Category: Alternative Football

A locker room isn’t supposed to look like an emergency room, but it can happen.

Just ask the Birmingham Stallions (1-0), who face the Memphis Showboats (0-1) on Saturday at Protective Stadium.

While the good news for the defending USFL champions came in the form of a 27-10 Week One victory over the New Jersey Generals, the bad news was on the injury front.

Starting quarterback J’Mar Smith, wide receiver Marlon Williams, running back Bo Scarbrough and fullback Bobby Holly have all been transferred to the injured reserve list. The inactive roster includes linebacker Scooby Wright, offensive guard Matt Kaskey, defensive end Joe Jackson and defensive end Darrion Daniels.

Birmingham has good depth, but it will be sorely tested.

“Alex (McGough) is our starter and he’s fine; I’m not worried about him,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz explained. “My job right now is to get No. 2 (Jalen Morton) ready and get him good enough, and when he’s good enough to play, then I’ll go back to playing two quarterbacks again. And it’s the same thing at running back and wide receiver and everywhere else.

“We’ve tried to create as much depth as we can because unfortunately, injuries are part of this game. Your rosters aren’t huge, and we want to make sure that you’re not wearing out the guys that are your new starters.”

In the pass-catching department, Saturday will mark the season debuts of Thaddeus Moss and possibly Adrian Hardy, although Hardy is listed as questionable with a right knee injury.

“Thad came to us a couple of weeks ago so he’ll play, and Adrian didn’t get a chance to play last week and he’s one of our better receivers,” Holtz said. “And Austin Watkins stepped up and played great for us.”

The Stallions signed free agent quarterback Kyle Sloter and tight end La’Michael Pettway on Thursday, while running back ZaQuandre White, cornerback Donnie Lewis, outside linebacker Elijah Sullivan, offensive tackle Lukayus McNeil and defensive tackle Khalil Davis are on Saturday’s active roster.

Memphis is coming off a 27-23 loss to last season’s USFL runners-up, the Philadelphia Stars. And the Showboats have some injury issues of their own, with players such as wideout Derrick Dillon, defensive lineman Daylon Mack and defensive back Antonio Reed out of action.

Backup QB Cole Kelley has been moved to the inactive roster and Ryan Willis takes the No. 2 spot behind Brady White.

White hit 16 of 29 passes for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one pick in the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium debut of the club, while Rashard Davis and Ryan McDaniel combined for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

When Memphis decided to run, Alex Collins did most of work, churning out 63 yards on 14 totes with a TD.

“They’re a great team,” said Stallions safety Christian McFarland, who had 12 tackles (seven solo) last Saturday. “They have some nice weapons on their offense. They have running backs with experience, but they also have some quick receivers.

“So, as for me in the secondary, I’m kind of more so focused on the receivers and what they bring to the table and the quarterback.”

The Stars were limited to 296 yards of offense, a stat which gets McGough’s attention but only tells half the story.

“They’re a really good defense, but they also have a really good offense,” he said. “They score a lot of points. They’re a fast, physical team that plays well, they’re disciplined, they know where they’re supposed to be.

“We’re up for a good little challenge on Saturday.”

Before being rebranded as the Showboats, the team – under the direction of Todd Haley – played as the Tampa Bay Bandits a year ago.

Birmingham came out on top in both meetings but not without a tussle. The Stallions won 16-10 on May 7 and 21-18 on June 18.

The Bandits finished 4-6, third in the USFL South Division.

“They have a lot of skill and they can score points,” Holtz said. “They’ve got some receivers who are making some plays and their quarterback played really well. He’s kind of a dual threat guy a little bit like Alex, which creates a little bit of a problem for you. You can’t just tip your ears back and say he’s always gonna be in the pocket.

“Todd’s done a really good job defensively. All you have (on film) is them against the Stars, which are in five wides and they’re in dime personnel, and it’s really spread out so you don’t really know what you’re going to get front and coverage-wise. So even though it’s the second game of the year there’s still a lot of unknowns about what we’re gonna get on offense.”

The game kicks off at 6 p.m. with FOX providing coverage.

