After three successive wins by the Birmingham Stallions, two as USFL Championships and one as the inaugural UFL Championship, a new king has emerged in spring football. The D.C. Defenders took on the Michigan Panthers over the weekend and secured a dominant win for their maiden UFL Championship.
Among the several impact players for the Defenders, one name might be familiar to NFL fans: Former Super Bowl champion Jaydon Mickens. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver left the league in 2023 and was fired up as he got to lift the second major trophy of his career.
Jaydon Mickens Overwhelmed After Winning Maiden UFL Championship
Jordan Ta’amu led the Defenders with 390 passing yards and four touchdowns as they cruised past the Panthers to win the United Football League Championship game 58-34 on Saturday night in St. Louis. Ta’amu took home the UFL Championship MVP for his efforts, but Mickens’ performance was equally impressive.
He recorded six receptions for 132 yards and one touchdown for the Defenders and was fired up after the win. Mickens termed the occasion a beautiful night and detailed the hurdles he and the team had to pass to lift the trophy.
“Hey, D.C., we are the Champions of the world,” an enthusiastic Mickens said. “And it’s a beautiful night. We gonna take this and we gonna enjoy this one. This has been a longtime coming. So much adversity, so many fights, so many arguments, so many smiles. Beautiful.”
“AYE D.C.! WE’RE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!” 🏆
Jaydon Mickens and the D.C. Defenders take home @TheUFL Championship title 😤 pic.twitter.com/aaSU27URJ2
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 15, 2025
Both Mickens and Ta’amu were undrafted free agents in the NFL and didn’t get much playing time, especially the latter. He didn’t make it out of the practice squads with any time and signed with the Defenders in January 2025. The 27-year-old was equally jubilant as Mickens and described lifting the UFL Championship as “a surreal feeling”.
“We were kind of playing within our offense and trying not to do too much,” Ta’amu said. “We just wanted to play our game. We knew going into this week that we were the better team. … It’s such a surreal feeling.”
Mickens, meanwhile, found relatively more playing time at the start of his NFL career. After being released by the Raiders from his UDFA contract a year after signing it in 2017, he suited up for the Jacksonville Jaguars and had a 63-yard punt return touchdown in Week 9 of that season, helping the team register a 23–7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
He made a few more notable contributions that season, but was released the following year. Mickens signed with the Buccaneers in late 2019, and while he didn’t play during the regular season or the playoffs, he earned the Super Bowl ring after being named kick returner for Super Bowl LV, in which Tampa Bay registered a 31–9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mickens would later spend brief stints with the Jaguars, the New York Giants, and the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squads. After not finding even those offers in 2024, he transitioned to the UFL in January earlier this year.
