Tag: Houston Gamblers

Jarrett Guarantano to play for Houston in 2024

Former Vol Jarrett Guarantano to play for Houston in 2024.

Former Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano will play for Houston in the 2024 UFL season.

A list of former Vols on 2024 UFL rosters can be viewed here.

The 2024 season is the first for the UFL. The UFL formed after the United States Football League and XFL merged in Nov. 2023.

UFL’s 2024 season will kick off on March 30. ABC, ESPN, Fox and FS1 are UFL’s television partners.

Guarantano played for the Vols from 2016-20. He appeared in 41 games at Tennessee, totaling 6,174 passing yards, 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

He came to Tennessee from Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey.

PHOTOS: A look at Tennessee starting quarterbacks through the years

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Chargers sign pair of players on Tuesday

The Chargers added a running back and cornerback on Tuesday.

The Chargers signed running back Aaron Shampklin on Tuesday. The move came after they waived RB Larry Rountree Monday.

Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard, Shampklin started his professional career with the Cowboys. He then spent time on the Colts practice squad.

Shampklin most recently played for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). He appeared in three games and posted 52 yards on 12 carries (4.3 YPC).

Additionally, Los Angeles signed cornerback Matt Hankins.

Hankins played his college ball at Iowa before going undrafted. He signed with the Falcons in 2022 and then played for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions, where he was a part of their championship squad.

Jaguars sign Doug Pederson’s son, TE Josh Pederson

Former 49ers, Saints, and Chiefs tight end Josh Pederson is joining his dad’s team in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made the addition of tight end Josh Pederson official on Monday. To make room on the roster for Pederson, the Jaguars released undrafted rookie tight end Leonard Taylor.

Pederson, 25, is the son of Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and previously spent time on the rosters of the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Kansas City Chiefs, although he never made an appearance in a regular season game with any of those teams.

Most recently, Pederson played for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). In 10 games with the Gamblers, Pederson recorded 24 receptions for 325 yards, second most on the team.

Prior to his professional career, Pederson was a two-time All-Sun Belt selection during his time with the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.

Rumors that Pederson would join his father’s team in Jacksonville first gathered steam late last week when Draft Diamonds reported that the Jaguars planned to sign the tight end.

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Former Saints assistant Curtis Johnson hired as USFL team head coach

Former Saints WR coach Curtis Johnson has been hired as the USFL’s Houston Gamblers head coach. His first game is against his old coworker Mike Nolan’s Michigan Panthers:

This is cool: the USFL has hired former New Orleans Saints wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson as the head coach of its Houston Gamblers franchise. Johnson’s coaching career took off with the Saints from 2006 to 2011, when he was hired as head coach of the Tulane Green Wave; he later returned to New Orleans as a senior offensive assistant from 2017 to 2021, though Dennis Allen didn’t retain him after taking over as head coach.

Now Johnson is running his own team again. The Gamblers compete in the USFL’s South division and are looking to make some noise after a 3-7 debut under head coach Kevin Sumlin last year.

The spring league’s 2023 season kicks off in April, with Johnson’s Gamblers meeting a team coached by one of his old coworkers — former Saints linebackers coach Mike Nolan, now head coach of the Michigan Panthers. The Gamblers and Panthers will play in Memphis, Tenn. at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on April 16. The USFL is rolling out a regional hub model after playing all of its games in Birmingham, Ala. during the 2022 campaign, with plans to install each franchise in its own home city in the near future.

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Houston Gamblers DE Chris Odom among Texans’ 4 workouts

The Houston Texans worked out Houston Gamblers DE Chris Odom as part of their four-player workout on Day 1 of training camp.

The Houston Texans worked out four defenders on Friday during the first day of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center, according to a league source.

The Texans brought in former Pittsburgh Steelers sixth-round pick Antoine Brooks. The former Maryland product played four games with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020, and then eight games with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 after being let go in Pittsburgh.

The other defensive back the Texans worked out was former Kentucky Wesleyan product Kishawn Walker, who actually went to rookie minicamp with the Texans this offseason.