In J’Mar Smith and Alex McGough, the Birmingham Stallions had formidable co-pilots in their drive to another United States Football League title.

When the defending champions take the field against Memphis on Saturday, McGough will have the keys – and the map – all to himself.

It was announced on Wednesday that Smith was gone for the season after suffering an injury to his left ring finger in Birmingham’s 27-10 victory over New Jersey in the season opener.

“He came to me during the game and told me he had injured his hand,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said. “It wasn’t his throwing hand and he said, ‘If you need me to go back in, I can go back. I might have a hard time under the center, but I can do it.’

“We kind of buddy taped it, but Alex did a really good job and we didn’t feel like it was worth it (to put Smith back in), so we finished the game with Alex.”

Smith was 10-15-1 passing for 160 yards and a touchdown pass – one that came on Birmingham’s first offensive play – when he was forced to exit.

McGough’s first pass was also a TD, and he finished with 68 yards through the air and 55 more on the ground with a rushing TD.

Immediately after the game, however, no one knew the team’s quarterback room would be missing a key component.

“I found out Sunday,” Holtz said. “They did an MRI and everything and saw it was a tendon, and tendons are not quick-healing things.”

McGough and Smith are friends, which made hearing the news tough for both.

“Yeah, it was hard for me,” McGough said. “He’s been at practice both days and we’re friends. It’s hard for him, and I know it is. And I’m just here for him. He knows I’m here. We’re all here for him. Everybody is, and he’ll be able to bounce back quick.”

Later on Thursday Smith tweeted: “I love you all! Successful surgery, road to a fully functioning hand! 1-0 Mentality GIDDY UP!”

McGough was the first quarterback taken by the Stallions last season, one of eight flagship QBs that launched the new league. He got the game one start but rolled his ankle, opening the door for Smith to get his shot.

By season’s end, Smith had thrown for 1,572 yards and 10 touchdowns to McGough’s 460 yards and three touchdowns.

McGough rushed for 135 yards and scored three times, and the two tag-teamed a Stallions victory over Philadelphia in the inaugural USFL Championship Game when Smith exited with cramps.

“I mean, (running) … it’s part of my game,” McGough said. “I know it makes the coaches nervous. I wish I could not do it. You know, I wish I could sit back there and throw the ball. But I think when the opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to make plays and just try to do what’s best and not get hurt.”

Holtz said he’s asked McGough not to run, but isn’t convinced he’ll listen.

“He plays the game with passion and emotion, and that’s what I love about him and that’s what makes him such a good player,” Holtz said. “But he’s probably a little bit hard to control sometimes because when he goes out there, he’s an instinctual player who is very athletic, and he’s gonna pull the ball down and run some with it.”

With Smith out, Jalen Morton moves up to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. The 25-year-old has been on a pair of NFL offseason rosters and played with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2021 to 2022.

“That guy’s got a rocket arm,” McGough said. “He’s got a lot of athletic ability … pretty similar to me. And so far in practices, he’s doing great. Hopefully he doesn’t have to go in but if he does, he’s ready.”

QB Kyle Sloter, a first-round selection of the New Orleans Breakers in 2022 who last played for the XFL’s Arlington Renegades, was signed Thursday night.

As for being the man expected to take every Birmingham snap from center on Saturday when the Showboats come in for a 6 p.m. kickoff, McGough says he’s ready, too.

“It just means that I have to step up,” he said. “I have to be the guy now.”

Coming Friday: Stallions deal with injuries, brace for Memphis.

Football is a game, of course, but to hear McLeod Bethel-Thompson tell it, it’s also an art form.

And the erudite quarterback of the New Orleans Breakers has painted on many different canvases.

“It’s very different football, really, having played all three from arena ball to the CFL to NFL football, or American football,” said Bethel-Thompson, who has experience in the National Football League, Arena Football League, United Football League and most recently the Canadian Football League. “You can see the different sides of the game, because the game is coming from different aspects.”

The NFL represents classicism, followed by the CFL, which has been an abstract genre unto itself since 1958 (with roots that date back more than a century).

The two-year old United States Football League and the XFL, which wraps up the first regular season of its third incarnation this weekend, make up what I’ll call the avant-garde.

