Deon Cain has a national championship on his resume, a United States Football League title (as well as 2023 USFL Championship Game MVP honors), and is one of the main reasons the Birmingham Stallions are unbeaten in the inaugural season of the United Football League.
Yet for all the wide receiver has done, there’s still plenty left to do.
Certainly, Cain hopes to make it back to the NFL, but midway through the 2024 UFL season his focus is strictly on the business at hand. And for 5-0 Birmingham, that business is winning.
“The mentality for us is what (Stallions coach Skip Holtz) has been preaching, which is to go 1-0 every week,” Cain said on Wednesday. “We’ve got goals we’ve got to chase throughout the season. It’s a great spot to be in – to be undefeated and keep stacking up wins – but it’s something we have to keep on doing.”
This season Cain has snagged 19 catches for 297 yards and a touchdown, and averages 20.4 yards per kick return.
He got 144 of those yards in Birmingham’s 33-14 victory over Memphis in Week 3. The rematch with the Showboats (1-4) takes place this Saturday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
“They have NFL guys and experienced guys on their roster, and they’re deep,” Cain said. “The first time we played we had a great day execution-wise on offense, and the play calls were hitting.”
Cain says prepping for the second game against their rivals involves what he saw in the first contest as well as what has happened since.
“You have to study recent games and the game that you’ve played,” he said. “You’ve got to pick up on old tendencies as well as new tendencies, because they can show one thing but then do another.
“We have to study everything because they’ve played two more games since we played them the first time, so we have a lot more film to study, seeing some of the new stuff they’re trying.”
Cain helped the Clemson Tigers claim the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, and finished that season – his junior year – with 724 yards and nine touchdowns on 38 receptions.
He decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL Draft, where he was a sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts.
But his big-league dreams were dealt a blow when he suffered an ACL tear during training camp.
He did finally see action in 2019, but was ultimately waived by the Colts in November.
Since then, he has been in camp with the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles (twice), but the Stallions have been his best showcase to prove he can play on Sundays in the fall.
Cain has shown game-breaking ability during his entire tenure with Birmingham, with one of his best efforts coming in the 2023 USFL Championship Game.
In a 28-12 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers, Cain had three touchdowns on four catches for 70 yards, and returned five kickoffs for a total of 101 yards.
He finished the season with 182 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and piled up 668 return yards.
“Really, I’m just a playmaker and a team guy,” Cain said. “If you want me to block, I’ll block. If you want me to run a vertical route, I’ll do that. When it comes to football, I just want to be part of a winning team.
“I’ll let the film speak for itself, but I put in a lot of work day in and day out to show I’m a great football player.”
Great headline, Scott