| DC Defenders | |
| Current: | 2025 DC Defenders season |
| Uniform: | DC Defenders UFL Uniform (2024).svg |
| First Season: | 2020 |
| City: | Audi Field (Washington, DC) |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Stadium Years: |
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| Owner: | Fox Corporation (50%), Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, RedBird Capital Partners (50%) |
| Coach: | Reggie Barlow |
| Manager: | Von Hutchins |
| League: | XFL (2020–2023)
United Football League (2024–present)
|
| Team History: |
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| No League Champs: | 0 |
| No Conf Champs: | 0 |
| No Div Champs: | 1 |
| No Playoff Appearances: | 1 |
| Div Champs: |
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| Playoff Appearances: |
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| Colors: | Red, white, silver[1] |
The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is owned and operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The Defenders play their home games at Audi Field. The Defenders have a regular season record of 12–3 (.800), the second-highest win percentage among UFL teams as of its 2024 season. They were also the top team in the 2023 XFL, boasting a 9–1 record and scoring 49 more points than the next closest team, the St. Louis Battlehawks.[2] [3]
On December 5, 2018, Washington, D.C., was announced as one of eight cities that would join the newly reformed XFL, as well as Seattle, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Dallas.[4] On February 21, 2019, the team hired Pep Hamilton, who was most recently an assistant with the Michigan Wolverines football team, as their first head coach and general manager. Hamilton is an alumnus of Howard University and was familiar to XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck through Hamilton's work with Luck's son, former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck.[5] The team name and logo were revealed on August 21, 2019, followed by the uniforms on December 3, 2019.[6]
On October 15, 2019, the Defenders announced their first player in team history, being assigned former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones.[7] Later that day, the 2020 XFL Draft took place. The Defenders selected wide receiver Rashard Davis with the first overall pick, but he did not play for the team and later signed with the Tennessee Titans.
On February 8, 2020, the Defenders won the first game in modern XFL history, defeating the Seattle Dragons by a score of 31–19.[8] On February 15, 2020, the Defenders beat the New York Guardians by a score of 27–0, which was the first shutout in modern XFL history. On March 12, 2020, the XFL announced that the remainder of the 2020 XFL season had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 10, 2020, the XFL suspended operations and terminated all employees, players, and staff.[9]
On August 3, 2020, it was reported that a consortium led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (through Cardinale's fund RedBird Capital Partners) purchased the XFL for $15 million just hours before an auction could take place; the purchase received court approval on August 7, 2020.[10] [11] In March 2022, a report emerged that Reggie Barlow would become the new head coach of the D.C. XFL franchise, confirming that Washington, D.C., would return as an XFL city. Barlow's hire was official on April 13, 2022, as well as the return of the D.C. franchise on July 24, 2022.[12] [13] On October 31, 2022, the XFL announced that the Defenders name would be returning, this time with a brand new logo.[14]
In September 2023, Axios reported that the XFL was in advanced talks with the USFL to merge the two leagues prior to the start of their 2024 seasons.[15] On September 28, 2023, the XFL and USFL announced their intent to merge with details surrounding the merger to be announced at a later date.[16] The merger would also require regulatory approval.[17] In October 2023 the XFL filed a trademark application for the name "United Football League".[18] On November 30, 2023, Garcia announced via her Instagram page that the leagues had received regulatory approval for the merger and were finalizing plans for a "combined season" to begin March 30, 2024.[19] The merger was made official on December 31, 2023.[20]
| Season | Pos | Name | NFL team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | CB | Elijah Campbell | Miami Dolphins | |
| 2023 | P | Daniel Whelan | Green Bay Packers | |
| 2023 | WR | Chris Blair | Atlanta Falcons | |
| 2023 | WR | Lucky Jackson | Minnesota Vikings | |
| 2023–2024 | G | Liam Fornadel | New England Patriots | |
| 2023–2024 | DE | Malik Fisher | Houston Texans | |
| 2024 | WR | Ty Scott | Seattle Seahawks | |
| 2024 | WR | Kelvin Harmon | Dallas Cowboys | |
| 2023–2024 | WR | Brandon Smith | New York Jets |
| Season | Pos | Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | QB | Cardale Jones | Former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback | |
| 2020 | WR | Eli Rogers | Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver | |
| 2020 | S | Matt Elam | Former Baltimore Ravens safety, 2013 1st round pick | |
| 2020 | S | Rahim Moore | Former Denver Broncos safety, 2011 2nd round pick | |
| 2024 | WR | Preston Williams | Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver | |
| 2024 | LB | Jordan Evans | Former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker, 2017 6th round pick | |
| 2023–2024 | S | D. J. Swearinger | Former Houston Texans safety, 2013 2nd round pick | |
