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UtahUtesFan

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Nearly two decades after its short-lived debut, the XFL has returned.

As CBS Sports first reported in January, the controversial professional league, which originated as a joint venture between WWE and NBC, is set for a 2020 reboot, complete with eight league-owned franchises. Touting everything from faster game play to decriminalized rosters (seriously), Vince McMahon's NFL alternative lasted just one season on its first run back in 2001.

But the new XFL, which still has two years to prepare for competition with the NFL and the newly formed Alliance of American Football among other leagues, took a step toward reality on Wednesday with the reveal of its eight teams and stadiums from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Here's a rundown of which cities will be hosting games when the XFL kicks off again:

City: Dallas
Stadium: Globe Life Park in Arlington (25,000) (Arlington, Texas)

City: Houston
Stadium: TDECU Stadium (40,000) (Houston, Texas)

City: Los Angeles
Stadium: Dignity Health Sports Park (27,000) (Carson, California)

City: New York
Stadium: MetLife Stadium (82,500) (East Rutherford, New Jersey)

City: Seattle
Stadium: CenturyLink Field (69,000) (Seattle, Washington)

City: St. Louis
Stadium: The Dome at America's Center (66,965) (St. Louis, Missouri)

City: Tampa
Stadium: Raymond James Stadium (65,618) (Tampa, Florida)

City: Washington, D.C.
Stadium: Audi Field (20,000) (Washington, D.C.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/xfl-announces-eight-teams-cities-and-stadiums-for-its-return-in-2020/

Edited by UtahUtesFan
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Oliver Luck: XFL will consider taking players before eligible for the NFL Draft

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence can’t play in the NFL until at least 2021.

But he’d potentially have an option to become a pro a year earlier if he wanted.

XFL commissioner Oliver Luck has openly suggested the upstart league, which will begin play in 2020, could become a safe haven for players who don’t want to spend three years in college for whatever reason.

Lawrence, a true freshman, has to stay in school another two years (or at least not join the NFL) because of the collectively bargained deal between the NFL and NFLPA which creates a de facto free farm system, and provides colleges with a pool of cheap labor. Players have to be three years out of high school to be eligible for the NFL Draft.

During a December podcast interview with with Brian Berger of the Sports Business Radio Road Show, Luck said flatly: “We’re not subject to that.”

“Theoretically we could take a player right out of high school. I doubt we’ll do that,” Luck said, noting the difference in physical development between an 18-year-old and the 24-to-25-year-old fringe NFLers they plan to build their base from.

“But I wouldn’t rule it out,” Luck said. “Nor would I rule out taking a player who played a year of college football and let’s say isn’t eligible academically, which happens. Or a player who is two years out of college, and is transferring, and would have to sit out a year. A lot of guys don’t want to. . . . We are in that position to be able to take players who wouldn’t be eligible to play in the NFL. . . .

“But that’s an option that we have and we’re going to look at it long and hard. There are a lot off very good college players after a year or two who may not want to play that third year of college football, may need to earn a little money, support the family. That’s not uncommon as well.”

Luck has said the league will pay salaries in the $250,000-$300,000 range for top players (i.e. quarterbacks) for what could be a five-month commitment. That’s an alternative for a player who doesn’t want to develop his skills for room and board and the opportunity to take classes which fit into his football schedule.

College players can also take out “loss of value” insurance policies to protect themselves against an injury which would affect their draft stock.

There’s no indication that Lawrence is anything but happy with his Clemson experience and wants to stay. But if he decides he’d rather get paid while developing, it sounds like there’s a league that would be happy to let him.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/08/oliver-luck-xfl-will-consider-taking-players-before-eligible-for-the-nfl-draft/

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Rule changes[edit]

The XFL is running test games with community colleges in Mississippi, as well as The Spring League during its spring 2019 season, to experiment with rule changes. Among the proposed rule changes:[23]

