The United States Football League is slated to get under way this coming April and fans are definitely excited. That may seem like quite the understatement, but it’s safe to say that all around football fans can’t get enough football.
With the XFL slated to start in 2023, the NFL being the solid embodiment that it is in the realm of football, and the new CFL season also on the horizon, 2022 should be a pretty interesting year for football fans (not to mention all the other leagues out there to follow).
And with so many leagues to watch and look forward to, we’ll have to set our PVRs for a lot of games…that’s if we want a semblance of a normal life outside of football.
I know, I know…there is no life outside of football…. Forgive me.
It was just this past Thursday that the USFL had its first-ever Supplemental Draft. To sum up quickly, the Supplemental Draft is basically where all of the 8 USFL teams can add 10 players to their current roster. We’ll be reviewing Philly’s choices below, as well as taking a look at the picks. As was already specified by my colleague Matt Lyons, these rounds of drafts were not at all “position-specific.”
Round 1: Gunnar Vogel, OT, Northwestern
At 310 pounds and at 6 foot 6, this Offensive Lineman is quite the acquisition from Northwestern University. He had quite the career in high school (Westerville South), and went on to dominate in college. It was in 2019 that he played a total of 9 season best games and by 2020 he was starting every game with the team.
Round 2: Adam Rodriguez, Edge/FB, Weber State
This defensive end from Springville, UT played his college ball with Weber State University. A 2-time All-American; he played 52 career games and interestingly enough, he was a part of the class that advanced to the FCS Playoffs a total of 4 times in which they won three consecutive Big Sky titles—the only class in history to do so, apparently. He also racked in quite the other prominent accolade and record to his college ball career: 22 total career sacks, which ranks him at number 4 in all time for doing so in the history of Weber State.
Round 3: Lene Maiava, OT, Arizona
His hometown: Fagatogo, American Samoa. Many great Samoan’s made it to the gridiron…Dwayne Johnson and even Roman Reigns, but it quite obviously doesn’t stop there. This young man has paid his dues and has had quite the career to boot so far. At just 28 he is credited as being part of the Arizona Hotshots until 2019. The site specifies that he signed with the XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats in 2020 and now this. There’s not much information on this young man out there beyond some states from his time with the Hotshots…all impressive to say the least…but at just 28, it looks like he’s ready to make quite the impression in his new home.
Round 4: Amani Dennis, CB, Carthage
At one time an NFL free agent (until just recently in fact), and a defensive back for the Generals in The Spring League in 2020. On being drafted with the Generals, he once said: “I will do anything and everything to move toward the next level, so I applied and I was told I got in. Funny enough, I didn’t know what team I got drafted in until I was tagged in the Instagram post saying I got drafted by the Generals…I am excited and blessed to be able to be here, get some film and find my way up to the next level.”
We hope he’ll be bringing that same emotion to this new opportunity.
Round 5: Artayvious Lynn, TE, TCU
This gentleman was signed with the Dallas Cowboys but didn’t play for the team; essentially he didn’t make a spot on the 53-man roster for Dallas despite his joining in 2021. He played for TCU until 2020. 2019 marks his best season with the team.
Round 6: Chris Rowland, WR, Tennessee State
An undrafted free agent in 2020. This young man played for the Atlanta Falcons after his college career came to an end. He had a brief stint with the Tennessee Titans in 2021…signed with them on November 10th 2021 for the practice squad…was subsequently released on November 23rd. That obviously did not deter him nor anyone paying attention though, as this new development is quite promising for his career moving forward.
Round 7: Gabriel Sewell Jr., ILB, Nevada
His pinned tweet on Twitter states the following: “Don’t matter how many times you get knocked down. Just refuse to be knocked out.”
He not only came out of the University of Nevada with quite the football stats, but a B.S in Kinesiology. Also Samoan, he earned the Golden Helmet Award and the team MVP award as well as other accolades.
Round 8: Ahmad Dixon, S/CB, Baylor
The most experienced player of the Supplemental Draft, the Stars seem to be looking to that specifically from the Safety from Waco, Texas. He has been (although mostly brief stints) with: the Dallas Cowboys in 2014, the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, the Chicago Bears in 2014, the Miami Dolphins in 2014, the Edmonton Eskimos in 2017, the Los Angeles Wildcats in 2020 and the Massachusetts Pirates in 2021; now this….
Round 9: Jahair Jones, OG, Miami
In his last season with “THE U,” he was part of the action in all twelve games and had a total of 5 starts. This was in 2018. Since then he was with the Edmonton Elks but was recently released; he didn’t see any action on the field with the Elks. And now this opportunity has come about. Let’s see if he runs with it.
Round 10: Paul Terry, RB/WR/ST, Eastern New Mexico
At a lean 200 pounds, this running back had quite the career with the Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico University. It was in the 2018 season that he recorded an astounding 3 games with 100 rushing yards or more; he played all 11 games that season as a Junior; played 10 games as a sophomore in 2017 and as a freshman saw play in 10 games of that 2016 season.
We wish all of them luck come April 16th.
NEXT: USFL Historian Paul Reeths on USFL Lawsuit, New Court Date Set, USFL Stars’ Sean Brown
