By Logan Staska

The NFL (National Football League) has just come to an end on February 13th, with the Los Angeles Rams beating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 with a game winning touchdown hauled in by Cooper Kupp.

With the season Kupp had, racking in 1,947 yards and stacking 16 touchdowns to his stat chart, he’ll shoot to a round 1 pick in Fantasy Football.

Football is known as a fall sport in America, and NFL fans have a 5 month wait until their desired sport comes back on their television screens.

But this year football is going to be played in the spring with the return of the USFL (United States Football League).

The league will officially be back April 16th, 2022, after being ceased 1986.

The League will go from April to June with 40 regular season games, 2 playoff and 1 championship. 8 teams are ready to battle for the championship, and on those teams are blood-thirsty players looking for their chance to get to the NFL.

The teams are the New Jersey Generals, Michigan Panthers, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers, and the Tampa Bay Stallions.

The first day of drafting players was on February 23rd. Quarterbacks were the chosen as the required first round pick.

Michigan Panthers had the first overall pick selecting Shea Patterson out of the University of Michigan.

Another notable pick in the USFL draft was Kyle Slotter, a quarterback who was passed around the NFL being with 6 different NFL teams.

He was with the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Before heading to the USFL he will put his NFL career on hold, leaving his current NFL team the Minnesota Vikings. Kyle will no longer have to trail Kirk Cousins as a back up and is ready for his time to shine.

Mike Pereira, head of officiating for the USFL, explained some of the different rules for the USFL in comparison to the NFL.

Stating, “You don’t like that roughing the passer call that was made. Well guess what? I’m in the replay center and neither do I. So, we’re going to take it off.”

Pereira also explained how instead of bringing the ball to the spot of the foul on pass interference calls, which means a team could move up 40 yards with no guarantee of the receiver catching the ball, they will just make it a 15-yard penalty copying off NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) ruling.

But along with the pass interference call, Pereira say’s “maximum is going to be 15 yards, instead, unless someone deliberately tackles the guy, like you saw the play in the NCAA National Championship, the guy got beat by the double move, grabbed the jersey and pulled him all the way to the ground, that a spot of foul, if its beyond 15 yards.”

Even though the teams are representing different cities, all games will be played in Birmingham, Alabama. All games will be played in Protective Stadium and Legion Field.

Owners say, “They are happy to be playing in the Magic City.”

Along with the USFL, the XFL is going to make a comeback in the year 2023.

The XFL started in the spring of 2020, but due to COVID-19 the league was forced to stop play and cancel the rest of the season.

With the league being a fresh organization, it didn’t make the amount that was invested in it. COVID eliminated all games and cut off all their funds with TV deals and tickets sales.

But fortunately, a beloved celebrity known as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bought the league. This revival of the XFL is going to be a major impact of spring football. Along with the USFL, the XFL will have 8 teams.

Those teams being the D.C Defenders, Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians, Seattle Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks, and the Tampa Bay Vipers.

The season will have 10 games being shorter then the USFL.

When the league was being played 2 years ago it was a major hit with star players such as P.J Walker.

With Walkers intense arm strength, being able to make long accurate passes. Not only was his arm strength was at a high level, but his vicious speed was also a major bonus allowing him to escape collapsing pockets, escape a tackle and make a touchdown pass.

With 5 games played before COVID ended the season, he ended the season with a 65% completion rate, 1338 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

His longest passing touchdown was 84 yards. NFL teams saw the talent he possessed in the XFL and finally the Carolina Panthers picked up P.J Walker.

However, in the NFL he wasn’t as deadly as he was in the XFL.

With the new leagues coming in the spring football it will finally become a year-round sport for fans. These leagues won’t be as big as the NFL and won’t take over the league, but it will be good entertainment while we wait for the NFL.