Former Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta'amu is on his way to play for the XFL Championship
Jordan Ta’amu‘s second stint in the XFL is set to have a potential happy ending as the former Ole Miss quarterback is a win away from a championship.
The D.C. Defenders, which Ta’amu is the starting quarterback for, defeated the Seattle Sea Dragons 37-21 in the XFL North Division Championship on Sunday. Ta’amu and the Defenders will now play the Arlington Renegades in San Antonio on May 13.
Ta’amu overcame a pair interceptions in the first half with a pair of touchdown passes in the second half as part of a 28-12 run by the Defenders the final two quarters to the North Division title. Ta’amu finished with 258 yards and completed 19 of 31 pass attempts.
This is the second run in the XFL for Ta’amu, who was drafted by the St. Louis Battlehawks in the league’s second iteration in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the league down midseason. Actor and hollywood mega start Dwayne Johnson along with his team bought the XFL and revived it this spring.
Before coming back to the XFL Ta’amu spent a season in the USFL as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Bandits in 2022. In the offseason he signed with the Defenders and returned to the XFL while the Bandits moved to Memphis and reformed the old USFL Showboats team this season.
Ta’amu led the Defenders to a 9-1 regular season record, the best in the XFL. In those 10 games he completed 62 percent of his passes (144-of-229) for 14 touchdowns and 1,894 yards and three interceptions.
He also rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns on 67 carries.
Ta’amu is on the verge of a second former Ole Miss quarterback to win a professional football championship.
Back in November Chad Kelly led the Toronto Argonauts to the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup championship. Kelly signed a two-year contract with the Argonauts in February of last year.
In a couple weeks Ta’amu will be four quarters away from joining Kelly as former Ole Miss signal callers to lead teams to a title.
Ta’amu’s career also included a brief stint in the NFL when he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in April 2020 before getting cut a year later. He then signed a deal with the Detroit Lions three months later but was a casualty of roster cutting a week later during preseason camp.
The 2023 XFL Championship will take place at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
