UCF Alumnus Nevelle Clarke Still Making Waves with USFL’s New Orleans Breakers

Former UCF standout Nevelle Clarke Looking to get back to the NFL.

collier logan | Apr 29, 2022

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UCF Knights

Many UCF fans will remember cornerback Nevelle Clarke fondly from his time with the Knights. Clarke played in ten games as a freshman for UCF’s undefeated 2017 team and became a cornerstone in the secondary during his junior and senior seasons. The Miami native totaled 108 tackles, 34 passes defended and five interceptions during his collegiate career in Orlando.

After going undrafted, Clarke had a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings before being released during final cuts just before the 2020 NFL season. That hasn’t deterred the unshakeable Clarke, who is working harder than ever to make his dream of playing professional football come true. The corner spent 2021 in The Spring League, a developmental football league meant to showcase unsigned talent. From there he was enlisted by the United States Football League’s (USFL) New Orleans franchise, the Breakers, in the ninth round of the USFL Draft.

New Orleans played their second game of this inaugural (USFL) season on Sunday and crushed the Tampa Bay Bandits 34-3. Early in the fourth quarter, Bandits receiver Jordan Lasley lost his footing and quarterback Jordan Ta’amu lofted a ball over the middle where it was hijacked by none other than Clarke, who had been lurking in coverage. Clarke turned on the jets and returned his first pick of the season for 37 yards before being taken down at the Bandits’ 31-yard line.

The USFL is the newest in what seems like a long line of secondary football leagues to have been formed recently. The league kicked off the season this April and will have a ten game regular season between the eight member teams. The playoffs will culminate in the USFL Championship to be played on July 3rd.

It’s been reported that active roster players make a $45,000 salary and practice players bring home $15,000, while everyone gets paid $600 a week during training camp. Not exactly the king’s ransom doled out to their NFL counterparts, but there are special rules in place for some high-profile college players who are in the transfer portal, are two years removed from high school and one year away from NFL draft eligibility. It will be interesting to see how this additional financial consideration affects each of these players.

USFL Vice President Brian Woods says, “We are absolutely trying to make it a little more incentivizing for them”. The league provides an opportunity for players to get paid to play football, simple as that. But beyond that simple mission what the league really promises is exposure for its players, a chance to shine during the NFL offseason and the hope that maybe some scouting director somewhere is flipping through the channels and will say, “Hey! I think we could use that guy.” Woods went on to add “We feel that not only can our league be a standalone, professional sports property and be dominant in the spring football space, but we also can offer players the opportunity to become a professional football player a little sooner than what might be [currently] allowed.”

The Breakers have kicked off the season with a 2-0 start and look like early favorites to win the championship in July. If New Orleans keeps dominating and Clarke continues to contribute, the former Knight may just get another shot at the NFL. It’s hard to be certain what the future holds for the young Clarke as he tries to make his way in the upstart USFL, but you can be sure he’s taking all that he learned at UCF with him into every challenge he takes on.

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