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Former Vikings Cornerback Comes Up Clutch in UFL Championship Game

Cameron Dantzler helped swing the title game for his Louisville Kings on Saturday.
Will Ragatz|
Louisville’s Tarik Black and Cameron Dantzler celebrate scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Renegades at Lynn Family Stadium. May 24, 2026
Louisville’s Tarik Black and Cameron Dantzler celebrate scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Renegades at Lynn Family Stadium. May 24, 2026 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

Former Vikings third-round pick and starting cornerback Cameron Dantzler made perhaps the play of the day in the Louisville Kings' 27-20 win over the D.C. Defenders in the United Football League championship game on Saturday.

Early in the fourth quarter, with Louisville up 20-16, D.C.'s E.J. Perry lofted a deep ball down the middle of the field. Dantzler caught up to the underthrown ball and picked it off, then proceeded to run it back 49 yards in the other direction to give his team great field position.

Two plays later, Louisville tacked on a key touchdown to increase its lead to 11 points. The Defenders cut it back to seven on a 60-yard four-point field goal (yes, that is a thing in the UFL) and eventually got the ball back with a chance to tie the score or take the lead, but the Kings came up with a defensive stop deep in their own end to seal their title.

Dantzler, in addition to his interception, also recovered a fumble in the first quarter after a long run by Defenders running back Xzavian Valladay, who spent a month with the Vikings last offseason.

Dantzler tied for the Louisville team lead with seven pass breakups during the regular season, adding an interception and two tackles for loss. He had a pick-six with the Memphis Showboats in the 2025 regular season.

Other former Vikings on Louisville's title-winning roster include wide receiver Lucky Jackson, defensive tackle Travis Bell, and tight end Zach Davidson, as well as a couple other players who were briefly on the Vikings' 90-man roster at one point. Jackson caught two passes in the title game and led the team with 32 receptions in the regular season.

It'll be interesting to see if Dantzler makes it back onto an NFL roster at some point, or if he's simply found a good fit in the UFL. He was on the Dolphins' roster for a week last year. Dantzler, who turns 28 this fall, last appeared in an NFL game with the Saints in 2023.

Originally a third-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2020 — the same draft class that brought the Vikings Justin Jefferson, Josh Metellus, and Blake Brandel — Dantzler got off to a very promising start to his career in Minnesota. He earned strong PFF grades in each of his first two seasons and combined for three interceptions, 12 passes defended, and two forced fumbles in that span.

Dantzler continued to play a role for the Vikings in 2022, but his production slipped a bit, he missed a chunk of the season due to injury, and he was released the following spring after Brian Flores was hired as Minnesota's defensive coordinator.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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