UFL: Former Alabama football player to play two seasons with St. Louis Battlehawks
A legendary football player from Alabama will play one more season in St. Louis.Following the XFL-USFL merger, the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks revealed that former Crimson Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron had agreed to terms and would return to the team for the 2018 UFL season.
During the previous season, McCarron made an impression in the XFL by throwing for a league-high 24 touchdowns in nine games. In addition, he had the best completion percentage in the league (68.8%) and the second-most throwing yardage (2,150). Despite having a 7-3 record at the end, the Battlehawks were not able to advance to the postseason.
The Cincinnati Bengals added McCarron to their active roster to cover Jake Browning for the final six games of the 2023 regular season after the XFL season and an injury to starting quarterback Joe Burrow. McCarron, who was originally selected by Cincinnati in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, has also been a backup quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons, and Oakland Raiders.
McCarron has spent his seven seasons in the NFL with 1,192 passing yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions in his sparse relief appearances. McCarron was able to return to the Battlehawks on Wednesday after the Bengals dismissed him.
McCarron, an Alabama native, led the Crimson Tide to three national titles under head coach Nick Saban. Serving as a starting member of two consecutive national championship teams in 2011–12, he concluded his time at Alabama as one of the most accomplished and renowned athletes in program history. McCarron was Alabama’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns when he left for the NFL.
Dallas Warmack, an offensive tackle for the Crimson Tide who eventually went to Oregon, will join McCarron in St. Louis. Chance Warmack, Warmack’s older brother, was a key member of the offensive lines McCarron ran behind at Alabama.
In the UFL, other former Alabama players are: linebacker Reuben Foster (Houston Roughnecks), linebacker Dylan Moses (Memphis Showboats), defensive back Jared Mayden (Arlington Renegades), wide receiver Slade Bolden (Stallions), guard Deonte Brown (Stallions), and guard Chris Owens (Renegades).
The UFL season begins on March 30 on Saturday. In the league’s opening game, the USFL champion Stallions play the XFL champion Renegades, and Scarbrough, Bolden, and Brown will face Mayden and Owens. On opening day, the Battlehawks will play the Michigan Panthers in Detroit, with McCarron and Warmack also starting.