ORLANDO, FL - The Orlando Pirates of the Indoor Football League have signed quarterback Paxton DeLaurent for the 2026 season. DeLaurent most recently took part in Rookie Minicamp with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League in 2025.

The 6'5", 229 lb. signalcaller from Southeast Missouri State University had a 2024 season that was one for the Big South - Ohio Valley Conference record books as he was Offensive Player of the Year. In 13 games, he completed 368 of 618 passes (60%) for 4,087 yards with 33 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
 
A Walter Payton Award candidate, DeLaurent led SEMO to a share of the Big South-OVC Association championship and the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs in 2024. He was tied for fourth nationally with 29 regular-season TD passes, first with 26.67 completions per game, and fifth in passing yards and passing yards per game.

In 2024, DeLaurent set the Big South-OVC Association single-season records for passing yards with 3,520, passing yards per game (293.3), completions (320), and touchdowns with 29. He became the first quarterback in Association history to throw for 400 yards in a game when he netted a then-record 418 passing yards in Week eight against Tennessee Tech.  He is also just the second quarterback in league history to throw ten TD passes in a two-game span, and tied the conference mark for touchdown passes in a game with six in Week two vs. UT Martin.  A five-time Big South-OVC Offensive Player of the Week selection in 2024, DeLaurent also had an Association-record seven games with 300-plus passing yards and had seven multi-TD pass games, including four games with at least four. He was an All-Association First-Team performer for the second time in his career.

In 2023, he was a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy. That season, he was a First-Team All-Association Selection and a member of the Conference All-Academic Team. As a sophomore in 2022, he was a HERO Sports All-American and a member of the Big South - OVC All-Newcomer Team.

DeLaurent, who hails from Camdenton, Mo, finished his Redhawks football career as the school's all-time leading passer. In 30 games, he was 737 of 1,209 passing (61%) for 8,563 yards with 63 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also ran 197 times for 459 yards with ten touchdowns.
 

---

This press release is the property of the Orlando Pirates and may not be republished in full without attribution.

About the Orlando Pirates: The 2021 United Bowl National Champions and 2-time Eastern Conference Champions, Orlando Pirates, are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) and play their home games at the KIA Center in Orlando, Florida. For 2026 ticket information for Orlando Pirates, please email contact@orlandopirates.com, call (407) 516-6391, or visit www.orlandopirates.com

Follow the Pirates on social media with the following official links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goOrlandoPirates
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mass.pirates/
X: https://x.com/OrlPirates
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orlandopirates/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@go_orlandopirates
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OrlandoPiratesFootball

About the Indoor Football League (IFL): The IFL is the longest-running indoor football league with 14 teams based in cities across the country. For additional information, please email info@goifl.com or visit the league website at https://goifl.com

Follow the IFL on social media with the following official links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IFLIndoorFootballLeague/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indoorfootballleague/
X: https://x.com/IndoorFL