With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season over, if you’re still itching to watch some football beyond the rest of the NFL playoffs, the United Football League (UFL) might be your fix. The result of the XFL and USFL merger, four teams from each league survived to form this new venture. Kicking off in late March, there are plenty of former Steelers on rosters. With camp rosters set following the league’s two dispersal drafts and other signings, here are the former Pittsburgh players who litter the list.
We’ll only count those signed to the roster, not those invited to rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Arlington Renegades
OL Chris Owens
OLB Tuzar Skipper
CB Jamar Summers
WR Tyler Vaughns
Owens was an UDFA out of Alabama who didn’t last long with the team. Skipper was a one-time camp darling who had three stints with the Steelers but never appeared in a regular-season game, finding time with the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans instead. Summers was with the team during 2018 camp while Vaughns impressed in 2022 but surprisingly didn’t even stick to the team’s practice squad.
Birmingham Stallions
TE Marcus Baugh
WR Deon Cain
iOL Christian DiLauro
OL Derwin Gray
CB Madre Harper
S Kenny Robinson
TE Jace Sternberger
Baugh was a camp add in 2021. Cain was part of the Clemson wide receiver tree and made a couple of catches in the Steelers’ injury-plagued 2019 season. DiLauro was with the team in 2019 and 2020 but found staying power with the Tennessee Titans. Gray was a 2019 seventh-round draft pick who moved from tackle to guard. Harper had intriguing size but didn’t stick this summer while Robinson’s hot training-camp start flamed out. Sternberger spent time on the practice squad and is best known for spilling the tea on Matt Canada’s system.Â
D.C. Defenders
DL Donovan Jeter
CB Isaiah Johnson
K Matthew McCrane
Jeter was an UDFA out of Michigan with the team during 2022 camp. Johnson looked the part but got hurt and didn’t make it to camp. McCrane appeared in one game for Pittsburgh in 2018, making all three of his field goals in the season finale versus the Cincinnati Bengals while playing in place of the injured Chris Boswell.
Memphis Showboats
DB Antoine Brooks Jr.
RB Kerrith Whyte Jr.
Brooks was viewed as a potential Steelers’ nickel option for about two seconds in their 2021 camp. He was a former sixth-round pick from Maryland. Whyte briefly turned heads with his speed, carrying the ball 24 times in 2019 after injuries to James Conner and others. He’s yet to appear in an NFL game since.
Michigan Panthers
DL T.J. Carter
Undrafted out of Kentucky in 2020, he was with Pittsburgh during the summer of 2021. Reps were hard to come by and he’s never played in an NFL contest. This is his second stint with the Panthers. He’s been on five NFL rosters to this point in his career.
San Antonio Brahmas
RB Kalen Ballage
WR Cody Chrest
OL Rashaad Coward
LB Jamir Jones
RB Jaylen Samuels
CB Chris Steele
CB Quincy Wilson
Ballage briefly plodded along for the team in 2021, averaging three yards per carry. Chrest was with the Steelers for a few weeks this offseason. Coward was experienced depth at guard in 2021 but logged just two offensive snaps. Jones is oddly listed as a DT on the UFL website but I assume that’s a typo. Unless it’s his brother, Jarron, who was an offensive tackle.
Samuels is the most notable name, a 2018 fifth-round pick who didn’t offer much but saw plenty of backfield reps through 2019. Steele was an UDFA from USC while Wilson appeared in one game for Pittsburgh, helping the Steelers pull off a win against Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.
Remember this team is no longer coached by Hines Ward, who was replaced by Wade Phillips several weeks ago.
St. Louis Battlehawks
S Dravon Askew-Henry
RB Max Borghi
WR Jamarcus Bradley
WR Hakeem Butler
RB Mataeo Durant
LB Emeke Egbule
LB Travis Feeney
S Kameron Kelly
Askew-Henry is still playing professionally after first entering the league with the Steelers in 2019. He’s a Pittsburgh native. Borghi was signed late in the 2022 camp and saw a handful of carries in the preseason. Bradley was with the Steelers this year but got hurt while Butler buzzed during the spring but fizzled in the summer.
Durant was the UDFA everyone talked about before Jaylen Warren emerged. Durant has speed but no power. Egbule spent a few months with the team in 2022-2023 but never spent time in training camp. One of the UFL’s oldest players, the 31-year-old Feeney was highly athletic and highly injured, a sixth-round pick by the Steelers in 2020. Kelly’s ball-hawking abilities were fun for about 40 seconds in 2019, the San Diego State product playing in 14 games but his role decreasing throughout the year. He’s yet to get back into an NFL game.
