Getty Images Bo Scarbrough runs in a touchdown for Alabama in the 2017 CFP National Championship game.
With the 2023 USFL season quickly approaching, former Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough is back in action for the reigning champion Birmingham Stallions.
Getting that work in @starbo06 🔥
After joining the Stallions at the midway point of the 2022 season in May, Scarbrough quickly made his presence felt, taking home Offensive Player of the Week honors in just his second week with the team. He appeared in six games total, finishing 10th in the league in total rushing yards but averaging over 14.0 yards per carry, making him one of the most effective backs in the league.
Alongside the electrifying quarterback play from J’Mar Smith, Scarbrough’s bruising running style helped the Stallions cruise to a 9-1 regular season record, which included an eight-game win streak. The Stallions took home the inaugural championship trophy after an exciting back-and-forth game against the Philadelphia Stars in which Scarbrough ran for 135 yards and a score.
THE BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS ARE USFL CHAMPIONS 🏆🐎
The USFL season kicks off on April 15 as Scarbrough and the Stallions look to begin their title defense against the New Jersey Generals.
How Bo Scarbrough Got to the USFL
Scarbrough, 26, was picked by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2018 draft but was released just months later. After not appearing in a game with the Cowboys, he eventually saw some NFL action in 2019 with the Detroit Lions. He appeared in six games, starting five of them and rushing for 377 yards with a touchdown. He appeared in one game with the Seattle Seahawks in 2020 and never made it out of training camp with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021, the last stop of his NFL career.
Heading into 2023, Scarbrough has another chance to assert his dominance.
“You’ve got a 6-foot-2, 240-pound tailback who’s a freak, a bruiser,” said Stallions coach Skip Holtz in a March 14 story published by IrishIllustrated.com.
Fox Sports called Scarbrough “physically impressive” but also noted his “work ethic and humble nature,” crediting the University of Alabama with teaching him useful lessons.
“Doing the right thing when you’re supposed to do it, where you’re supposed to do it, how you’re supposed to do it,” Scarbrough said, according to a May 2022 story. “And those things have stuck with me from Day 1.”
Bo knows Offensive Player of the Week 💪
The votes are in and the Week 6 Offensive Player of the Week is @USFLStallions RB Bo Scarbrough 🐎🐎🐎
Scarbrough’s Path to the USFL
A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Scarbrough initially attended Northridge High School before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season in August of 2013. According to a 2014 story from Al.com, Scarbrough absolutely dominated opposing defenses while at IMG, finishing his senior year with over 1,400 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in just 10 games.
He was rated by 247Sports as the No. 16 overall prospect in the nation and the No. 2 overall in the state of Alabama. Scarbrough was selected as an Under Armour All-American and committed to the Crimson Tide over a plethora of other offers.
Getty ImagesBo Scarbrough as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2017.
As a freshman, Scarbrough sat behind Derrick Henry and appeared in just four games, but as a sophomore, the big bodied back took on a larger role within the offense, finishing the year with over 800 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns before suffering a leg injury in the final matchup of the season against Clemson.
After returning from his injury, Scarbrough split carries with then-junior Damien Harris and finished 2017 with 596 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, helping the Tide return to the national title game and defeat the Georgia Bulldogs.
In its first season back since 1986, the USFL saw major success. According to a July 2022 story published by the Sports Business Journal, average viewership across 36 regular season games was 715,000 viewers, and per Yahoo! Sports, the championship game peaked at over 1.8 million viewers.