{"id":827495,"date":"2026-03-22T17:48:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T17:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/827495\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T17:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T17:48:46","slug":"39-former-steelers-make-initial-2026-ufl-rosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/827495\/","title":{"rendered":"39 Former Steelers Make Initial 2026 UFL Rosters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a>\u2022UFL<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SteelersPittsburgh Steelers running back Benny Snell Jr. in a game against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 29, 2022. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Over 40 former members of the Pittsburgh Steelers will take part in the United Football League for the 2026 season, which begins next week. The UFL<\/a>, founded in 2024 as a merger of the USFL and XFL is entering its third season, and the first under new owner Mike Repole.<\/p>\n

This season, three teams moved to new cities, with the Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers and San Antonio Brahmas all folding and becoming the Louisville Kings, Columbus Aviators, and Orlando Storm, respectively.<\/p>\n

All three new teams will play in current or former soccer Venus, with the Aviators playing at Historic Crew Field, the former home of the Columbus Crew, the Kings sharing Lynn Family Stadium with Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC and the Storm sharing Inter&Co Stadium with Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride.<\/p>\n

The moves to smaller venues hopes to create better atmospheres at home games and increase ticket sales, instead of focus on a television audience. The league will have new experimental rules in 2026, including a ban on punts from across midfield, four-point field goals of 60 yards or longer and 50-yard extra points.<\/p>\n

The 2026 UFL season will start on Friday, March 27, when the Kings host the Birmingham Stallions. That game will kick off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX. Every game of the season will be broadcast on either FOX\/FS1, ABC\/ESPN\/ESPN2 or NFL Network.<\/p>\n

The eight-team league will feature one division, with the top four teams making the playoffs, and the championship game will be held on June 13.<\/p>\n

The DC Defenders are the reigning champions after defeating the Panthers in the 2025 UFL championship.<\/p>\n

PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2026 UFL PLAYERS & COACHES<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers running back Anthony McFarland Jr. carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 10, 2023. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Birmingham Stallions<\/p>\n

RB Anthony McFarland Jr.<\/a>
WR Deon Cain<\/a>
DT T.J. Carter<\/a>
LB Tae Crowder<\/a>
LB Kyahva Tezino<\/a>
S Tre Norwood<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Roc Taylor in a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 16, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Columbus Aviators<\/p>\n

RB John Lovett<\/a>
WR Roc Taylor<\/a>
TE Alize Mack<\/a>
DE Kenny Willekes<\/a>
S Henry Black<\/a>
~ Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Tyler Vaughns in a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 13, 2022. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Dallas Renegades<\/p>\n

WR Denzel Mims<\/a>
WR Tyler Vaughns<\/a>
DT Domenique Davis<\/a>
DE Taco Charlton<\/a>
CB Chris Steele<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Cornell Powell at practice on Nov. 26, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

DC Defenders<\/p>\n

RB Xazavian Valladay<\/a>
WR Cornell Powell<\/a>
G Tykeem Doss<\/a>
K Matthew McCrane<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers tackle Kellen Diesch at practice on Jan. 3, 2024. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Houston Gamblers<\/p>\n

OT Kellen Diesch<\/a>
G Gareth Warren<\/a> (IR)<\/p>\n

\"FridayPittsburgh Steelers safety Kenny Robinson during Friday Night Lights practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium on Aug. 4, 2023. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Louisville Kings<\/p>\n

RB Benny Snell<\/a>
WR Tarik Black<\/a>
G Nate Gilliam<\/a>
SS Kenny Robinson<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers guard Joey Fisher during a preseason game against the Houston Texans on Aug. 9, 2024. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Orlando Storm<\/p>\n

WR Aron Cruickshank<\/a>
T Joey Fisher<\/a>
DT Isaiah Buggs<\/a>
DE Isaiah Mack<\/a>
CB Mark Gilbert<\/a>
S Nate Meadors<\/a><\/p>\n

\"SteelersPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hakeem Butler at training camp on July 27, 2023. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

St. Louis Battlehawks<\/p>\n

WR Hakeem Butler<\/a>
DT Carlos Davis<\/a>
DE Travis Feeney
LB Tariq Carpenter<\/a>
CB Luq Barcoo<\/a>
CB Nevelle Clarke<\/a>
S Kam Kelly<\/a>
~ DL Coach Jeff Zgonina<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> UFL<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News\u2022UFL Pittsburgh Steelers running back Benny Snell Jr. in a game against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,2360,426,5220],"class_list":["post-827495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-ufl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116274091530837879","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}