First Call: 2 Steelers lash out at 18-game schedule idea; new RB contract may set bar for Najee Harris; no Maulers return in ’25
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris will definitely take note of a new contract signed by one of his peers in the AFC. Two Steelers defensive backs are lashing out at the idea of an 18-game season. The Pittsburgh Maulers are not coming back into existence just yet. The Pirates...
2023 in Pittsburgh professional sports: Kenny Pickett’s highs, lows an ongoing storyline for Steelers
The first day of the calendar year brought a sense of anticipation and hope for a fruitful future for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last day of 2023? It shows just how complicated and unsettled the outlook for the organization really is. When Kenny Pickett directed an 80-yard winning drive in...
First Call: Maulers eliminated; Joe Flacco may start for Browns; Pro Bowl TE to Ravens?
The Pittsburgh Steelers may miss a key member of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Lots of nuggets are coming out of the AFC North. The Penguins are getting set to face the Flyers. We check in on RMU hockey. And RIP Pittsburgh Maulers … again. Hollywood’s heel As the Steelers...
Pro football leagues XFL, USFL announce intent to merge
NEW YORK — The XFL and USFL plan to join forces. The spring pro football leagues announced in a statement Thursday they would merge going forward. The statement said details of the new league would come out at a later date. The XFL has eight teams from Seattle, Washington, to...
Maulers can’t keep up with Stallions in USFL championship game
When head coach Ray Horton offered his opening remarks on the eve of the USFL championship, he wasn’t concerned that the Pittsburgh Maulers took a losing record into the game against the league’s top team, the Birmingham Stallions. “We’re ready,” Horton said Friday. “We’re like fine-tuned thoroughbred horses that are...
With Maulers in USFL title game, Ray Horton lobbies for son Jarren to get his due in coaching ranks
CANTON, Ohio — It took 30 years and stops at seven NFL destinations for Ray Horton to secure a head coaching job at any level of football. And it came not in the sport’s most decorated league but rather in the upstart USFL. Horton, the former Steelers assistant who was...
2023 USFL Championship at a glance: Pittsburgh Maulers vs. Birmingham Stallions
The Pittsburgh Maulers will try to complete their quest to go from worst to first when they meet the the Birmingham Stallions at 8 p.m. Saturday in the 2023 USFL Championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game will be broadcast on NBC. Here’s...
Pittsburgh Maulers believe best of season to come in USFL championship game
CANTON, Ohio — Ray Horton can’t take credit for the inspirational words that have served as the Pittsburgh Maulers’ rallying cry late in the USFL season. The Maulers, coached by the former Steelers assistant and NFL defensive coordinator, have overcome a 2-6 start with three consecutive wins that improbably have...
Pittsburgh Maulers top Michigan in overtime to reach USFL championship game
It took two overtime “innings” in a “shootout” format to decide a winner, but the Pittsburgh Maulers find themselves in the USFL championship game for the first time after a thrilling 31-27 victory over the Michigan Panthers in the USFL semifinals Saturday night at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio....
Pittsburgh Maulers’ Jarren Horton named USFL Assistant Coach of the Year
The architect of the USFL’s stingiest and most ball-hawking defense, Pittsburgh Maulers defensive coordinator Jarren Horton was awarded the league’s first Assistant Coach of the Year Award on Thursday. Now in his second season guiding the Maulers’ defense, Horton’s group led the league in yards allowed per game (257.4) and...
5 Pittsburgh Maulers earn All-USFL honors ahead of semifinal game
The Pittsburgh Maulers continue to turn heads during the 2023 USFL season. They gained a spot in the postseason by earning their fourth win Saturday, beating the New Jersey Generals, 26-6, in the regular-season finale. Once the final weekend’s games were completed, the Maulers (4-6) were awarded the top seed...
Maulers clinch playoff spot with dominant defensive showing
When Ray Horton was hired as the second head coach in the history of the second edition of the Pittsburgh Maulers in January, the task ahead of him was daunting. Take a Maulers team that finished with a 1-9 record last season, worst in the USFL, and turn it into...
Maulers beat Michigan to give huge boost to playoff hopes
Thanks to another brilliant defensive effort, the Pittsburgh Maulers have gone from the brink of playoff elimination to controlling their own postseason fate. Kyahva Tezino had two of his team’s four interceptions as the Maulers defeated the Michigan Panthers, 19-7, on Saturday in Canton, Ohio. If the Maulers (3-6) had...
