A.J. McCarron will return to QB the St. Louis Battlehawks in 2024. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Jason Barnes
Staff Writer
When quarterback AJ McCarron returned to football last year with the St. Louis Battlehawks, the former University of Alabama All-American pointed to his oldest son as the motivation to get back in the game.
After going from the Battlehawks to the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals last year, McCarron chose to come back to St. Louis for another season of spring football, and he again cited his family as a reason for his return.
“My kids are everything to me,” said McCarron, who is the father of three boys. “I think as soon as the season ended last year and Daddy got home, I think the first question was: Why are you home? Are you not playing football anymore? That was a hard thing to explain to a 6-year-old was how messed up the tiebreaker situation was that we got screwed out of. Literally, from the time the season ended, wearing the St. Louis helmet I brought back home … they were a huge deal in me playing last year and me coming back this year. They love watching.”
When he joined the resurrected XFL last year, McCarron hadn’t played since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an Atlanta Falcons’ preseason game on Aug. 21, 2021.
“My son got to play football for the first time this year,” McCarron said at the time about playing again, “so being able to coach him — and he works an I-Pad like no other now, and he can look up YouTube highlights and stuff, so he basically came to me and said he wanted to watch me play again, and this is a great opportunity to be back out there, show that my knee’s healthy and I’m good to go.”
McCarron’s family figured in one of the signature moments of the XFL’s 2023 season.
In the Battlehawks’ season-opening game on Feb. 19, McCarron rallied St. Louis to an 18-15 victory over the San Antonio Brahmas by throwing two touchdown passes in the final 85 seconds.
After the game, two of McCarron’s sons ran over to their dad while he was being interviewed on the field, and the emotion of the moment was conveyed to the national-television audience.
“It’s awesome,” McCarron said about having his family at the game, adding after a pause, “It means a lot.”
McCarron said playing for the Battlehawks had an unforeseen family benefit, too.
“I tell you, as a dad and also as a coach for them, it really helped my oldest son,” McCarron said. “… I think the first two years I was coaching him, if I coached him hard, he looked at it as: ‘Oh, Dad’s mad at me, getting on to me. He’s not happy with me,’ rather than ‘Dad’s just coaching me to be the best I can be.’ I can’t thank (Battlehawks coach Anthony Becht) enough for allowing the boys to come down to camp last year and be ballboys and come sit in meetings. Like (offensive coordinator) Bruce (Gradkowski) allowed the boys to sit in meetings and watch film and listen to how Daddy got coached. It’s not always roses for Daddy, and the coaches get mad at me, too, and coach me up.
“It’s helped him grow a ton when it came to sports this past year. He would literally come to me and ask for coaching and really took the coaching well and realized, ‘Dad’s just trying to make me the best I can be and knows how good I can be.’ Again, they were a huge part in me coming back this year.”
St. Louis and three other XFL teams have joined with four teams from the USFL to form the United Football League for 2024.
The UFL teams gathered in Arlington, Texas, this weekend for training camp. The Battlehawks start the season against the Michigan Panthers on March 30 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
The Battlehawks will make their home debut, the following weekend, when they’ll host the Arlington Renegades on April 6 at The Dome at America’s Center.