There may not be a deeper position group in the UFL than what the St. Louis Battlehawks have at wide receiver. St. Louis coach Anthony Becht continues to add to the room by signing former Incarnate Word wide receiver Darion Chafin to a UFL contract.
Chafin started his college career attending Cisco College where he made 39 receptions for 814 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games.
He would transfer to Incarnate Word for his last three seasons putting up bigger numbers with 156 catches for 2,388 yards and 33 touchdowns in 33 games. His performances helped him earn first-team All-Southland Conference and third-team All-American selections in 2022.
St. Louis currently has Jahcour Pearson, Darrius Sheperd, Hakeem Butler, Blake Jackson, Marcel Ateman and Steven Mitchell as receivers. Chafin has an uphill battle to win a roster spot on the Battlehawks.
Their season starts March 30 against the Michigan Panthers.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Teams With Texas Rangers on Tequila Brand
UFL co-owner Dwayne Johnson has teamed up with the World Series champion Texas Rangers to serve The Rock’s premium, small-batch Teremana Tequila.
Teremana Tequila has agreed to a multi-year partnership to be the Rangers’ official premium tequila partner at Globe Life Field beginning this season.
Johnson has strong ties to Arlington, which is home to the Rangers. UFL opens training camp Saturday for all eight teams in Arlington.
With the season over a month away, the UFL gave fans what they have been waiting for which is the single-game tickets. At 10 a.m. Thursday morning, the UFL made all single-game tickets available to be bought by all fans.
On Tuesday, presale single-game tickets were made available to fans who used a promo code to get early access for roughly 48 hours. Season tickets have been available to purchase since the offseason.
Ticket prices are starting as low as $25 per seat and reaching as high as about $140 per seat.
The Birmingham Stallions face the Arlington Renegades in the first game of the UFL season on March 30.
UFL Single-Game Tickets on Sale
UFL fans might have gotten emails on Tuesday giving them special access to single-game tickets.
The email contains early access to single-game tickets using the code “KICKOFF” on the Ticketmaster website. Presale for the UFL tickets started at 10 am CT on Tuesday and will run through Wednesday at 11:59 pm CT.
Season tickets are available now for fans to purchase. Single-game tickets will become available to the general public on Thursday. While there hasn’t been too much information on the number of tickets sold, the St. Louis Battlehawks opened sections in the 400 level last week for season tickets. It’s a good early sign of interest from fans for the UFL.
The season kicks off on March 30 with the Birmingham Stallions facing the Arlington Renegades.
UFL Teams Tease 2024 Schedule Release
Fans have been asking for the 2024 UFL schedule to be released and now they will get their wish. All eight of the UFL teams on Friday took to social media to tease that the full schedule will be released on Monday.
The only information that has been released about the schedule is the first game of the UFL season on March 30 between the USFL champion Birmingham Stallions against the XFL champion Arlington Renegades. That news was released when the league went on Fox and ESPN at the beginning of January to announce the merger of the USFL and XFL.
No time has been set for when the schedule will be released on Monday.
UFL Super Draft Releasing Live Pick Results on X
The UFL “Super Draft” is Monday, with the league live tweeting the pick results starting at noon CT. That’s a change from the level of secrecy that was involved in phase one of the Dispersal Draft.
UFL team rosters are currently in the 50-60 player range after phase one. Teams will have 75 players for training camp, which starts in late February. The Super Draft, which is not conference-exclusive, now opens up the possibility of former XFL and USFL players switching league sides.
There are some players who played in the XFL and USFL in 2023 who purposefully didn’t sign contracts or letters of intent to free themselves up to be available for a new team from the other league.
UFL Dispersal Draft Results for Former XFL, USFL Teams
The UFL held Phase One of its Dispersal Draft on Friday, with each of the eight teams selecting players from their respective former leagues.
The Arlington Renegades, San Antonio Brahmas, St. Louis Battlehawks and D.C. Defenders picked from the four XFL teams that weren’t in the merger. The Houston Roughnecks, Birmingham Stallions, Michigan Panthers, and Memphis Showboats were drafting from the disbanded USFL franchises.
USFL and XFL teams, during Phase One, can select up to 20 players from disbanded teams in their conference.
As of Sunday morning, Over 70 player names are known to have been selected during phase one of the dispersal process.
It’s worth noting, however, that there will be a follow-up dispersal draft with all league teams drafting the remaining undrafted players available from all disbanded USFL and XFL teams on Jan. 15.
Training camp, which begins for the UFL on Feb. 24 in Arlington, will see all eight league teams bring 75 players to camp before rosters are pared down to 50 before the regular season starts on March 30.
This is a partial and unofficial list of selected players gathered through league sources and will be updated as more info becomes available. The league itself plans on releasing official draft results and team protection lists from Phase One on Monday morning.
Birmingham Stallions: LB Chris Orr (Generals), OL Calvin Ashley (Generals), DE Anree Saint-Amour (Breakers), K Chris Blewitt (Maulers), DE Hercules Mata’afa (Generals), S Eli Walker (Maulers).