Houston worked out defensive end Chris Odom, a former 2017 undrafted free agent from Arkansas State via Arlington Martin High School. The 6-4, 256-pound edge defender has spent time with three NFL teams, but most recently was in the USFL playing for the Houston Gamblers, where he racked up 12.5 sacks.

The Texans also worked out defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal, an undrafted free agent from Purdue and Houston’s St. Thomas High School. Neal went to camp with the Denver Broncos last offseason, but was waived after the preseason.

Pair of pick-sixes early in Stallions-Gamblers USFL game

It was a pick-six party early in the USFL game between the Stallions and Gamblers

Quarterbacks had trouble finding receivers on their teams early in the game between the Birmingham Stallions and Houston Gamblers on Saturday.

In the second week of USFL action, first Brian Allen picked off a Houston pass and returned it for six points.

Not be outdone, Will Likely pilfered a pass, got up and made it to the end zone for a Houston touchdown.

Houston Gamblers’ Reggie Northrup with 87-yard scoop ‘n score in USFL action

Houston Gamblers’ defensive player Reggie Northrup with an 87-yard scoop ‘n score

Michigan Panthers QB Shea Patterson stumbled, bumbled, and fumbled, to borrow, and 87 yards later, the Houston Gamblers had a touchdown Sunday in USFL action.

Reggie Northrup picked up the football and returned it 87 yards for a Gamblers score, the first return TD in the second game of the football league’s return.

The Panthers’ quarterbacks whether Patterson or Paxton Lynch had trouble holding onto the ball. A pretty clear reason why both are in the USFL and not playing in the NFL.

Lynch, you may recall, was a bust out of Memphis after being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round.

2022 USFL Draft: Every Mountain West Football Player Selected On Day Two

A number of former Mountain West football stars look to find their way in the revived USFL this spring.

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2022 USFL Draft: Every Mountain West Football Player Selected On Day Two

A number of former Mountain West football stars look to find their way in the revived USFL this spring.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

Lots of familiar faces in the mix.

After landing six selections on the first day of the USFL Draft, many more stars from the Mountain West’s past heard their names called in the second and final day of the new spring league’s dispersal process.

As on day one, the eight USFL teams selected players in a “snake draft” fashion, picking from different position pools in each round (wide receivers from rounds 13 to 17, safeties in round 18 and 19, and so on). Where the Michigan Panthers had four Mountain West players in their first twelve selections yesterday, many more USFL squads got in on the action this time around to build depth on their respective rosters (though the Panthers did select three more athletes from the conference, giving them seven in all).

Of note, the new Pittsburgh Maulers, led by veteran NFL running backs coach Kirby Wilson, crafted something of a San Jose State reunion in the Steel City. After selecting former Spartans quarterback Josh Love on day one, the Maulers picked three more SJSU players on day two.

Pittsburgh also selected former San Diego State linebacker Kyahva Tezino, giving San Diego State four selections altogether, bested only by San Jose State and its conference-high seven picks. Colorado State and New Mexico finished the two-day process with two draft picks while Fresno State, Hawaii, and Utah State had one apiece.

Houston Gamblers

JoJo Ward, WR, Hawaii — round 14, pick 7

Dalyn Dawkins, RB, Colorado State — round 27, pick 6

Michigan Panthers

Daishawn Dixon, G, San Diego State — round 23, pick 1

Frank Ginda, LB, San Jose State — round 30, pick 4

Michael Carrizosa, P, San Jose State — round 33, pick 6

Pittsburgh Maulers

Bailey Gaither, WR, San Jose State — round 14, pick 5

DelVon Hardaway, WR, Fresno State — round 16, pick 5

Tre Walker, WR, San Jose State — round 17, pick 4

Boogie Roberts, DL, San Jose State — round 25, pick 2

Kyahva Tezino, LB, San Diego State — round 31, pick 1

Tampa Bay Bandits

Juwan Washington, RB, San Diego State — round 28, pick 8

Ryan DiSalvo, LS, San Jose State — round 35, pick 3

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