TAMPA (WFLA) – The Tampa Bay Bandits, one of eight franchises in a rebirth of the United States Football League, have begun to assemble their roster and much like the USFL teams of the early 1980s, hope to turn lesser-known football players into potential stars.
The Bandits completed the USFL’s inaugural draft Wednesday afternoon, selecting 34 players in an assigned format for each team.
In the first round, all teams selected a quarterback with the Bandits drafting former Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’Amu, who played five games for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the short-lived XFL in 2020.
A threat to run the football, Ta’Amu also set an Ole Miss record in 2018 with nine 300-yard passing games.
Position by position, head coach Todd Haley filled the bulk of his first-year roster.
There was former Florida Gators defensive end, Adam Shuler, in round 4, then an interesting selection in the 17th round, wide receiver John "Florida Man" Franklin III.
Franklin became known for his difficult college football journey in the documentary series ‘Last Chance U’.
He was signed originally by the Chicago Bears but released, signing a practice squad deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in November of 2019.
Franklin logged one running play for the Bucs in a game that season, an 11-yard carry against the Atlanta Falcons on what turned out to be quarterback Jameis Winston’s final game as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Selected in the XFL draft, Franklin chose to chase his NFL dream instead-but saw that partially derailed by a suspension in 2021 for providing the league with a false COVID-19 vaccination card.
If the USFL is Franklin’s real “last chance”, he will develop a relationship as quickly as possible with Ta’Amu and the other offensive players, when camp opens next month.
The Bandits will play all of their 2022 schedule in Birmingham, Alabama, a decision by the USFL for all of its teams to live and play its first season in one location.
During the original USFL’s run, the Bandits franchise was one of the league’s most popular attractions with a young, visor-throwing head coach named Steve Spurrier.
“Bandit ball” as it was called back then, hopes to engulf the bay area once again.
Opening day for the USFL is scheduled for April 16th but the Bandits have not received their full slate of games yet. The league says it will announce all schedules soon.