Memphis Showboats: LB Vontae Diggs (Breakers), DB D.J. Daniel (Generals), QB Case Cookus (Stars), OL Kirk Kelley (Breakers), TE Sage Surratt (Breakers), OT Sidney Wells (Breakers), WR Jonathan “Jay” Adams (Breakers), WR Vinny Papale (Breakers), RB Darius Victor (Generals), WR Diondre Overton (Stars), DE Kolin Hill (Generals), RB Kennedy Brooks (Stars), DL Tyshun Render (Generals)
Michigan Panthers: LB Jerod Fernandez (Breakers), QB Davis Cheek (Breakers), RB Wes Hills (Breakers), S Bryce Torneden (Maulers), S Shalom Luani (Generals), DB Alex Thomas (Breakers), P Brock Miller (Generals), LS Jordan Ober (Generals), DL Nasir Player (Maulers)
Houston Roughnecks: LB Reuben Foster (Maulers), DT Olive Sagapolu (Maulers), DT Keonte Schad (Breakers), OL Marcus Tatum (Breakers), C Jack Kramer (Breakers), WR Isiah Hennie (Maulers), DT Reggie Howard (Breakers), DE Adam Rodriguez (Stars), DL Ethan Westbrooks (Generals), Braedon Bowman (Generals), LB Gabriel Sewell Jr. (Stars), OT Isiah Battle (Generals), OL Shamarious Gilmore (Stars), *- TE Ryan Izzo (Stars), * Cyril Grayson (Stars), * OT Paul Adams (Breakers), * OL Robert Myers (Generals) *=Per Ace, United Football Media*
Arlington Renegades: QB Lindsey Scott (Roughnecks), RB Devin Darrington (Guardians), RB Morgan Ellison (Dragons), WR Deontay Burnett (Roughnecks), TE Seth Green (Roughnecks), DL Laron Stokes (Vipers), CB Ajene Harris (Roughnecks), C Chris Owens (Sea Dragons), * OT Jean Dalance (Roughnecks LOI, expected to be traded to D.C. in pick swap, * Per UFLAnalyst*).
D.C. Defenders: DL Donovan Jeter (Roughnecks), EDGE Trent Harris (Roughnecks), EDGE Tim Ward (Roughnecks), CB Adam Sparks (Vipers), S Deontay Anderson (Vipers), DE Tariqious Tisdale (Sea Dragons), CB Elijah Blades (Roughnecks LOI), LB Jordan Evans (Sea Dragons), OT George Moore (initially Renegades traded to the Dragons for LB Tuzar Skipper before the XFL rookie draft).
St. Louis Battlehawks: WR Jahcour Pearson (Sea Dragons), WR Blake Jackson (Sea Dragons), C Dohnovan West (Vipers), DL Antwuan Jackson (Dragons), CB Keylon Kennedy (Vipers), CB Chris-Payton Jones (Dragons).
San Antonio Brahmas: TE/WR: Cody Latimer (Guardians), C Alex Mollette (Roughnecks), RB Brycen Alleyne (Roughnecks), LB Tavante Beckett (Roughnecks), OL Rashaad Coward (Roughnecks-offseason Letter Of Intent pickup), DE Austin Edwards (Roughnecks), EDGE Wyatt Ray (Roughnecks LOI), *-LB Nate Wieland (Roughnecks)- *= Per James Larsen-PFN*), WR Dieuly Aristilde Jr. (Roughnecks LOI)
New Spring League Born from XFL, USFL
History was made on New Year’s Eve, as the United Football League (“UFL”), the new premier spring football league, was born from the merger of the XFL and USFL.
Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia joined Sunday’s edition of “FOX NFL Sunday” to announce the news.
“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation,” Johnson, Founder and CEO of Seven Bucks Companies, said in a press release. “As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans — a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true.”
Russ Brandon, former President and CEO of the XFL, will serve as President and CEO of the UFL. Daryl Johnston, former USFL President of Football Operations, will lead football operations for the UFL.
The UFL’s inaugural game will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2024 between the Arlington Renegades (2023 XFL champions) and Birmingham Stallions (2023 USFL champions).
“FOX is football, and the success of the USFL has proven that there’s a bright future for spring football. The opportunity to bring together our two leagues — each with a commitment to advancing broadcast practices, rule innovations and the community — only furthers the potential of the United Football League and solidifies its spot on the sports calendar,” added Eric Shanks, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer of FOX Sports.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro echoed Shanks’ comments on innovation and community, adding that “with compelling storytelling across traditional and digital platforms, fan-friendly innovations, and tremendous reach, this visionary league is well-positioned, and we look forward to our continued collaboration.”
Former Battlehawks DB Signed to NFL Practice Squad
Former St. Louis Battlehawks defensive back Nate Meadors has been signed to the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In nine games during 2023, Meadors ranked third for St. Louis with 38 total tackles, including a game-high 11 tackles in the Week 7 victory at Houston. The UCLA alumnus also picked off two passes, one of three Battlehawks with multiple interceptions on the season.