  • Fair catches will not be recognized, and the kicking team must give the returner five yards of space to recover and return the ball. (This rule is a carryover from the original XFL and is also in use in the CFL; breaching this space will result in a penalty, called no yards in the CFL.)
  • The extra point kick will be replaced with a scrimmage play, varying in point value depending on how far the touchdown-scoring team chooses to take the snap from the goal line: a two-yard attempt would score a single point, a five-yard attempt two points, and a fifteen-yard attempt three points. (This rule is also a carryover from the original XFL, which added the rule only for the playoffs. The Stars Football League also used the rule during its existence.)
  • Kickoffs will be attempted with teams separated by only five yards, with the two teams not allowed to cross the neutral zone until the returning team touches the ball.
  • All players behind the line of scrimmage will be eligible receivers, including those on the offensive line (eliminating the "illegal touching of a forward pass" penalty at other levels of the game). Offensive linemen would still be prohibited from advancing downfield before a forward pass that crosses the line of scrimmage is in the air. The XFL has also tested the idea of allowing more than one forward pass to be thrown on any given play. (McMahon had proposed a similar rule change during the run of the original XFL, but the league's coaches rejected the proposal as too radical of a change to make midseason.)[24]
  • The league is testing the wider one-yard neutral zone used by the CFL. (The NFL, college and high school standard is the length of the football, approximately 11 inches.)
  • A proposed rule would require offensive linemen (excluding the snapper) to not put their hand on the ground, outlawing the three-point stance used at all other levels of the game.
  • Outside of the two-minute drill, the clock will run continuously. (This rule has long been a part of arena football.)
  • The play clock will be substantially shorter, with a proposed length of between 25 and 30 seconds. (This rule is also a carryover from the original XFL, which used the 35-second play clock.)
  • A specialized ball judge will be added to the officiating team to speed up the placement of the ball, bringing the number of on-field officials to eight.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFL_(2020)#Rule_changes 

Edited by UtahUtesFan
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  • 4 weeks later...

I think this will be a lot better than the AAF. 

- Better team names and logos

- Way better marketing

- More aggressive going after solid talent. They could put a hit on college football accepting 19 year olds. 

- Not hiring a bunch of fossil 75 year old coaches to be “safe”. Reminds me of disney and star wars, safest moves possible. 

 

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On 2/13/2019 at 1:54 PM, BayRaider said:

I think this will be a lot better than the AAF. 

- Better team names and logos

- Way better marketing

- More aggressive going after solid talent. They could put a hit on college football accepting 19 year olds. 

- Not hiring a bunch of fossil 75 year old coaches to be “safe”. Reminds me of disney and star wars, safest moves possible. 

 

Theres voting for team names.. Right now the name in the lead for Dallas is "Y'alls". The Dallas Y'alls name was beating out 2nd place "Gunslingers" by a margin of 52% to 12%. NFCE Dallas rivals have been piling up on that "Y'all" vote. lol

Ive been in heavy defense of the XFL. But being a Redskins fan. Theyre hiring Jim Zorn to be a coach? Kinda feels like a kick in the teeth to all the support Ive tried to have for the league.

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On 2/13/2019 at 11:54 AM, BayRaider said:

I think this will be a lot better than the AAF. 

- Better team names and logos

- Way better marketing

- More aggressive going after solid talent. They could put a hit on college football accepting 19 year olds. 

- Not hiring a bunch of fossil 75 year old coaches to be “safe”. Reminds me of disney and star wars, safest moves possible. 

 

Unfortunately, it looks like they're hiring retreads with Bob Stoops and Jim Zorn. 

I do like the marketing, allowing younger players in, however. 

I came up with some possible team names: Seattle Kings (King County), Tampa Bay Barracuda, New York Guardians (FDNY, NYPD, etc), Los Angeles Xtreme (probably won't be used, still great), Houston Drillers (should be the Oilers, but this is a good alternate), St. Louis Archers, Dallas Wranglers, DC Generals.

Edited by UtahUtesFan
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  • 2 months later...

XFL announced their TV deal today -

24 games on national TV (ABC & FOX)

1 game a week minimum on FOX

1 game a week minimum on ABC

1 game a week on Fox Sports 1

Select games on ESPN, ESPN2. 1 game on Fox Sports 2.

 

Edited by UtahUtesFan
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  • 6 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Week 1 is upon us. 2 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Not really sure who to root for because I don't live anywhere near any of those teams, but I'll give it a watch.

 

Saturday:

Seattle Dragons @ DC Defenders 2 PM EST

LA Wildcats @ HOU Roughnecks 5 PM EST

 

Sunday: 

TB Vipers @ NY Guardians 2 PM EST

STL Battlehawks @ DAL Renegades 5 PM EST

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