Yet another victim was claimed by Covid-19 as the XFL announced the
suspension of their operations and their lack of plans for 2021.
The XFL didn't do poorly at the gate and even though their television ratings slid from their opening week, I believe that had the perfect scenario not occurred with Covid-19, the league would have returned for the second season and then who knows what could have happened.
I really enjoyed the XFL as I did the AAF and I'm sad to see the XFL go because I still think there is a market for spring football.
However, I'm at a loss on how best to present the product.
Both the XFL and AAF struggled with quarterback play and when the quarterbacks struggle, fans don't always stick with the product.
If you are going to be what is in effect a minor league, the casual fan doesn't seem interested and only wants to compare the league to the NFL.
That's a dumb reason because college football isn't the NFL either and it's plenty popular.
The USFL had some very good quarterback play with two eventual Hall of Famers in Steve Young and Jim Kelly, but that avenue has its problems as well.
Going after star players means you are stepping on the NFL's toes and having to pay to land those players.
Paying big money means even larger losses as you attempt to get the league off the ground and almost every new league professes a business plan and plenty of cash to offset the initial losses.
That lasts until the losses start coming in and that's followed by panic.
The WLAF tried in the spring with NFL backing and it too failed, although there were some successes with a few of the European teams.
The NFL's problem in these matters seems to come down to this- They would like to see a league like the WLAF (or the AAF, who they came close to an agreement with) be available for training and developmental purposes, but the teams are then skittish about potential injuries.
That concern alone would likely see only undrafted free agents allocated to a league and almost certainly not a quarterback with questions about the also developmental status of offensive lines in such a league.
Vince McMahon tried going gimmicky with XFL 1 and more football-based with XFL 2 and neither succeeded, although I'm going speculate that the reasons that the XFL isn't back for a second season are the losses from Covid-related cancellations and the recent huge tumble in WWE stock may have combined to make McMahon hesitant to continue with the venture.
I don't have an answer for what would work for spring football, but I wonder why these investors/owners start leagues/buy franchises if they don't have the stomach for early losses.
Any new venture in sports is going to lose money and lots of it- if you can't afford to lose money for years and one would think that you would know that before even considering getting into sports, why would you throw your money away knowing you are (no pun intended) out of your league.
In the end, it's another failed team to add to the graveyard of teams with the Kentucky Colonels, Cleveland Crusaders, Southern California Sun, Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers, Memphis Showboats, San Francisco Demons, Arizona Hotshots and now the D.C. Defenders.
R.I.P.
Covid 19 grabbed another professional league with its tentacles as the XFL was intertwined with the virus and the infant league ended its first season after the delay that was forced upon the other sports leagues as well.
The big question is this- will the league return for 2021?
The league completed half of the planned schedule, but with the forced pause in mid-season, the league had little choice in concluding the season rather than a postponement of games.
Considering that the XFL uses more college stadiums and soccer fields than they do NFL sized facilities (only Tampa Bay and New York), the option of postponement would have made dates difficult with the five facilities that have MLS soccer teams and Houston sharing with the Houston Cougars in need of their fields during the time that makeup games would be played.
The decision to end the season does make sense for those reasons, but it does raise legitimate doubt on the future of the league.
League owner Vince McMahon stated that all players would be paid their full salaries and continue to have their health care provided and that is a positive note for a potential second season as if their plans were not to come back, it would have been far easier to just not pay the bills as any potential bad PR would not matter without a second season.
I thought the league played a better brand of football than the original and I thought it was pretty comparable to the AAF, maybe even a nick better, but there is always that group that wants to compare it to the NFL.
That's silly, but with rival leagues dating all the way back to the AAFC in the late 40s football fans always want to downplay the new league compared to the NFL.
If that is the goal for new leagues, it's an unrealistic one and I'm not sure why people even bother to start them because it cannot be reached.
The biggest problem for the league (besides attendance and TV ratings) seems to be the same as many football ventures- the quarterback play.
If there were plenty of good quarterbacks around, every NFL team would have a good one and we all know that's not true!
Other than P.J. Walker of the Houston Roughnecks, I didn't see a quarterback that raised his stock as far as playing in the NFL.
Cardale Jones looked great for two games and then awful thereafter to the point of being benched.
Jordan Ta'amu looks to be too small for the NFL, Josh Johnson might be able to be a veteran emergency type and that's about it as the passers go.
If your quarterbacks aren't great, it's hard for the games to be fun and if they aren't fun, most casual fans will not watch.
If you are looking at this as a AAA league and developmental for the NFL, that's fine.
However, the talent level for the league is going to be guys looking for a chance or someone that had failures in the NFL or players that had issues outside of football.
So what's the solution?
An alliance with the NFL is unlikely as the NFLPA wasn't interested in sending quarterbacks to the AAF and even if they did, how much difference in quality is there between the third-string passer fort the Redskins and Cardale Jones if any?
There isn't a stock of quarterbacks sitting around to pilfer, so if the league really wants to improve their quarterback play (and the other positions as well) they really only have one choice- go after college talent.
That's an expensive alternative, but if the goal is to improve the on-field play they have little choice.
That might not be the avenue that the league will go, but it's a choice that renegade football leagues soon realize after the league begins.
