Green Bay Packers

A Packers Fan’s Guide To the USFL

Photo credit: Joshua Clark-USA TODAY Sports

We are coming upon the dark period of the year for football fans. Sundays without football are an unfortunate reality. But if you watched any NFL games, you probably saw some ads about the USFL coming back in April. So hold on, football fans, we may have something to look forward to.

The new USFL only has eight teams, and the closest one to the state of Wisconsin is the Michigan Panthers, who will play just outside of Detroit in the Pontiac Silverdome. Therefore, most Green Bay Packers fans will look for familiar players who used to play in the Green and Gold or for the Wisconsin Badgers. Luckily nine former Packers, four former Badgers, and two former Wisconsin high school players have been drafted to play in the USFL. One of those high school players played some time with the Badgers.

I’ll go through all of them so you can find out who to root for.

Pittsburgh Maulers

The team with the most former Wisconsin players is the Pittsburgh Maulers. The Maulers have five former players associated with Wisconsin, two former Packers, and three former Badgers.

The three Badgers playing with the Maulers are Garrett Groshek, Olive Sagapolu, and Jon Dietzen.

Groshek rushed for over 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns, sitting behind Jonathan Tayler during most of his career. Olive Sagapolu played nose tackle with the Badgers from 2015 to 2018 and recorded 61 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and six sacks. Jon Dietzen was an offensive lineman from 2016 to 2020. He played an intricate part of the offensive line in Madison, suiting up for 42 games. He graduated from Seymour High School in 2016, which is just west of Green Bay.

New Jersey Generals

The New Jersey Generals drafted three former Packers: Mike Weber, J’Mon Moore, and Darrius Shepherd.

Shepherd was with the Packers between 2019 and 2020. He had 375 yards but never got into the end zone. Many remember him for dropping multiple passes, especially on a Monday night game against the Detroit Lions in 2019, where Shepherd almost cost the team the game. He spent time on the Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, and Pittsburgh Steelers after 2020 but didn’t receive any playing time.

Mike Weber is an Ohio State running back who rushed for over 2,700 yards and scored 25 total touchdowns. But he couldn’t make the cut after being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as a seventh-round pick. He spent time on the Chiefs’ practice squad and joined the Packers’ practice squad from 2020 to 2021. Green Bay elevated him for the Week 11 and 12 games against the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears, but they waived him in June 2021.

Finally, J’Mon Moore was drafted in the fourth round by the Packers in 2018 out of Missouri. He had 158 receptions, 2,477 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns with the Tigers. It took until Oct. 15 in Week 6 to get his first catch in a win over the San Francisco 49ers. But the Packers waived him on Aug. 31, 2019.

After spending time on the Cleveland Browns’ and Houston Texans’ practice squads, he signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons. But he was released after an injury less than a month after being signed.

New Jersey also drafted former Badger Chris Orr. He had a season-ending ACL tear in 2017 in Madison but made 36 tackles and two sacks in his eight starts in his junior season. Orr came into his own with 14 starts during his senior season, recording 78 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks.

Although he set a school record for sacks with 51 in a single season, he went undrafted in 2020. The Carolina Panthers signed him as a UDFA and placed him on their practice squad. They elevated him to the active roster in Weeks 4 and 10, but he never saw any playing time. Orr was working as the director of player development for the Badgers before New Jersey drafted him.

Houston Gamblers

The Houston Gamblers drafted two former Packers, Chris Odom in the second round and Beniquez Brown in the 21st.

Odom was a defensive end in the NFL from May 2017 to November 2019 and had a brief stint in the Alliance of American Football league. He spent time with the Packers from September 2017 to September 2018, just a few days short of a year.

Odom was activated in seven games and accumulated five total tackles. He’s widely remembered more for his time with the Washington Commanders, racking up 10 tackles and two sacks. Now he’s taking his swing at the USFL.

The Pittsburgh Maulers also drafted bailey Gaither in the 14th round of the USFL draft. After four years at San Jose State, he went undrafted and signed with the Packers, but he retired from football that spring.

Beniquez Brown only spent a single spring training with the Packers and was waived after the final team cuts.

The only other Packers drafted by USFL teams were cornerback Dominique Martin of the Michigan Panthers and linebacker Aaron Adeoye of the Birmingham Stallions. Both players spent time on the practice squad, but they never saw any time on the field.

So when deciding who you want to be a fan of for the new USFL league, many people are going to have a hard time deciding which team to choose. I’m curious to see how Darrius Shepherd turns out in this league, so I’m rolling with the New Jersey Generals.

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