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The UFL champion Birmingham Stallions roster features three former Green Bay draft picks.
Five names that Green Bay Packers fans might remember won the United Football League’s inaugural championship when the USFL Conference’s Birmingham Stallions beat the XFL Conference’s San Antonio Brahmas 25-0 on Fathers’ Day. The blowout win was actually close for the better part of the first half, as the game was tied 0-0 until there was less than a minute left before halftime. Unfortunately for the Brahmas, though, it was all Stallions from there on out.
Birmingham has now won three straight USFL championships and is the first UFL champion under head coach Skip Holtz, who has a combined 33=4 record in his three seasons as a spring football coach. If the Birmingham Stallions ring a bell, it’s because that’s where the Packers grabbed quarterback-turned-receiver Alex McGough after McGough was able to put up an MVP season in the USFL last spring.
Most of the former Packers' contributions to the Stallions came on the offensive side of the ball. Former third-round picks Amari Rodgers and Jace Sternberger are pass-catchers for Birmingham, with Sternberger getting the nod on the inaugural All-UFL team as the league’s top tight end. Rodgers also led the UFL in punt return yards, an area of the game where he struggled in Green Bay.
Elsewhere on offense are linemen Zack Johnson and Cole Schneider, who both got their starts with the Packers as undrafted free agents. Johnson was given All-UFL honors as a guard. Schneider played both guard and center for the Stallions.
The final Packer of note is defensive end Jonathan Garvin, who was a 2020 seventh-round pick for Green Bay. Garvin’s biggest contribution came in the USFL Championship Game, when his Stallions went on a come-from-behind 28-0 run with the help of his five tackles, sack, tackle for loss and pass deflection.
Shoutout to these former Packers, who will likely have an opportunity to show their stuff in an NFL training camp this summer, be it in Green Bay or elsewhere.
