The XFL’s teams formally opened their training camps over the weekend at four locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and started putting on pads on Tuesday, but not before a final allocation of players that included former Fultondale High School and Alabama standout ArDarius Stewart.

The wide receiver was among the 78 players assigned to teams by the league in the week before training camp as the eight-team football league prepares for its season to kick off on Feb. 18.

The newest set of XFL prospects included nine from Alabama high schools and colleges:

· Linebacker Jordan Anthony (Troy) joined the San Antonio Brahmas.

· Tight end Trae Barry (Spanish Fort, Jacksonville State) joined the D.C. Defenders.

· Defensive tackle Justin Foster (Donoho, Samford) joined the Orlando Guardians.

· Defensive tackle Ulric Jones (Oxford) joined the Houston Roughnecks.

· Defensive tackle Armond Lloyd (Oak Mountain, Samford) joined the Orlando Guardians.

· Wide receiver Kelvin McKnight (Samford) joined the Seattle Sea Dragons.

· Wide receiver T.J. Simmons (Clay-Chalkville, Alabama) joined the San Antonio Brahmas.

· Wide receiver ArDarius Stewart (Fultondale, Alabama) joined the D.C. Defenders.

· Running back Kareem Walker (South Alabama) joined the St. Louis Battlehawks.

Stewart won the ASWA’s Class 2A Back of the Year Award in 2011 and 2012 at Fultondale High School. After a redshirt season, Stewart caught 129 passes for 1,713 yards and 12 touchdowns in three years at Alabama. For the Crimson Tide’s 2015 CFP national championship team, Stewart had 63 receptions for 700 yards and four touchdowns. An All-SEC selection in 2016, Stewart left Alabama for the NFL with a season of eligibility remaining.

Stewart entered the NFL as a third-round selection of the New York Jets – the 79th player drafted in 2017. As a rookie, he had six receptions for 82 yards, gained 27 yards on seven rushing attempts and returned nine kickoffs for a 19.2-yard average.

The NFL suspended Stewart on July 27, 2018, for the first two games of the 2018 season for violating the league’s Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances. Reports at the time said Stewart tested positive for a diuretic, which the NFL considered a masking agent and the same as a positive, or failed, test.

Stewart returned to New York’s active roster on Sept. 17, 2018, kicking off a series of appearances on the NFL transactions report for the rest of the season. Two days later, the Jets waived Stewart, then signed him for their practice squad two days after that. But four days later, he went on the practice squad’s injured list, and 10 days after that, New York released Stewart.

In November 2018, Stewart had a two-week stay on the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad, and he spent the final week of the 2018 regular season on the Washington Redskins’ practice squad. Stewart signed a reserve/future contract with Washington on the day after the season ended, but a week later, the team released him.

His next opportunity came in 2020 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but that chance was put on hold when the CFL canceled its season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2021, a two-week stay on injured reserve was followed by two weeks on the practice squad before Winnipeg released Stewart on Sept. 1.

Stewart signed with the CFL’s British Columbia Lions in 2022 but was released before the season started.

Stewart most recently played in two games for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Indoor Football League in the 2022 season.

The players from Alabama high schools and colleges who are on XFL rosters in training camp include:

Arlington Renegades

· Defensive lineman T.J. Barnes (Enterprise)

· Tight end Sal Cannella (Auburn)

· Offensive lineman Cam Carter (Minor)

· Defensive back T.J. Green (Sylacauga)

· Offensive lineman Mike Horton (Auburn)

· Defensive lineman Davonte Lambert (Auburn)

D.C. Defenders

· Tight end Trae Berry (Spanish Fort, Jacksonville State)

· Linebacker Jamal Brooks (Bessemer City, South Alabama)

· Wide receiver ArDarius Stewart (Fultondale, Alabama)

Houston Roughnecks

· Defensive lineman Mike Boykin (North Alabama)

· Defensive lineman Ulric Jones (Oxford)

· Quarterback Brandon Silvers (Gulf Shores, Troy)

· Offensive tackle John Yarbrough (Homewood)

Orlando Guardians

· Wide receiver Dieuly Aristilde (Alabama State)

· Offensive lineman Ja’Chai Baker (South Alabama)

· Defensive lineman Nick Coe (Auburn)

· Defensive back Javaris Davis (Auburn)

· Defensive lineman Justin Foster (Donoho, Samford)

· Defensive lineman Armond Lloyd (Oak Mountain, Samford)

· Wide receiver Octayvius Miles (Alabama A&M)

· Offensive lineman Brandon Murphy (Carver-Montgomery)

· Defensive tackle Trevon Sanders (Tuscaloosa Academy)

· Defensive back Maurice Smitherman (Minor)

· Linebacker Erroll Thompson (Florence)

· Defensive back Dee Virgin (West Alabama)

San Antonio Brahmas

· Linebacker Jordan Anthony (Troy)

· Linebacker Ben Davis (Gordo, Alabama)

· Offensive lineman Darius James (Auburn)

· Wide receiver T.J. Simmons (Clay-Chalkville, Alabama)

Seattle Sea Dragons

· Long snapper Thomas Fletcher (Alabama)

· Wide receiver Kelvin McKnight (Samford)

· Offensive lineman Chris Owens (Alabama)

· Wide receiver Jordan Veasy (Gadsden City)

· Wide receiver Damion Willis (Troy)

St. Louis Battlehawks

· Quarterback AJ McCarron (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama)

· Running back Kareem Walker (South Alabama)

Vegas Vipers

· Offensive lineman Quinterrius Eatmon (Vigor)

· Offensive lineman Antonio Garcia (Troy)

· Defensive lineman Rod Henderson (Carver-Montgomery, Alabama State)

· Linebacker Cassanova McKinzy (Woodlawn, Auburn)

· Defensive back Stephen Roberts (Opelika, Auburn)

· Defensive back Maurice Smith (Alabama)

· Offensive lineman Avery Young (Auburn)

Former Alabama State standout and coach Reggie Barlow is the head coach of the D.C. Defenders.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.