| 2023–present | S | Montae Nicholson | Former Washington Commanders safety, 2017 4th round pick | |
| 2024 | CB | Gareon Conley | Former Oakland Raiders cornerback, 2016 1st round pick | |
| 2024-present | CB | Deandre Baker | Former New York Giants cornerback, 2019 1st round pick | |
| 2024-present | WR | Keke Coutee | Former Houston Texans wide receiver, 2018 4th round pick |
| Defenders XFL OPOY winners | ||||
| Year | Player | Position | Selector | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Jordan Ta'amu | QB | XFL | |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | |||||
| DC Defenders | |||||||||||
| 1 | Pep Hamilton | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | ||
| 2 | Reggie Barlow | 2023–present | 20 | 13 | 7 | .650 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2023 XFL Coach of the Year[21] | |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| DC Defenders | ||||||||||
| 1 | Tanner Engstrand | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | |
| 2 | Fred Kaiss | 2023–present | 20 | 13 | 7 | .650 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | |||||
| DC Defenders | |||||||||||
| 1 | Jeff FitzGerald | 2020 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2 | Louie Cioffi | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | ||
| 3 | Gregg Williams | 2023–present | 20 | 13 | 7 | .650 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Defenders XFL COTY winners | |||
| Year | Player | Selector | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Reggie Barlow | XFL | |
| Year | Coach | Stadium | Location | Opponent | Score | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Reggie Barlow | Audi Field | Washington, D.C. | 37–21 | 9–1 | ||
| Total North Division championship games won: | 1 | ||||||
The Defenders have a rivalry against the St. Louis Battlehawks.[22] The Defenders have won all three matchups between the two teams. In addition, every game has been decided by one possession and has determined who is the top team in the division at that point in the season. At the end of their first meeting of the 2023 season, three players were ejected after a brawl broke out.[23] A week later, the Battlehawks' quarterback, A. J. McCarron, called their competition the "first XFL rivalry."[24]
| Seattle Sea Dragons | 4–0 | 1.000 | |
| Houston Roughnecks (2020) | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| Houston Roughnecks (2024) | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| Memphis Showboats | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| San Antonio Brahmas | 2–1 | .667 | |
| Vegas Vipers | 2–1 | .667 | |
| St. Louis Battlehawks | 3–2 | .600 | |
| Arlington Renegades | 2–2 | .500 | |
| Orlando Guardians | 1–1 | .500 | |
| Birmingham Stallions | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Los Angeles Wildcats | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Michigan Panthers | 0–1 | .000 |
| All-time Defenders leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Player | Record | Years with Defenders | |
| Passing yards | Jordan Ta'amu | 3,514 passing yards | 2023–present | |
| Passing touchdowns | Jordan Ta'amu | 27 passing touchdowns | 2023–present | |
| Rushing yards | Abram Smith | 788 rushing yards | 2023–present | |
| Rushing touchdowns | Abram Smith | 7 rushing touchdowns | 2023–present | |
| Receiving yards | Chris Blair | 594 receiving yards | 2023 | |
| Receiving touchdowns | Alex Ellis | 6 receiving touchdowns | 2023–present | |
| Receptions | Lucky Jackson | 36 receptions | 2023 | |
| Tackles | Francis Bernard | 73 tackles | 2023–present | |
| Sacks | Malik Fisher | 7 sacks | 2023–present | |
| Interceptions | Michael Joseph | 4 interceptions | 2023–present | |
| Coaching wins | Reggie Barlow | 13 wins | 2023–present | |
The Baltimore–Washington area has a history of several teams in alternative professional football. The USFL had the Washington Federals (a mostly unsuccessful franchise) in its first two years. Then the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars moved from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland, in 1985, winning the USFL's final championship. The Canadian Football League's Baltimore CFL Colts/Stallions were the only successful American team in the league during their two-year existence in the mid-1990s (and were the only American-based team to win the Grey Cup, the CFL's championship). Indoor teams to have played in Washington include the Washington Commandos and the Washington Valor (which folded two months before the Defenders' first game) of the Arena Football League, and the D.C. Armor of American Indoor Football Association, in addition to several teams based in Maryland.
The Defenders join the Washington Commanders, Washington Nationals, Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, D.C. United, Washington Spirit, Capital City Go-Go, and Old Glory DC as professional sports teams based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Defenders fans have taken up a tradition of assembling beer snakes out of empty beer containers. The snake constructed at the March 8, 2020, game vs the St. Louis Battlehawks ended up spanning several rows, including a contribution from then-Commissioner Oliver Luck.[25]
In the 2023 season opener against the Seattle Sea Dragons, fans threw lemons onto the field after stadium security personnel confiscated several attempts at making a beer snake, delaying the game for a few minutes. This prompted the Defenders to discuss the issue with Audi Field security and set new guidelines that allowed the beer snake to return during the next home game on March 5.[26]