AJ McCarron led his team to a second-straight comeback win on Thursday night, as the St. Louis BattleHawks defeated the Seattle Sea Dragons 20–18 in the XFL’s first game of Week 2. He was emotional last week, as he celebrated his win with his family, and those emotions didn’t go away this week.
The former Alabama quarterback threw for 184 yards and a touchdown on Thursday night, including a drive that resulted in the game-winning field goal as time expired.
After the game, McCarron told ESPN how much it means for him to be able to prove he can still play and start for a team.
“Ever since I came out of college, I’ve been counted out a little bit,” he said. “It’s just fun to come out here and play, I missed playing.”
McCarron was a star at Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide win back-to-back National Championships in 2011 and ’12. He then spent eight years as a backup quarterback in the NFL with the Bengals, Raiders and Texans. After tearing his ACL with the Falcons ahead of the 2021 season, he sat out all of ’22.
Now, McCarron has a chance to start again in the XFL and show he is recovered from that injury. At 32-years-old, McCarron has had special moments in the XFL in just the first two weeks that he would not have in the NFL.
“Not always just being a backup, and that’s a great living, it really is and I absolutely love it, but I love playing,” he added. “This is special and I can’t thank the XFL enough.”
