ST. LOUIS—With no offense to the other teams in the XFL Conference, United Football League executives said the quiet part out loud several months ago. They wanted the St. Louis Battlehawks to reach the league’s championship game, being contested here at The Dome at America’s Center. The team has dominated XFL and now UFL attendance rankings over the past two seasons, proving that the COVID-shortened 2020 season was no fluke.
But the football gods had other ideas, as San Antonio defeated St. Louis 25-15 in last week’s XFL championship, meaning the Brahmas will face the Birmingham Stallions here instead.
If the casual fan is wondering how many people will fill the dome and who they’re more likely to be rooting for, don’t be surprised if the answer is Birmingham, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a shorter drive.
Many of their fans are already here, prepared to cheer for Stallions safety Daniel Isom, a hometown product who played at Saint Louis University High School before a college career that took him to Northern Illinois and later Washington State.
“I know the crew I’m bringing’s gonna bring some juice. Doesn’t matter if it’s 40 thousand people there or it’s zero people there, we gonna come there and handle business so that’s what we’re looking to do,” Isom told Spectrum News earlier this week. He didn’t guess how many family and friends he’ll have in the stands, but has been busy handling ticket requests.
Isom saw time with the Los Angeles Rams in training camp in 2022 and later was on the team’s practice squad before getting released. He’s spent the past two years out of football due to injuries but connected with Birmingham this season, appearing in 10 games.
Last week he tied the USFL conference championship with an interception return for a touchdown against Michigan.
“He has continued to grow. He gets better and better. And I think that’s a result of playing. You can go lift weights, you can run, but you need to play this game to get better at it and I think he is really evolving,” head coach Skip Holtz said this week. “I think he’s playing at a really high level right now. And he’s an integral part of what we’re doing in the secondary. Really proud of him, really happy for him, really excited to see his growth and I think having the opportunity to come home I think is gonna be great for him.”
Isom’s SLUH teams never reached the Dome during his high school football career but he has plenty of memories of going to Rams games, going down on the field and meeting players. Sunday is a “full circle” moment.
“It was a cool experience having that in the city so it’s good to have football back in the city. People in St. Louis they do love football being there. The UFL created a good opportunity for them to have a loyal fanbase again. Football in the city is definitely great for St. Louis,” said.
“If everybody’s looking for a team to cheer for now that St. Louis isn’t in it, I mean giddy up. The Stallions would always have the opportunity to recruit fans and we love St. Louis,” Holtz said.