How Jordan Ta'amu's UFL MVP snub motivated Defenders in 2025 championship game
It didn't take long for DC Defenders tight end Briley Moore to reach out to his quarterback, Jordan Ta'amu, who Moore believed "was a lock" to win the distinguished honor.
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At 2:51 p.m. local time, Moore sent a text to his quarterback. The 27-year-old shared the message verbatim in a news conference following the Defenders' 58-34 win over the Panthers in the 2025 UFL championship game.
"I can't wait either at all," Moore read. "But when you're holding up that trophy on stage tomorrow night, I'm gonna be chanting MVP."
That's exactly what happened. The entire Defenders team serenaded its quarterback after Ta'amu put together a record-breaking performance in the championship game.
Ta'amu completed 21 of 28 passes for a league-record 390 yards while logging five total touchdowns in DC's rout. Despite being a part of the action, Moore could hardly believe what his quarterback had achieved.
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"I mean, this stat line is insane," Moore said, while glancing over a stat sheet from Saturday's game. "But that's just him. After getting that news (he didn't win MVP) 24 hours ago, he didn't flinch. He didn't try to do too much. He didn't let him affect him, and he just balled out."
Moore believes one of the reasons Ta'amu progressed so much in 2025 — a season during which he led the league in passing touchdowns with 17 — was that the quarterback was playing "with a different confidence."
Ta'amu explained his confidence stemmed from the trust he has in his teammates, who he said motivated him after he finished behind Perkins in the regular-season MVP voting.
"Just having that brotherhood behind me meant a lot," Ta'amu said when he explained how he felt about Moore's pregame message to him.
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While Ta'amu praised Perkins as a "great quarterback" who deserved to be the MVP, he acknowledged that his missing out on the award fueled him and the entire Defenders team.
"It just gave us a big chip on our shoulder to go out there and play hard," Ta'amu said about the championship game.
The Defenders were able to do that, thanks in no small part to their offense. DC scored on its opening 10 possessions and set a UFL record for points scored in a game with 58.
Moore was among those happy DC exacted revenge on Michigan, both for the team's sake and for Ta'amu's.
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"I feel like I didn't do enough throughout the season to get him that MVP," Moore said. "So, this game was a little personal."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Jordan Ta'amu's UFL MVP snub motivated Briley Moore, Defenders
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