While salaries vary dramatically, the common thread among the gridiron art forms is that their players play for pay.

But the rules?

Depending on where you hang your helmet, there are some significant differences that create their own special flair.

The NFL has an extra point and two-point conversion.

The USFL has a standard PAT kick, two-point conversion and three-point conversion.

The XFL also has tiered conversions worth one, two and three points, but all must be attempted via run or pass – there are no kicks.

In football’s biggest league, the ball is placed down at the 35-yard line for kickoffs with a standard onside kick option.

The USFL has kickoffs from the 20-yard line and no player can line up more than a yard back from the kicker; XFL kickoffs place the kicker at his own 30 while the rest of the kicking team lines up at the receiving team’s 35 and the return team at its own 30.

The USFL has an onside scrimmage option, which is a fourth-and-12 play from the offensive team’s 33, while the XFL features regular onside kicks plus a fourth-and-15 scrimmage play option from the 25, but that can be used in the fourth quarter only.

The Triple A leagues have added several other tweaks, such as “shootout” format to settle overtime games and double forward passes – all designed to add a little excitement to games and all that are, to me, quirky and fun.

But while those innovations require some adjustment, they pale in comparison to switching from Canadian to American rules (and vice versa). It’s like transitioning from impressionism to realism.

Bethel-Thompson is fresh off a 302-yard, one touchdown performance in the Breakers’ 22-15 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers on Sunday.

Before coming to the USFL, however, he spent the past seven seasons in the CFL, helping the Toronto Argonauts win two Grey Cups and throwing for 4,731 yards and 23 touchdowns in Toronto’s 2022 championship season.

The CFL gives offenses only three downs to make 10 yards; there are 12 players to a side; the field is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide; the end zones are 20 yards deep; offensive and defensive teams must line up one yard apart on scrimmage plays; and teams can score a single point when the return team fails to advance the ball out of the end zone (even on a missed field goal).

Following a preseason scrimmage at Legion Field, Bethel-Thompson discussed some of the changes he had to make to his game after leaving Canada.

“So, the three-down game is a totally different ballgame, designed for bigger fields,” he said. “And the first thing I noticed walking out here, obviously, was the size of the field. This field is tiny compared to what I was used to. And the end zones are different and you go from three downs to four downs, so among other things your timing is different. You have to time up your feet with your eyes.”

Before talking with Bethel-Thompson I already had a defensive player’s perspective – in reverse.

Bryant Turner Jr., a former CFL All-Star who spent most of his career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was a defensive lineman by trade. The former UAB Blazer had played by American rules his entire life until heading north of the border.

“The biggest change for me is the yard off the ball,” Turner told me a while back during an episode of the From the 55 Yard Line podcast hosted by Greg Smith. “As a defensive lineman in the CFL you have to be a yard off the ball at the snap but honestly, I think that actually worked out better for me. I came in as a defensive end but was quickly moved to defensive tackle because of my speed.

“The yard off the ball allowed me to use my quickness. I could set up different plays to help me take advantage of that.”

Playing by three-down rules was something of a double-edged sword.

“The three downs versus four can be a good thing because basically you can be out there and then back on the bench in two plays,” Turner said. “Of course, the bad thing is if your offense is out there for just two plays then you’re right back on the field. Honestly, you can get tired running on and off the field.”

And the difference in size of the field?

Yeah, that’s a biggie.

“It might not sound like much until you’re running full speed, then that 65-yards wide feels like 80-yards wide when you’re a defensive lineman trying to run down a screen,” Turner said. “The rules are made for the offense to score, so as a defensive player who has to run to the ball, you always have to be running.”

As for Bethel-Thompson who – at age 34 – hopes to make it back to the NFL, football is an artistic endeavor regardless of the style.

“It’s like learning how to ride a bike a little bit, because I did play American football first so that’s what I first knew,” he said. “But playing the different kinds, and having played all three, it really shows how beautiful the game of football is and how bodies and minds work together to kind of orchestrate this piece of art on a different tapestry.

“So, based on my experience, this is a medium-sized tapestry.”