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Football is back but this time it’s with brand new teams and brand new players... well, sort of.
The USFL has been revamped after a nearly 40-year hiatus and has brought back eight teams from the original 1980s league. The squads will each play a 10-game regular season with every team playing in the hub city of Birmingham, Alabama. All of the games will be played at historic either Legion Field or Protective Stadium, the home of the UAB Blazers.
The Houston Gamblers are one of those eight teams and they have several names that college football fans will recognize. The vast majority of the team were standouts at their college, but had a tough time making it in the NFL, if they were even given a chance to get that far.
Two of the more successful players on the Gamblers are running back Dalyn Dawkins and quarterback Clayton Thorson. Dawkins had a standout career at Colorado State which he parlayed into a two year stint with the Tennessee Titans from 2018-2019. He then found himself on the practice squad for the Detroit Lions in 2020 before signing with the Gamblers last season.
Thorson is the winningest quarterback of a Big Ten program, shattering the record books at Northwestern during his time there. He led the Wildcats to their first-ever Big Ten title game appearance in 2018 as well. He was a fifth-round draft pick by the Philidelphia Eagles and has since bounced around practice squads and was a member of the New York Giants active roster for parts of last season. The team will be coached by former Texas A&M and Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin.
Here’s a look at the rest of the roster for the Houston Gamblers.
Houston Gamblers Roster
| OFFENSE | No. | POS | AGE | HT | WT | COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | No. | POS | AGE | HT | WT | COLLEGE |
| Anthony Ratliff-Williams | 17 | WR | 24 | 6'1" | 200 lbs | North Carolina |
| Avery Gennesy | 74 | T | 28 | 6'4" | 321 lbs | Texas A&M |
| Brandon Barnes | 8 | TE | 27 | 6'4" | 255 lbs | Alabama State |
| Brandon Hitner | 78 | OL | 26 | 6'6" | 305 lbs | Villanova |
| Clayton Thorson | 18 | QB | 26 | 6'4" | 225 lbs | Northwestern |
| Dalyn Dawkins | 2 | RB | 27 | 5'7" | 183 lbs | Colorado State |
| Devwah Whaley | 12 | RB | 24 | 5'11" | 212 lbs | Arkansas |
| Erick Browne | 51 | OL | 25 | 6'4" | 316 lbs | Merrimack |
| Isaiah Zuber | 1 | WR | 24 | 6'0" | 190 lbs | Mississippi State |
| JoJo Ward | 23 | WR | 24 | 5'9" | 175 lbs | Hawaii |
| John Yarbrough | 55 | T | 25 | 6'5" | 301 lbs | Richmond |
| Julian Allen | 86 | TE | 27 | 6'3" | 248 lbs | Southern Miss |
| Kenji Bahar | 11 | QB | 24 | 6'3" | 200 lbs | Monmouth |
| Kristjan Sokoli | 60 | OL | 30 | 6'5" | 300 lbs | Buffalo |
| Mark Thompson | 7 | RB | 27 | 6'2" | 235 lbs | Florida |
| Nick Buchanan | 66 | OL | - | 6'3" | 303 lbs | Florida |
| Teo Redding | 14 | WR | 27 | 6'1" | 176 lbs | Bowling Green |
| Terrone Prescod | 70 | OL | - | 6'5" | 330 lbs | North Carolina State |
| Tyler Higby | 77 | OL | 25 | 6'5" | 300 lbs | Michigan State |
| Tyler Palka | 16 | WR | - | 6'1" | 200 lbs | Gannon (PA) |
| Tyler Simmons | 10 | WR | 24 | 6'2" | 201 lbs | Georgia |
| DEFENSE | POS | AGE | HT | WT | COLLEGE | |
| Ahmad Gooden | 99 | DE | 26 | 6'2" | 243 lbs | Samford |
| Andrew Soroh | 9 | S | 26 | 6'0" | 185 lbs | Florida Atlantic |
| Azeem Victor | 3 | LB | 26 | 6'3" | 231 lbs | Washington |
| Beniquez Brown | 42 | LB | 28 | 6'1" | 196 lbs | Mississippi State |
| Chris Odom | 93 | DE | 27 | 6'3" | 245 lbs | Arkansas State |
| Cory Thomas | 91 | DT | 26 | 6'5" | 310 lbs | Mississippi State |
| Domenique David | 52 | DT | 26 | 6'3" | 315 lbs | UNC-Pembroke |
| Donald Payne | 15 | LB | 27 | 6'0" | 228 lbs | Stetson |
| Drequan Brown | 50 | DE | - | 6'1" | 233 lbs | Central Oklahoma |
| Drew Lewis | 20 | LB | 26 | 6'5" | 195 lbs | Colorado |
| Jamar Summers | 21 | CB | 26 | 5'11" | 191 lbs | Connecticut |
| Jerry Cantave | 31 | CB | - | 6'3" | 190 lbs | William Jewell |
| Josh Avery | 90 | DT | 26 | 6'3" | 320 lbs | Southeast Missouri State |
| Malik Harris | 92 | DE | - | 6'5" | 265 lbs | Incarnate Word |
| Manny Bunch | 22 | S | 24 | 6'1" | 210 lbs | Tulsa |
| Micah Abernathy | 32 | CB | 25 | 6'0" | 195 lbs | Tennessee |
| Reggie Northrup | 5 | LB | 28 | 6'1" | 220 lbs | Florida State |
| Ryan White | 25 | CB | 30 | 6'0" | 195 lbs | Auburn |
| Stanley Green | 24 | CB | 23 | 6'0" | 200 lbs | Illinois |
| Tomasi Laulile | 94 | DT | 26 | 6'3" | 300 lbs | Brigham Young |
| Will Likely | 4 | CB | 27 | 5'7" | 179 lbs | Maryland |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | POS | AGE | HT | WT | COLLEGE | |
| Andrew Galitz | 13 | P | - | 6'0" | 195 lbs | Baylor |
| Nick Vogel | 19 | K | 26 | 5'9" | 190 lbs | UAB |
| Tucker Addington | 38 | LS | - | 6'2" | 230 lbs | Sam Houston State |