By Jeff Moeller
They bill themselves as “The League of Eight Cities.”
The XFL is hoping the third time will be the proverbial charm. Vince McMahon launched the inaugural version in 1999 before the league ceased operations in 2001. Seventeen years later in 2018, McMahon tried again, changed the format, and launched it in 2020. His luck didn’t change –mainly due to COVID – and it ended again in 2020.
When the talk of a new league begins to circulate, there will be plenty of wide smirks and fake smiles. But football officially goes on its hiatus after the Super Bowl, and the NBA, NCAA, and the NHL have proved they don;t have the same sticking power in February.
Besides, would you rather watch the NBA All-Star festivities this weekend instead of a new football league? The NBA All-Star Game has turned into a glorified pickup game in the ridiculous team captain format.
This time around, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the main player behind this revival, and he has aligned cities in Arlington (Texas), Houston, Seattle. San Antonio, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Washington (D.C.), and Orlando.
It begins Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader and the other four teams finish the weekend Sunday with the games on ESPN and ABC.
The league has already provided some star power with the coaching corral of Bob Stoops, Wade Phillips, Rod Woodson, Hines Ward, and Jim Haslett. Anthony Brecht and Reggie Barlow are the least known in the bunch.
The eight-team league will play a 10-game schedule that will wrap up with the championship on May 13. They appear to be solvent with 800 employees and solid TV money behind them.
They will soon have to contend with the USFL, which begins its second season –backed primarily by FOX – April 15. Talk about some spring football.
In Orlando, former Florida State legend Terrell Buckely will lead the Guardians, who will play their home games at Camping World Stadium. If you were a fan in 2020, the Guardians were based in the New York/ New Jersey market and played at MetLife Stadium.
Orlando will make its debut Saturday night in Houston at 8:30 on ESPN.
The Guardians will be guided by 29-year-old former Bronco quarterback Paxton Lynch, who previously spent some time in the XFL and USFL.
Lynch has a former target in his huddle in Cody Latimer, who also spent some time with the Giants and Washington, but he has been inactive for three years. There also is ex-Steeler receiver Eli Rogers, who had a three-year stint there as well as some time in the USFL and CFL. Rogers also is a former XFL student.
On the other side of the ball, safety Matt Elam was the Ravens’ top pick in the 2013 draft. He was a staple with the Ravens until a knee injury in 2016 changed his path. He did have a brief stint in the CFL, and he and Rogers were teammates in the XFL in 2020.
I have always had an affinity for new leagues dating back to the WFL in the mid-’70s and the inaugural USFL in the ‘80s.
Unlike the USFL last season, Orlando’s entry in the XFL has some name recognition that should lure a good share of fans. They will have their home opener next weekend, and that will be the acid test. Can they make the 65,000-capacity stadium look good in front of the cameras?
The league will bring back all of its previous rules that worked to make it as fast a paced game as possible.
It certainly is worth a look. It beats the February blues. And would you rather watch the NBA All-Star Game?
(Columnist Jeff Moeller writes about football and other sports for SportsDay and the Florida Sports Wire)
