The United Football League will kick off its inaugural season on Saturday. Former Alabama All-American AJ McCarron aspires for many more to come, not just for himself, but for the sport and its players.
The St. Louis Battlehawks will visit the Michigan Panthers at 3 p.m. CDT on Saturday. McCarron will play quarterback. The Birmingham Stallions and Arlington Renegades will face off in Texas at noon Saturday to start off the United Football League’s inaugural season.
McCarron requested an early release from his contract with the Cincinnati Bengals so that he could begin training camp on time for his second season in St. Louis. McCarron had not played since Aug. 21, 2021, when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in an Atlanta Falcons NFL preseason game while playing for the Battlehawks.
The former St. Paul’s Episcopal star had personal and pragmatic reasons for returning for Year 2 after the Battlehawks joined the XFL-USFL merger to form the United Football League.
“A big thing, of course, is my kids being able to watch me play,” McCarron said. “I think it helps continuing to put film out there that I play at a high level when it comes to being picked up again. Granted, I definitely could have stayed at Cincinnati. I love that organization and everybody there. It was awesome to be back.
“But I like playing. My kids like watching me play.”
But for McCarron, his second season with St. Louis goes beyond what the league can do for him. He thinks he can do something for the league.
“I think by being in this league, I can help build the league even more,” he stated. “I believe this league requires players with a following who can help increase ticket sales or simply raise the league’s profile.
“And then on top of that, like I told the guys, I think the first day here when we were introducing guys that had been here, was my ultimate goal is to help guys get to the (NFL). And from an offensive standpoint, I think I can do that at a high level. I think it showed last year having the most guys invited to (NFL) camp of any offense around the XFL, so I think having the chance to play with them and being able to showcase their talents helped as well.”
McCarron sees a need for a successful spring league in the professional-football hierarchy.
“The NFL needs it more than anything,” McCarron said, “because there isn’t a lot of time for the NFL, especially with preseason games being reduced. The league will eventually have 18 regular-season games, with only two preseason games. It’s not enough time to really see guys from a camp standpoint, from a preseason standpoint what guys can do what, so I think whether the NFL teams up with the UFL and there’s some type of like NBA and G League concept to where each team’s affiliated with a certain NFL team or two NFL teams or three NFL teams have a pick from a certain UFL team, however it works.
