Seven Clemson pros announced on initial UFL rosters |
Seven Clemson pros have been announced on rosters for the new United Football League.
The spring football league is a merger of the XFL and the USFL with an eight-team outfit, where Clemson has some returning players, returners to the league but in different spots and some new names in it. After the first dispersal draft over the weekend, the initial rosters for the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers of the USFL Conference and the Arlington Renegades, DC Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL Conference were announced. Three teams have multiple Clemson pros on them. USFL Championship MVP and wide receiver Deon Cain is back with the Birmingham Stallions after a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is joined by fellow Clemson WRU alum Amari Rodgers, who was most recently with the practice squad for the Indianapolis Colts. Rodgers was a third-round NFL draft pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2021 and has played in 35 NFL games with 20 catches for 249 yards and a touchdown. Former Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle, coming from a folded New Jersey spring team, and cornerback Elijah Rodgers are on the roster for the Houston Roughnecks. Battle has been on several NFL practice squads and spring league team rosters since becoming a pro from the NFL's supplemental draft in 2015. The former walk-on Rodgers competed at Clemson's pro day last year and played in six games with nine defensive snaps over the 2021-22 seasons. Former Clemson safety TJ Green and wide receiver Diondre Overton, coming from the former Pittsburgh spring team, are on the Memphis Showboats roster. Green was a second-round NFL draft pick for the Indianapolis Colts in 2016 and has been on the roster also for Seattle, New Orleans, Carolina, Atlanta and Houston. He was also briefly on the Birmingham roster. With the Arlington Renegades, former NFL first-round selection and linebacker Vic Beasley was announced there after being with the folded Vegas franchise previously. Beasley was most recently in the NFL in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders. The league is set to begin play on March 30 and air on FOX, ESPN, FS1 and ABC. Clemson in the UFL Birmingham: WR Deon Cain, WR Amari Rodgers Houston: OT Isaiah Battle, CB Elijah Rodgers Memphis: S TJ Green, WR Diondre Overton Arlington: LB Vic Beasley
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