Wildcats in spring football: Every former Kentucky football player in the UFL

Forever, the NFL has leaned heavily on the SEC in particular for talent. The league is littered with former SEC football players and plenty from Mark Stoops program in Lexington. However, for those players who aren’t quite good enough for the NFL, but aren’t giving up on their professional football dreams, there is another option. 

A few years ago, the XFL and USFL popped back up, both trying to stick as the primary spring football league. It’s not yet clear that one spring league is viable, and two certainly couldn’t coexist, so they unified to create the UFL an eight-team league.

The UFL can serve as a feeder system for the NFL, catching any of the talent that is cast aside on draft night and slips through the cracks of training camps. T.J. Carter from Kentucky is one of those players. The only former Wildcat currently playing in the fledgling league. 

Carter recorded six career sacks across his four seasons at Kentucky, but his size at 6-foot-3 290 pounds was alluring enough for the Michigan Panthers to add him to their roster. Carter has recorded two tackles this season. Carter had a stint with the LA Rams during their 2022 training camp.