Jace Sternberger did not appreciate how Saturday’s UFL season-opener was officiated. He called out The Rock over a dirty hit that could have ended his career.
It, somehow, went unpenalized.
Sternberger, 27, was a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. His career, marred by injury and a suspension for violating the substance-abuse policy, included three full years with the Packers and Washington Football Team and brief stops in Seattle, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end ultimately signed with the Birmingham Stallions last year and won a championship in the USFL as the league’s receiving touchdowns leader. He returned to the team for its first season as a member of the United Football League.
Birmingham began the new era with a win over the reigning XFL champion on Saturday. Sternberger caught two passes for 32 yards.
His longest catch of the day almost ended in disaster. Renegades defensive back Steven Jones Jr. very blatantly went low on Sternberger’s legs after forward momentum was already stopped.
It was intentional and worthy of a flag.
ANOTHER 🍔 pic.twitter.com/2kJ7tXLUHx
— Southern Charm Sports (@SouthernCharmSp) March 30, 2024
Sternberger did not appreciate the dirty play and called out UFL owner Dwayne ‘The Rock‘ Johnson by tagging him on X.
Lmao imagine if I would’ve got hurt bc this bulls—. Cmon now @TheRock
— @_Jstern on X
Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert, who played last year in the XFL, responded with his own horror story.
Straight up, that’s why I didn’t want to play again. Broken ribs on a deliberate hit in my first start.
There aren’t any fines or anything, so there’s zero incentive not to take people out.
— @KurtBenkert on X
Sternberger agreed that a fine system is a crucial missing component to the league.
Man bc that’s at least 50K in the league
— @_Jstern on X
Both guys are right. There is no room for calculated dirty play on any level of football.
To lack any kind of deterrent for hits of that nature poses a real issue. Players are neither penalized in real-time nor retroactively for their actions. They have no reason not to rear back and go low, as Jones did on Sternberger on Saturday.
The Rock needs to make change!