”

After a light practice today, Holtz and the Stallions will give the Panthers their full attention leading up to Sunday’s 11 a.m. CDT kickoff.

“I’m excited to watch our progress and see how much we can improve from week one to week two,” Holtz said.

Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz often talks about the different motivations of players who play professional football in the spring.

“These young men want their opportunities, they want to move up, but they want to play some more over here for the love of the game,” he said. “Some are here because they want more film, but the players that are here, they’re appreciative, they’re grateful. They want an opportunity to get on the field.”

One player who made the most of that opportunity will be opposite the Stallions on April 7 when the Michigan Panthers host Birmingham at Ford Field in Detroit.

Kicker Jake Bates kicked a 64-yard field with three seconds remaining to lift the Panthers to an 18-16 victory over the St. Louis Battlehawks in the opening weekend of the United Football League.

Actually, he successfully kicked two consecutive 64-yard boomers; the first one didn’t count because St. Louis had called a timeout.

“(On the final drive) before they kicked off, I went up to (Michigan quarterback E.J. Perry) and told him to get it to the 45, and I’ll get it there,” Bates said. “The first one, I hit a good ball, but that’s why you practice so hard so every kick can be the same. That comes from years and years of repetition and hitting the same ball. That’s what I try to do to every ball, it needs to be the same — never change anything.”

That’s a standard comment from a field goal kicker, but Bates is hardly a standard field goal kicker.

In fact, the Texas native hadn’t even made a field goal that counted since 2017 when he was enrolled at Tomball High School. Even then he was better known for soccer, where he was all-region and offensive MVP of his team.

When he went to college, it was association football – not American football – that he tried first.

But after two seasons playing soccer at Central Arkansas, he transferred to Texas States and became a kickoff specialist on the football team.

By his senior season in 2022 he was a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks, and his powerful leg propelled him to All-SEC status as a kickoff specialist.

But lining up for a field goal?

That didn’t happen until he tried out for the Houston Texans, making a brief appearance in the preseason before being cut.

His next official field goal would have to wait until a spring day in a spring league two years later.

“I didn’t know what I was gonna do,” Bates said after hist first try at pro football fell short. “I didn’t know if I was gonna be just working my job selling brick or if I was gonna be able to play football. So yeah, it feels good. I felt like I got that sense of relief once we got into training camp and I was like, ‘Okay, this is happening. I’m here. I’m with the team.’ It definitely feels good to get the first game out of the way.”

Panthers coach Mike Nolan is certainly glad a job in football panned out.

“Jake Bates’ kick was – I guess both kicks – I mean, I don’t know what you call it. It was just it was unbelievable,” Nolan said. “(In practice) he just lined up and kicked just like you saw him today … they looked exactly like that. They could have gone for 70 yards.”

The Panthers’ QB hopes that when his club hosts the Stallions at 11 a.m. CDT next Sunday they’ll put Bates in a bit better field position if he’s called upon to give Michigan three points.

“I’m gonna try to get him maybe 50 next time … maybe shorter,” Perry joked. “He made it twice, but I don’t think you want to live and die on 64 yards.”

Perhaps not. Regardless of distance, however, Birmingham might be wasting a timeout should they try to ice him.

“Honestly, I didn’t even think about that,” Bates said. “A timeout didn’t even register in my head until I heard the whistle blow, but I was already in the flow of it. I think that’s a good thing that it didn’t even cross my mind that they could ice me. “Honestly, in that moment, I forgot icing existed.”