Which former Vikings are in the USFL?

If you’ve been keeping track at home, the brand new USFL is set to launch this Saturday in the hopes of bringing a successful spring football league. Over the past few years, the Alliance of American Football and XFL v2.0 have both come and gone, but the folks behind USFL v2.0 are hoping that the third time is the charm.

Even though all of the teams, at least nominally, represent different parts of the country, all of the games will be taking place in Birmingham, Alabama, in two different stadiums. One will be at Legion Field, a venue that seats over 70,000 for football games, while the other will be at Protective Stadium, which is the current home stadium for the University of Alabama-Birmingham and is significantly smaller with a max capacity of around 47,000.

There are eight teams in the new USFL, all sharing names with teams from the previous incarnation of the league from the 1980s. If we look at the rosters for each of the teams, we can find a few former members of the Minnesota Vikings scattered around the league. A lot of the former Vikings didn’t really make much of an impact for the purple, if they made the big roster at all, but they were a part of the team for at least a little bit.

Here are all of the former Vikings that you’ll see on the field if you’re watching the USFL over the next couple of months. I think I’ve found all of them from going through the roster pages of the individual teams, but if I’ve missed any folks can add them in the comments.

Birmingham Stallions

• RB Tony Brooks-James
• LB Demarquis Gates
• CB Tae Hayes
• TE Sage Surratt (sort of. . .he’s the younger brother of current Vikings’ LB Chazz Surratt)

Houston Gamblers

• CB Micah Abernathy

Michigan Panthers

• WR Jeff Badet

New Jersey Generals

• OL Jake Lacina
• WR Darrius Shepherd
• TE Nick Truesdell

New Orleans Breakers

• LS Turner Bernard
• CB Nevelle Clarke
• DE Anree Saint-Amour
• QB Kyle Sloter

Pittsburgh Maulers

None (that I can see, anyway)

Philadelphia Stars

• QB Case Cookus (Case. . .Cookus)
• S Ahmad Dixon
• S Jack Tocho

Tampa Bay Bandits

None (unless I’ve missed them)

The action will get started on NBC this Saturday when the New Jersey Generals and Birmingham Stallions kick things off at Protective Stadium. That one will get underway at 6:30 PM Central and will be simulcast on FOX, NBC, and Peacock. The other three games for the weekend will take place on Sunday.

• Houston Gamblers vs Michigan Panthers - 11:00 AM Central time, NBC/Peacock
• Philadelphia Stars vs New Orleans Breakers - 3:00 PM Central time, USA Network
• Tampa Bay Bandits vs Pittsburgh Maulers - 7:00 PM Central time, Fox Sports One

Will you be watching the new USFL this spring, folks?