Thursday, April 11, 2024

Remember Kids, Heads Up Football. UFL Week 3 Preview

Brakmas kicker Deestroying out for season with broken neck.

So, the most famous player in the UFL is out for the season with a fractured neck. OUCH!!! Anyone who watched or played football for a while didn't like how Donald De La Haye led with his head when tackling Showboats return man Trey Williams. He got up normally so people didn't really think much about it, until he announced that yeah, he really fucked up his neck. What makes this even wilder is that the UFL posted the hit as a YouTube Short...TWICE!

Thankfully, the injury wasn't any more serious. It reminded me of the NFL's Heads Up Football initiative after all those concussion lawsuits by former players. Along with USA Football, they changed the culture and taught proper tackling techniques so the next generation of players would go from using their head as a weapon to wrapping up the ballcarrier. Now I don't know about you, but if you're a kicker who broke his neck making a tackle in only his 2nd professional game, I would consider this the universe telling Deestroying to stick to YouTube. Especially since he didn't even get to kick a field goal or should I say, one that counts on the stat sheet.


THE GAMES


2024 UFL season week 3 D.C. Defenders vs Arlington Renegades
D.C. Defenders             21
Arlington Renegades  12

Unsurprisingly (to me), Curt Menefee and Joel Klatt wasn't actually at Audi Field. Most people probably couldn't give 2 shits on whether the announcers are actually there or not. Hell, fans probably would prefer to watch games without commentators only hearing the sounds of the game. Networks love showing off their fancy graphics anyway so whatever information you need like stats, yards to go, injury news, etc can be shown on screen without the need of someone to explain it. Players/coaches cursing is the only reason why this isn't a paid streaming option.


2024 UFL season week 3 Memphis Showboats vs Birmingham Stallions
Memphis Showboats   23
Birmingham Stallions  26

I didn't like how the Stallions couldn't finish drives against the Panthers. They relied heavily on their defense and Chris Blewitt's 4 FGs to leave Ford Field with the win (Shoutout to Panthers kicker Jake Bates for booting another 60+ yard field goal). Their QB Adrian Martinez went 8-15 for 88 yards and ran 8 times for 65 yards. While Matt Corral was 5-12 for 53 yards and threw an interception late in the endzone that allowed Michigan to drive down the field before DE Taco Charlton sacked E.J. Perry on 4th down to seal the victory. They should beat Memphis who straight up choked last week but they got to get their QB situation resolved quickly.


2024 UFL season week 3 Arlington Roughnecks vs Michigan Panthers
Houston Roughnecks   10
Michigan Panthers        17

I should really pay more attention to the schedule instead of the matchup page. This is the 2nd time I put ESPN in the graphic when the game is actually on ABC. I could just blame the shoddy website construction but it's really on me for the oversight. And since I'm complaining about the UFL's website, can we get some fucking headshots for these players? I don't expect them to create profiles like FOX has on their site, but can we AT LEAST get photos of these players?


2024 UFL season week 3 St. Louis Battlehawks vs San Antonio Brahmas
St. Louis Battlehawks   27
San Antonio Brahmas   25

Deestroying wasn't the only notable Brahma to get injured during that remarkable comeback against the Showboats. Their center Alex Mollette, who caught a TD in week 1, injured his leg and was placed on IR as well. They will have their work cut out for them against the Battlehawks who earned a tough win over the Renegades. Chase Garbers (5) and A.J. McCarron (4) lead the league in passing TDs so this might be a shootout. I feel odd counting out Wade Phillips this much considering his defense but I'm gonna stick with St. Louis on this one.


LAST WEEK: 2-2
OVERALL:     4-4

No comments:

Post a Comment