Former Maryland Terrapin Wideout Kaden Prather Becomes 2026 UFL Champion

The two-year Maryland Terrapin product became a UFL champion with the Louisville Kings over the weekend.

Louisville Kings’ Kaden Prather caught the ball for a first down against Birmingham Stallions’ Alex Cook (30) and Hudson Clark in a United Football League game at Lynn Family Stadium. March 27, 2026 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Just one year removed from College Football play, a former Maryland Terrapin football player has become a champion at the next level. Kaden Prather (23) and the Louisville Kings won the 2026 UFL Championship on Saturday against the reigning defending champs, DC Defenders, 27-20, at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

It was a bittersweet moment for Prather, the Germantown, MD, native, who became a champion in front of his hometown, where he surely had friends and family in attendance to support him, amid a sold-out crowd of 20,000 fans.

The victory caps off a special season for Prather and the Kings, who were in their inaugural season and started slowly with a 0-3 record before finishing the regular season 6-4. Louisville then defeated the St. Louis Battlehawks to clinch its spot in the Championship.

Prather finished the season with nine receptions for 148 yards and 16.4 yards per reception.

This has been a journey for the 6-foot-3, 210-pound receiver, who began his collegiate career at West Virginia, coming out of Northwest High School as a four-star prospect ranked the 45th-best wideout and 13th-best Maryland prospect, according to 247Sports.

In his freshman campaign, he appeared in nine games, hauling in 12 receptions for 175 receiving yards. However, in his sophomore year, he improved in all statistical categories, playing in 11 of 12 possible games posting:

52 receptions, 501 receiving yards, three touchdowns, 4.7 receptions per contest, and 45.5 yards per contest.

After the 2022 season with the Mountaineers, Prather was lured home by Terps head coach Mike Locksley, who needed playmakers at the receiver position for his offense. Prather became exactly what Locksley was looking for in his two seasons at College Park, where he amounted 98 receptions, 1290 receiving yards, nine touchdowns, averaging 51.6 yards per contest, and adding 35 rushing yards too.

Prather would then declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round, becoming the fifth Terp selected out of that class.

Unfortunately, a hamstring issue sidelined Prather for a significant period during Training Camp. It limited him to only 10 snaps in his lone preseason appearance against the Chicago Bears. This led former Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and company to make a tough decision and release the young wideout via an injury settlement.

Prather had gotten a chance to work out with the Atlanta Falcons ahead of week 14 of the 2025 NFL season, due to injuries and lack of production in the wideout room.

Prather was then selected by Louisville on Day Two of the UFL Draft back in January.

Congrats to the young wideout, and hopefully, he gets a shot during the NFL Training Camp period next month to continue a dream that has only been briefly paused.

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