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Welcome back to the Tigers Football Insider, where we bring you the latest news and analysis from The Daily Memphian’s Frank Bonner II, Geoff Calkins and John Martin each week.
A couple of former Tigers are continuing their professional football careers after getting picked up on the first day of the USFL Draft on Tuesday.
Former quarterback Brady White was drafted by the Tampa Bay Bandits as the seventh pick in the 12th round. White kept pushing for his chance to play professionally after finishing his college career following the 2020 season and now has the opportunity.
White left Memphis as the career passing leader in school history. He threw for 10,730 career yards and 91 touchdowns for the Tigers. Another former Tiger, Paxton Lynch, was drafted right behind White as the eighth pick in the 12th round by the Michigan Panthers.
Lynch was drafted by the Denver Broncos as the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He started in four of the five games he played during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and completed 61.7% of his passes while tallying 792 passing yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
Lynch, who played for the Tigers from 2012-15, is third on the Tigers’ all-time list for career passing yards. He finished his Memphis career with 8,863 passing yards and 59 passing touchdowns.
Former Tigers Kewan Alfred, who spent last season in the National Arena League, signed a contract with the Orlando Predators. Alfred tallied 12 tackles, three sacks, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and an interception with the Columbus Lions last year. He was listed as a defensive lineman with the Lions but is listed as a fullback/linebacker by the Predators.
Day 2 of the USFL draft started at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and will finish out the remaining rounds. Seeing former Tigers get the opportunity to play in the USFL league is another recruiting boost for Memphis.
Memphis has had several athletes play in the NFL and having former players in the USFL shows that athletes can come to Memphis and have opportunities to play professionally even if they don’t reach the NFL level.
USFL season starts April 16.
More from your Insider:
Cole Mashburn has a crack in his lower spine that he has been dealing with since high school.
Listen to Tigers beat writers Steven Johnson and Frank Bonner II break down the Tigers’ six-game winning streak and where the latest NFL draft projections have a few Memphis players landing.
The University of Memphis will kick off the football season Sept. 3 against Mississippi State. North Texas and North Alabama are the only teams it is playing this year that were not on last year’s schedule.
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