ST. LOUIS — After the Michigan Panthers beat the Birmingham Stallions 44-29 in the 2025 USFL conference championship game, the team's star running back Toa Taua was visibly emotional.

Running back Toa Taua had 85 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the win. The Panthers will take on the D.C. Defenders, who knocked off the rival St. Louis Battlehawks in a 36-18 win.

The long, flowing locks that billowed out the back of Ainuu Taua’s helmet and down the back of his jersey were essential. Wearing his hair in braids, as Taua occasionally did, would get him ...