A.J. McCarron is the XFL’s new record-holder for touchdown passes in a single season.
With 6 TD passes in the St. Louis BattleHawks regular-season finale, McCarron finished with 24 throwing scores on the season. McCarron was 28-of-35 passing for 420 yards in a 53-28 win over the Orlando Guardians.
AJ McCarron set the XFL single-season passing touchdown record, passing Tommy Maddox (18) from 2001 @XFL2023
McCarron finished with 24 passing TDs during the regular season. pic.twitter.com/LKMv4c7g5I
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 23, 2023
A.J. McCarron and the Battlehawks offense are firing on all cylinders right now!!!#ORLvsSTL | #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/M0itimYoYs
— XFL Center (@XFLCenter) April 22, 2023
What’s next for McCarron?
For most professional football players, the XFL is an opportunity to get noticed by NFL teams. McCarron’s situation, however, is a bit different.
McCarron, 32, was in the NFL from 2014-to-2021, mostly as a backup with limited appearances. There’s a lot of money to be made as a career backup quarterback in the NFL. McCarron, though, has other priorities.
In February, he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he opted for the XFL over potential NFL opportunities so that his kids could see him play.
“My 6-year-old loves watching tape of me on YouTube. That’s a big reason I chose to return this way,” McCarron said at the time. “I probably could’ve tried to come back with an NFL team and had a chance to probably made bigger money, but no one knows what the future holds. I’m enjoying this and it’s a great way to create some memories for me and my boys.”
After Saturday’s game, McCarron said all he knows is that he wants to keep playing football.
“I’m not done playing,” McCarron said. “I think I’ve shown that I can play at a high level and play on a consistent level, too. It’s been awesome to have my kids be a part of this. I don’t know what the future holds. After the season’s over, we’ll sit down as a family and with my agent and see teams he’s talked to in the (NFL) or what they’re saying, and if the situation’s right for me, we’ll decide that then, and if not, we’ll talk and figure out what’s best for us as a family and then go forward from there.”
Plenty of Alabama fans who have followed the former Crimson Tide QB’s career will be interested to find out what’s next.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
