YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Former Eastern Michigan football student-athlete Gunnar Oakes has signed a deal with the USFL's Michigan Panthers for the upcoming 2024 spring football season, league office announced today, July 12. The Panthers previously drafted Oakes in February of this year and Oakes remains eligible to accept an NFL contract this season and is currently on the shortlist for consideration at several teams according to his agent, John Decker.
The USFL is a professional American football league that plays in the spring months, outside of a traditional football schedule. A once-popular spring football league by the same name operated between 1983-86 (officially dissolved in 1990).