Dylan Moses seeks comeback with Memphis Showboats
Dylan Moses most recently played in a football game on Jan. 11, 2021, when he tied for the team lead with six tackles in Alabama’s 52-24 victory over Ohio State in the CFP national-championship game for the 2020 season.
The former Crimson Tide linebacker is aiming to end that drought on March 31, when the Memphis Showboats kick off their United Football League schedule by visiting the Houston Roughnecks.
Moses is among the 75 players at Memphis’ training camp seeking to make the 50-man regular-season roster.
Moses’ journey to the Showboats has been beset by injuries.
An SEC All-Freshman selection in 2017, Moses missed the College Football Playoff that season because of a foot injury sustained in a December practice.
In 2018, Moses earned All-SEC recognition as the Crimson Tide’s leading tackler and was a finalist for the Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s best linebacker.
Moses missed the entire 2019 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in August.
Moses rebounded from the knee injury as Alabama’s leading tackler and an All-SEC selection in 2020. Moses also received first-team All-American recognition from the American Football Coaches Association for the Tide’s undefeated team.
Moses had surgery on Feb. 9, 2021, to repair a torn meniscus, and he entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jacksonville got Moses for a $70,000 guarantee – a $20,000 signing bonus and $50,000 of his base salary even if he didn’t make the team.
He didn’t. He never got the opportunity.
When training camp began in July 2021, the Jaguars put Moses on the non-football injury list, a designation that prevented him from practicing. The non-football injury designation meant Moses incurred his injury outside of team activities – before he joined the Jaguars in May – not necessarily outside of football.
When the regular season began, the Jaguars put Moses on reserve/non-football injury. On Dec. 22 2021, Moses practiced with the team for the first time, but he was never brought up to the active roster after getting back on the field.
On April 11, 2022, Jacksonville waived Moses.
In May 2023, Moses was invited to the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player, but the NFL team did not sign him.
Moses is among the 10 players from Alabama high schools and colleges on the training-camp roster of the Showboats, giving them the largest contingent in the United Football League.
The new league formed from the merger of the USFL and the XFL has four franchises from each. The teams started training camp on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Players from Alabama high schools and colleges on UFL rosters include:
Arlington Renegades
· Defensive lineman Davonte Lambert (Auburn)
· Defensive back Jared Mayden (Alabama)
· Offensive lineman Chris Owens (Alabama)
· Tight end Jared Scott (Jacksonville State)
Birmingham Stallions
· Offensive tackle Calvin Ashley (Auburn)
· Wide receiver Slade Bolton (Alabama)
· Guard Deonte Brown (Austin, Alabama)
· Wide receiver Myron Mitchell (Jasper, UAB)
· Running back Bo Scarbrough (Northridge, Alabama)
· Wide receiver Marlon Williams (McGill-Toolen)
RELATED: STALLIONS SET TO START ‘INCREDIBLY COMPETITIVE’ TRAINING CAMP
D.C. Defenders
· Defensive lineman T.J. Barnes (Enterprise)
· Long snapper Trae Barry (Spanish Fort, Jacksonville State)
· Wide receiver Trea Shropshire (UAB)
Houston Roughnecks
· Tight end Braedon Bowman (South Alabama)
· Linebacker Reuben Foster (Auburn High, Alabama)
· Running back Ezra Gray (Alabama State)
Memphis Showboats
· Wide receiver Dee Anderson (Alabama A&M)
· Defensive tackle Connor Christian (Jacksonville State)
· Safety T.J. Green (Sylacauga)
· Guard Kirk Kelley (Troy)
· Linebacker Dylan Moses (Alabama)
· Linebacker TJ Neal (Auburn)
· Linebacker Shaheed Salmon (Samford)
· Tight end Wes Saxton Jr. (Hueytown, South Alabama)
· Offensive tackle Sidney Wells (UAB)
· Tight end Jay Jay Wilson (Auburn)
Michigan Panthers
· Defensive tackle Garrett Marino (UAB)
San Antonio Brahmas
· Wide receiver Jordan Veasy (Gadsden City, Faulkner)
· Offensive tackle John Yarbrough (Homewood)
St. Louis Battlehawks
· Quarterback AJ McCarron (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama)
RELATED: WHY DID AJ MCCARRON RETURN TO THE ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS?
· Quarterback Brandon Silvers (Gulf Shores, Troy)
· Guard Dallas Warmack (Alabama)
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.