Two former Michigan State football players join Michigan Panthers of the UFL

A couple of former Michigan State football players are headed to the professional ranks.

Former offensive lineman JD Duplain was selected in the ninth round by the Michigan Panthers on Wednesday afternoon, joining former Spartan Rocky Lombardi who was selected in the fifth round by the same team.

This draft selected players who went undrafted in the NFL draft this spring. Duplain was hoping to hear his name called during the NFL draft after starting over 40 games for the Spartans during his career on the offensive line, but he unfortunately went unselected.

The same can be said for former Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi who spent 2021-23 at Northern Illinois. He's also not the only former Michigan State gunslinger to join the Panthers as Brian Lewerke was on the team this past season as a backup.

Michigan selected 10 players and 20 percent of them used to suit up for Michigan State. And there's a third that could be on the roster when the season resumes next spring.

While this isn't exactly the career path that Duplain expected when he started for Michigan State and went through the draft process, he will get a chance to prove himself and there are plenty of instances of guys going from the XFL and USFL (now the UFL) to the NFL. Maybe one of these former Michigan State starters will be the next.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Duplain show out with Michigan and even crack the two-deep. He was one of the steadying forces on the offensive line for the past couple of years.

Oh yeah, and Rocky Lombardi is a Michigan State legend for what he did to Michigan in 2020.

It'll be easy to root both of these guys on at the next level.