Max Duffy set to begin professional football career
On Sunday night, former Kentucky Wildcats punter Max Duffy will begin his professional football career.
After he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Maulers in the ninth round (No. 71 overall) of the United States Football league (USFL) supplemental draft last month, Duffy is set to take the gridiron for the first time since graduating from UK as arguably the program’s all-time greatest punter. The 29-year-old Australian native will suit up for the Maulers in the 2022 season-opener against the Tampa Bay Bandits, which is set for an 8:00 p.m. EST kickoff on FS1.
Duffy, the 2019 Ray Guy winner at Kentucky, was initially drafted by the Toronto Argonauts in the fourth round of the CFL Global Draft last spring and later signed with the Denver Broncos a month later as an undrafted free agent. However, he was waived in June. But he’s received another opportunity, and Duffy gave the Big Blue Nation his permission to wear some non-traditional colors in support of the Maulers.
The USFL is a brand new football league that was initially announced back in June 2021. The inaugural season began on Saturday and will continue across a 10-game season that runs from April through June. Despite being located in Pittsburgh, Duffy and the Maulers will play the entire season in Birmingham, AL. In fact, all eight USFL teams will play the opening season in Birmingham at Legion Field and Protective Stadium.
Duffy won’t be the only former Wildcat participating in the new league. Former Kentucky placekicker Austin MacGinnis will be on the New Orleans Breakers after being selected in the USFL draft back in April. Elsewhere, one-time Wildcats such as defensive end T.J. Carter (Michigan Panthers) and Jeff Badet (New Orleans Breakers) will also be participating in the league.
Pin It Deep might be put on a hold for the foreseeable future.
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