A mere three days after receiving a stunner from one “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on WWE Raw’s 25th Anniversary show, Vince McMahon announced plans to restart the beleaguered XFL (the X is for Extreme!).
It’s Football…Only More Extreme!
The original league played its only season back in 2001 and sought to add more extreme rules to the game of American football, or just football if you’re not a pansy. Some of the adjustments to warrant the league’s X included foregoing the coin toss, instead having a player from each team scramble for the ball to determine first possession. Also, there were no field goals for extra points after touchdowns because everything had to be earned in this league, you slack-jawed fagoo! There were also some strippers masquerading as cheerleaders.
Although McMahon claims this league will not have any of the gimmicks that defined the previous iteration, it’s hard to see what will be the appeal of this league. Despite having a handful of players who would go on to join the NFL after the league folded, the last version of the XFL was crippled by putting out a less than stellar product, even with all of the extreme enhancements. However, McMahon believes an extra year of prep time will be sufficient to make sure the teams they assemble can actually play something resembling the game of football.
Why Now?
The NFL has been seeing declining ratings, but it is argued rather this stems from oversaturation or the politics that have been embroiled with the NFL recently. Taking a cue from the issues that have plagued the NFL, McMahon did allude during his press conference that kneeling, and other political statements, would not be permitted and players who have criminal records will not be signed by the league. Whether these claims stay true when the league opens for business in 2020 remains to be seen.
I’m willing to give the new league a chance, even if it does boil down to a minor-league NFL. I’m not the biggest football fan, but if they can add some excitement or uniqueness to this , maybe the XFL can become more than just a footnote in sports history.
