green bay packer alex mcgough grateful for opportunities provided by the stallions and usfl

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APRIL 15, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

He’s been gone less than a year, but a twinge of nostalgia still hit Alex McGough when he returned to Birmingham on Saturday.

“This is cool,” McGough said, as he stood on the Protective Stadium sideline before the Birmingham Stallions victory over the Memphis Showboats. “Driving in, seeing all the places I would go to during the season, kind of brought back all the memories. Now, being at the game, seeing all my friends, seeing all the friends I played with, it’s been good.”

Relatively speaking, McGough, a 28-year-old Tampa native, spent a short time during his life in Birmingham. That time was memorable, though. McGough spent two seasons with the Birmingham Stallions, winning a USFL championship in each of those seasons. In 2023, McGough was the league’s best player, accounting for 2,508 yards and 25 touchdowns to lead the Stallions to a 10-2 record.

 When he was done, a stalled NFL opportunity had new life. McGough signed with the Green Bay Packers as soon as the 2023 USFL season ended. He spent the 2023 NFL season on the Packers practice squad, serving as the third quarterback on the roster behind Jordan Love and Sean Clifford.

That opportunity came about because of what happened in Birmingham with the Stallions. With that in mind, McGough was asked what the Stallions and spring football means to him.

“That’s a good question,” McGough said, glancing out at the Protective Stadium field, where players were lining up. “If you look at all the guys that made it to the next level, not just from the Stallions. It’s like hope. These guys, they love the game so bad, they just love to play wherever, whenever. I’m sure if you ask everybody out there, ‘You want to go play in the street? There are two scouts out there watching, you want to play?’ And they’ll go play. That’s just what this league is.”

McGough continued.

“It gives you the college and NFL level football, like the competitiveness of college to earn their way to the NFL,” McGough said “And then you get to the NFL (feel) and people with families trying to provide. You get those mix of two worlds and it’s good to see. I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to watch my former team.”

It was a whirlwind trip to Birmingham for McGough, who left after the game to return to Green Bay for the start of the Packers’ organized team activities (OTAs) on Monday. For McGough, the opportunity to have an offseason and offseason training is different than a year ago. His season ended with the Stallions and he immediately went to work with the Packers.

“At first it was pretty rough,” McGough said of the toll on his body. “But your mental game was still there and you’re used to everything. There was no grace period. There was no, like, ‘I haven’t played in three months’ I just played like a week ago. I was still in game mode.”

It was an adjustment, though, going from being the starting quarterback to trying to fit into an established position.

“I did have to get used to not taking as many reps,” McGough said. “You get however many reps you get in practice. I was used to getting every single one of them. It was a little different there but it’s like everything else in life. You have to work through some things, it’s just another thing you have to balance.”

It didn’t take McGough long to notice what it means to be a Packer in the city of Green Bay. That was accomplished on the opening day of training camp.

“The first day, you go into training camp, and there are like 200, 300, 400 people outside the doors (of the locker room) with bikes,” McGough said. “You just kind of walk out and they’re all screaming to pick you to ride their bikes (to the practice field). You pick one and everybody else is mad at you. Everybody is positive, nothing is negative ever. I’ve never heard the fans say a negative thing to a Packer player. They own the team, it’s community owned. It’s so much different than anywhere I’ve ever been. It’s such a football town. It’s like a college town. Green Bay is Lambeau Field with houses around it. It's cold as hell but it’s a great place.”

We’ll get to the weather in a minute. Before that, though, McGough was put on the team’s practice squad at the end of training camp. Like the rest of the roster, he practiced throughout the week, mixing in a few reps with the regular offense while also running the scout team offense. He was on the sideline for all of the team’s games – home and away. He charted plays when the Packers had the ball and helped out Jordan Love when he was on the sideline.

There was no disappointment, McGough said, for being on the practice squad, instead of being a member of the active roster.

“You’re on the team and I was still helping the team win,” McGough said. “I just was the third guy. I don’t think there is a matter of disappointment at all when I’m on the team. Now, if I cut and was not on the team then it’s a disappointment. Obviously, the goal is to play, to dress, be active. As long as you’re still in the fight, you know what I’m saying. As long as I’m still there and I’m still fighting, I’m alright. You’re on the team 100 percent and do everything that the team does. I travel to every game. If anything would have happened to one of them, then I was in. I hope it never did but I was there just in case.”

Now back to the Green Bay weather. For context, McGough grew up in Florida, played collegiately at Florida International University and never lived in the conditions he faced in Green Bay.

It was, obviously, an adjustment.

“Freezing,” said McGough, almost shivering at the memory. “I had like nine thermals on. I went up to the equipment guy, it was like 50 degrees, and was like ‘Thermals.’ He was like, ‘Dude you have no idea.’”

McGough found out eventually.

“We didn’t really have a cold game, no, actually we had one that was like 5-10 degrees,” McGough said. “But, the coldest day was like minus-7 with a minus-22 wind chill. I walked out of my apartment, to walk 10 feet to my truck, my lungs were  hurting. It hurt to breathe in the air. I was like, ‘I need to get out of here. I can’t drive in snow, I don’t know what’s happening.”

As with everything else, he figured it out. Now, his focus on getting ready for another year with the Packers after progressing as  player.

“You know, a lot,” McGough said when asked the amount of progression he made. “You learn so much from people that you watch. Just naturally, you start picking stuff up and learning. Whatever situation you’re in, if you just listen and observe, you will learn. The reps that you get and the reps that you do help. I was doing other things, other than quarterback, while I was there and learned some of that, too. We’ll see what happens.”