Alabama was the most dominant college football team in the 2010s, capturing four national titles from 2010 to 2019. Alabama wasn’t known for its passing game or fast-paced offense at the time. Instead, they relied primarily on their defense and ferocious football running game.
Bo Scarbrough was one of the running backs who helped the Crimson win two national championships. Scarbrough was the last man defenders wanted to see, as Jalen Hurt and Damien White ran side by side, wearing down the defense. When Scarbrough stepped in, the exhausted defenders would have to cope with a 6-1, 235-pound running back who would not juke, cut, or outrun them; he would simply try to go straight through them. And
On Saturday, Bo Scarbrough revealed that he was formally retiring from the game. However, his impact on the game will be remembered in a far different way than that of any other player, possibly in professional football history.
Scarbrough Was the Face of the New USFL
When the USFL launched in 2022, the league intended to avoid the tragedy of many other spring football leagues that had begun and then failed owing to a lack of interest. In order to prosper, the league required two things: entertaining games and a great player.
The games were actually quite entertaining, especially given the USFL’s peculiar rules and camera positions. However, the league lacked a well-known and widely recognized player.
Enter Bo Scarborough.
While Scarbrough did not have the NFL career he had planned for, his distinctive name and dominance at Alabama made him well-known. Rather than watching a game with a bunch of guys who the average fan had never heard of, Scarbrough was a name that people recognized and remembered. It also helped that he played for the top team, the Birmingham Stallions.
Scarbrough sealed his short but extremely effective legacy in the 2022 USFL Championship, rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries (10.1 yards per carry). His performance, along with that of his teammates, drew enough ratings to keep the USFL going for another year. Scarbrough returned to the Stallions in 2023, but he played sparingly due to an injury.
USFL and XFL Merge
With an already established fanbase, many fans were drawn in by Scarbroughs’ performance, and the USFL was granted a second season in 2023. The problem was that they had to split their audience with the freshly relaunched XFL league. Both leagues struggled to attract viewers, but the support was sufficient for the XFL and USFL to determine it was in everyone’s best interests to unify the two leagues and rename them the UFL.
The UFL will make its official debut later this spring, with the Alabama Stallions among those chosen to remain in the league after the XFL and USFL decided to keep only a few of their existing clubs.
Without Bo Scarbrough, one has to wonder if the UFSFL would have survived another season, if the XFL would have been interested, and if the two leagues would have been able to unite.
