Ex-Cal QB Chandler Rogers Wins United Football League Title

Chandler Rogers was Fernando Mendoza's backup at Cal in 2024, but he will get a pro football championship ring before Mendoza does.

Rogers did not have a great game in the United Football League championship game on Saturday in Washington, D.C., but it was good enough to give his Louisville Kings a 27-20 victory over the D.C. Defenders in the United Bowl.

Rogers never got much of a chance at Cal. He transferred from North Texas to Cal following the 2023 season, and he competed with Mendoza for the Bears' starting quarterback job in preseason. But Mendoza won the job to begin the 2024 season and never relinquished it. Rogers attempted just 12 passes, completing eight, that season, and he could not get on the field in meaningful situations with Mendoza performing well as a third-year sophomore that season.

Rogers again was a backup to begin the 2026 season for Kings. But when Louisville started 1-3, Rodgers became the starter, and the Kings won seven of the eight games with Chandler as their starting quarterback, including the title game.

In Saturday's championship game, Rogers had perhaps his worst game of the season. He was just 9-for-17 for 81 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a 26.5 passer rating, but his final statistics represented an improvement over what he had done early in the game.

The Kings trailed 16-7 at halftime, and early in the third period Chandler was just 4-for-11 for 20 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a rather embarrassing passer rating of 5.3. But he was 5-for-6 for 61 yards the rest of the game, and that included this nice 40-yard completion to Tarik Black.

What a catch by Tarik Black! 👏

📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/Cr7iBWedxK
— Louisville Kings (@UFLKings) June 13, 2026

Rogers also had 32 rushing yards, and his mobility helped the Kings avoid negative plays.

The Kings rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter, then stopped the Defenders on a fourth-and-5 play from the Louisville 6-yard line with 1:52 remaining in the game.

Mendoza, of course, went on to win a Heisman Trophy at Indiana, and was the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft. But he is a long way from winning a pro football championship, something Rogers did in his first pro season.

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