Yesterday A.J. McCarron asked the Cincinnati Bengals front office to release him in order to make his return to the UFL(previously XFL). McCarron dominated the XFL in the 2023 season with the St. Louis Battlehawks. In the final game of the season, McCarron threw for 420 yards and 6 touchdowns, breaking 2 of the several XFL league records that he would surpass that year, including most passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season through only 9 games on route to winning the league MVP award on May 4th.
Fast forward to September 23rd, 2023, just 4 months after being named the XFL MVP, where McCarron’s former NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals, sign McCarron for QB depth after their messiah (Joey B) went down for the season with a wrist injury. As a Bengals fan, I originally thought McCarron would take over this staring role as Burrow was out but thank god I am an idiot and they instead rolled out with Washington Huskie legend Jake Browning to finish the season, who showed flashes of being a fringe-top-32 or elite backup NFL quarterback, leaving McCarron to ride the bench.
McCarron’s time in his return to Cincinnati featured 4/5 completed passes with 0 touchdowns on 19 yards (however this should be 5/5 with 1 touchdown but Tee Higgins ruined what would have been McCarron’s lone touchdown.) Not the most exciting NFL return of all time, but A.J. never got much of a chance here, especially after Browning showed he was freaking electric.
After all this, A. J. McCarron made it official today that he would be returning to the St. Louis Battlehawks and the UFL, where he will hopefully go back to dominating, rather than being the 3rd string quarterback once Joe Sheisty makes his return next season.
This sparks the question, Would you rather be a 3rd string NFL QB or UFL MVP?
Arguments for NFL 3rd String:
- Being able to say you play in the NFL: The NFL is the best of the best in the world and much more respected than the UFL. I think the every-day football fan would be more impressed with someone saying they play in the NFL, rather than being a great player in the little brother league to the NFL.
- Pay: A.J. only made around $59,000 in his MVP XFL season, while he was making $1.2 million on a 1-year deal in his return to Cincinnati, a contract that would for sure be an even bigger deal if he had chosen to never play in the XFL in the first place. The fact that someone who very well may be the greatest XFL player of all time makes 20x less than an NFL 3rd-string REALLY reflects just how much bigger the NFL is.
- Getting the opportunity to compete for what is known as the toughest championship to win in any sport, the Super Bowl: Winning a Super Bowl has to be the best feeling a human can possibly experience, even if you are a backup quarterback. The fact that the Bengals are a true contender makes this a way tougher decision for McCarron in my opinion, as I think I would put 1 Super Bowl over any amount of UFL titles.
Arguments for UFL MVP:
- You get to play and people actually get to watch you play: This was McCarron’s main point when explaining why he chose to leave the NFL. McCarron has young kids who want to see him play football, rather than standing on the sideline. (However realistically if I was A.J.’s kid I would respectfully rather have him be able to get free tickets for me to watch Joe Burrow from a suite every week.)
- You dominate, you win awards, you are more regonized, etc.: I think for me personally, this is the biggest argument for either side. I imagine this is comparable to my years of AAU/recreational basketball, where I hated AAU with a burning passion as I sucked. However in my rec basketball league I was an absolute tank. That’s right, 6x consecutive rec league champion. Sounds pretty sweet right? Way cooler than I played in an AAU league where we had some real tough competition. Obviously the UFL/NFL debate is this to the absolute extreme, but I think I would rather dominate the league I’m in and look like a freaking beast.
With all this being said, if I was A.J. McCarron, I would also be taking my talents back to the UFL and breaking all my own records as I pave my path to being recognized as the greatest to ever step foot on that sweet UFL turf.
Congratulations, A.J.
-The #1 UFL, St. Louis Battlehawks, and A.J. McCarron Fan
Love this Take!!