In a UFL Championship Game between the Michigan Panthers and D.C. Defenders that featured eight former players for the Pittsburgh Steelers, six of those former Steelers emerged victorious Saturday night as the Defenders rolled to a blowout win over the Panthers in St. Louis.
D.C. scored 31 second-quarter points and cruised to the 58-34 win over the Panthers to claim the UFL Championship for the 2025 season.
For the Defenders, they featured the likes of RB Darius Hagans, CB Kiondre Thomas, OT Tykeem Doss, OL Jarrid Williams, kicker Matt McCrane and CB Isaiah Johnson as former Steelers on the roster under head coach Shannon Harris.
Hagans was a popular name at the RB position in training camp ahead of the 2023 season and was a UDFA out of Virginia State, but couldn’t stick in training camp. Thomas spent just over a week with the Steelers in training camp last season, while Johnson was with the Steelers in rookie minicamp in 2022 before being released with an injury settlement in June of that year.
Doss spent two weeks with the Steelers last summer after being claimed off waivers from Baltimore, and later signed with the Defenders. Williams signed with the Steelers in June of 2023 and was released shortly into training camp that summer.
Kicker Matt McCrane is the only player on the Defenders of the former Steelers that actually appeared in a game. He signed with the Steelers at the end of the 2018 season when Chris Boswell landed on Injured Reserve and ultimately drilled all three field goal attempts in the regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals that season.
Hagans didn’t see any touches offensively, but Thomas and Johnson had major contributions for the Defenders defensively. Johnson finished with two tackles in the win, while Thomas has an interception of UFL MVP Bryce Perkins, hoping set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away for good.
McCrane drilled two field goals in the win, connecting from 22 and 38 yards.
For the Panthers, defensive T.J. Carter and kicker B.T. Potter represented the former Steelers in the UFL Championship.
The win for the Defenders capped off the second season for the UFL after the XFL merged with the USFL, creating the new league. Now, players are free to sign with NFL teams and try to get into training camps to make rosters.
