ON Monday QB Quentin Dormady was released by the Memphis Showboats after only five days at camp. Today he tells Kevin Seifert of ESPN, that it was over his union activities amid CBA talks.
Dormady, who was traded from the San Antonio Brahmas to the Showboats in the off season. Was competing for the starting quarterback position under first year head coach Ken Whisenhunt. E.J. Perry and Troy Williams are also competing for the starting spot.
He was a starter for the XFL’s Orlando Guardians in 2023 and started six games from the Brahmas last season. The Brahmas made it all the way to the UFL Championship game eventually losing to the Birmingham Stallions. Dormady replaced an ineffective Chase Garber in that game.
According to the article, Dormady was helping organize players.
“Dormady took on an increasing leadership role this month in organizing players’ response to the league’s CBA proposal, which included discussions about the possibility of boycotting the league’s media days last week.”
Dormady at 29 years old, is one of the older quarterbacks in the UFL. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to see him get released for a younger player. But it was his interactions with new Showboats GM Jim Monos that raises some eyebrows.
Dormady said that on March 8, Memphis general manager Jim Monos informed him via phone he would be released. According to Dormady, Monos did not provide an explanation. In a face-to-face meeting March 9, Dormady said Monos told him the decision was not based on his practice performance. On March 10, Dormady said he received a text attributing the decision to his accuracy and footwork.
He goes on to tell ESPN.
“I’ve been very open about trying to help lead the negotiations here to get us to where we can get to a place to finish this and come to a resolution. But when we’re at a standstill because the league refuses to even meet us a third of the way, then there’s no good faith here. So I think that this was a deal where it’s like, let’s chop a head off and make this another way that they can threaten people.”
A UFL spokesman released the following statement to ESPN.
Our teams engage in various player transactions during training camp, including free agent signings, moving players to injured reserve, waivers and terminations. In fact, through eight days of camp, 24 players have been released. Any player transactions are purely the result of football decisions at the team level and have nothing to do with collective bargaining negotiations.
With the the NFLPA weighing in and now this. It is hard to gauge what is going on behind the scenes at the UFL. We at UFL News Hub keep getting conflicting stories about a potential player walkout.
It will be interesting to see if Dormady gets pickup up by another UFL as we get closer to the season. A spring football veteran with UFL experience. If a quarterback goes down in practice will a team call him or has the league moved on.
It should be noted that ESPN owns part of the United Football League.
1 Comment
by 4th&long
Mark,
A player walk out = UFL fold. I think or hope enough players realize that.
The players signed knowing the comp and benefits – this is just a power play. Not to mention that all players are on a 1 yr contract. They could be one and done yet want to have a long term impact on league comp? Its silly.