Pittsburgh Maulers’ lead slips away late in loss to Houston Gamblers
The Pittsburgh Maulers’ stingy defense held its own for much of Saturday’s USFL contest against the Houston Gamblers. But one of the league’s top running backs proved too much to deny. Mark Thompson scored on a 33-yard touchdown run with 4 minutes, 51 seconds to play to give the Gamblers...
USFL president Daryl Johnston hypes evolution during league’s 2nd season
The USFL is three weeks from wrapping up its second regular season, and preparations are underway for the 2023 playoffs, which will conclude with the championship game July 1 in Canton, Ohio. The playoffs will kick off with the North Division championship at 8 p.m. June 24, followed by the...
Maulers stumble in 2nd half, fall to Philadelphia
After a disastrous second half Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Maulers have slipped into last place in the USFL’s North Division, and with three games left in the regular season, their path to the playoffs has grown narrow. The Philadelphia Stars connected on a pair of 56-yard passes and held the...
Todd Haley-led Memphis Showboats shut out Pittsburgh Maulers
The Pittsburgh Maulers committed three turnovers and allowed a length-of-the field touchdown return en route to a 22-0 loss to the Memphis Showboats on Saturday afternoon in Memphis. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Maulers, who fell to 2-4 in the USFL season. Former Pitt kicker Chris...
Offense makes strides as Maulers dominate Michigan Panthers
Five weeks into the USFL season, the offense might be catching up to the defense for the Pittsburgh Maulers. After falling behind on an early touchdown sparked by a special teams play, the Maulers shut down the Michigan Panthers the rest of the way, winning 23-7 on Saturday afternoon at...
Deon Cain’s late kickoff return touchdown lifts Birmingham Stallions past Pittsburgh Maulers
The Pittsburgh Maulers looked to be in line for a second straight victory Sunday night. It took 11 seconds for that to change. Deon Cain’s highlight-reel 91-yard kickoff return with 6 minutes, 52 seconds remaining gave the defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions a 23-20 win over the Maulers at Tom...
Pittsburgh Maulers’ Reuben Foster, Chris Blewitt earn USFL weekly honors
A pair of Pittsburgh Maulers were recognized Monday for their roles in helping their team to its first victory of the season Sunday afternoon. Linebacker Reuben Foster was named the USFL’s Defensive Player of the Week, while newly signed kicker Chris Blewitt was the USFL’s Special Teams Player of the...
Former Pitt kicker Chris Blewitt sets USFL record as Pittsburgh Maulers earn 1st victory of season
Chris Blewitt made quite an impact in his debut with the Pittsburgh Maulers on Sunday. But the former Pitt kicker had some help leading the Maulers to their first victory of the season. Blewitt connected on a USFL-record five field goals, and wide receiver Bailey Gaither scored the team’s first...
Offensive struggles continue for Pittsburgh Maulers in loss to New Jersey Generals
The Pittsburgh Maulers continued to have struggles on offense Sunday afternoon, failing to cross the goal line for the second straight week. The Maulers managed just a field goal en route to a 20-3 loss to the New Jersey Generals in their home opener Sunday at Tom Benson Hall of...
Defense, special teams shine but Pittsburgh Maulers fall to Breakers in opener
Reuben Foster walked the sideline with a black and gold sledgehammer late in the first half of the Pittsburgh Maulers’ season-opening game Sunday night. A first-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, the linebacker forced a fumble near the goal line that fellow linebacker Kyahva Tezino recovered for...
With new coach, colors, location, Maulers return for 2nd USFL season
Like the league that brings a spring alternative for football-starved fans, the Pittsburgh Maulers return for a second season this weekend. The team wouldn’t mind all similarities to 2022 ending there, however. The Maulers are coming off a season that was the worst in the eight-team USFL, a 1-9 finish...
Maulers reveal new black-and-gold uniforms
The initial social-media post that revealed them came with a caption, “Black & Gold has never looked better.” While the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins perhaps might disagree, the Pittsburgh Maulers on Thursday unveiled their uniforms for the 2023 season that for the first time are based on the colors associated...