The business plan looks good until you start playing the games, but it's a tough choice as maintaining the status-quo will find a product that may struggle in drawing fans and chokes off revenue or if you sign top talent to improve the league and add fan interest, the bottom line soon can become untenable.
The USFL did the latter of the two choices and went under, but its three-year run is still the longest of the challenger leagues in the last fifty years and I still maintain they had the right idea- sign a few big names and mix with the other players to build a following.
The USFL was on its way under this plan under Donald Trump came along and I think it can succeed, but it's going to lose plenty of money before things turn the corner and it may still never become profitable.
I hope to see the second season of the XFL and I think a return is possible.
However, the long-term health of the league has to be in question and only Vince McMahon and his league shareholders will be able to answer if the XFL will hear the bell for season two.
Time will tell the tale of whether the D.C. Defenders are another team headed for that fabled TRS Graveyard of franchises that I cared about and have only stories and a headstone to remember them by,
This entire problem sweeping our country has taken a bit out of me of late and it took me three days to get through this post.
I hope to be working on the Browns free-agent additions soon and I may drag them out a bit since there is next to nothing else to write about in the sports world.
Thanks for sticking with me.
The D.C. Defenders needed a win badly at Audi Field after back to back awful efforts resulted in two road losses and dropped them out of first place in the XFL's Eastern Division.
It might not have been the prettiest victory, but they all count the same and the Defenders 15-6 win over St.Louis came at the right time and against the right team, as the Defenders joined the Battlehawks and New York Guardians at the top of the division at 3-2.
Ty Rausa was the star of the day for the Defenders as Rausa kicked field goals of 40, 50, and 52 yards to make up the entire victory margin. Tyree Jackson came off the bench to hit Khari Lee with a nine-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for the only D.C. touchdown.
The Defenders will attempt to win their first road game of the season next Sunday in Dallas against the 2-3 Renegades.
Defensive Deflections
1) Cardale Jones was surprisingly benched in the first quarter after an interception and replaced by Tyree Jackson for the remainder of the game.
I thought the hook was premature, but I understood the reasoning as Jones had struggled of late and D.C. could not afford to fall behind again in such a crucial outing.
The question now is which of Jones and Jackson will start next Sunday in Dallas?
2) Tyree Jackson did what he needed to do to keep the trains running on time, but was unspectacular.
Jackson did complete nine of fourteen passes, but only for thirty-nine yards and his longest completion was the nine-yard touchdown pass to Khari Lee.
But he didn't turn the football over and kept the Defenders in the game, so in a must-win game, Jackson did his job.
3) The D.C defense returned after two weeks away with two huge fourth-down stops on short yardage.
The fourth and one stop on the Defenders five as St.Louis QB Jordan Ta'amu's run attempt fell short.
You could see the St.Louis hopes to pull the game out drop then and there and until...
4) The Battlehawks final drive moved inside Defenders territory with a third and fourteen on the D.C. thirty-eight.
Jordan Ta'amu scrambles away from the rush and runs for thirteen and a half of those fourteen
yards with a little over two minutes to go.
D.C stopped Matt Jones short of that half yard and the game was over after a few offensive plays.
After two awful defensive games, the Defenders bounced back strong, maybe it's the cup snake?
5) Special teams played a part in the win as Jameer Thurman raced into the backfield and blocked Marquise King's punt in the fourth quarter to give the Defenders possession deep in St.Louis territory.
The Defenders have been able to block punts in their victories at Audi Field and I'm not sure why it's been more effective there than on the road.
6) I was critical last week of the Defenders defense and I was even more critical when the Defenders released safety Matt Elam, who finished with ten tackles in the loss to Tampa Bay.
I'm not sure why the former Ravens first-round pick was released, but it couldn't have been Elam's performance.
7) The passing game may not have pulled in a lot of yardage, but the running game sure did with over 200 yards as a team with former AAF and Arizona Hotshots running back Jhurell Pressley leading the way with 107 yards.
If the play of the quarterbacks continues to make air travel questionable, the ground attack is going to have to post similar numbers for the Defenders to hit the postseason.
Pressley is a back that can carry the load as the full-time back and enable Donnell Pumphrey to be a change of pace back in a role that he might be best suited for.
8) It does seem that an excellent group of receivers is being wasted by the Defenders.
Rashad Ross caught both passes thrown to him and Eli Rogers grabbed his only pass, but between them, they gained only thirteen yards.
9) Simmie Cobbs cracked a big play in catching a long score that was called back due to a penalty.
Cobbs is the big receiver that the team has lacked in the red zone and hopefully, someone can see what the former Indiana Hoosier could add to an offense in need of some help through the air.
10) Finally, it's Dallas next week.
The Renegades were picked by many to be the league's best team and they are 2-3 with all three losses at home.
The Defenders are winless on the road, the Renegades haven't won at home- someone's O has got to go!
After losing their first game to a winless team, the D.C. Defenders looked to reverse course against the only remaining team without a victory, the Tampa Bay Vipers.
Instead, the road to redemption was blocked as the winless Vipers closed that exit in a 25-0 Tampa Bay win.
The Defenders finished with a pitiful 107 yards of total offense in falling to 2-2 on the season.
D.C dropped out of first after a win by St.Louis and with a win by New York earlier in the weekend, the Defenders are now in a tie for second.
The Defenders' chances for a division title could be on the line next Sunday at Audi Field as the Defenders host the first-place Nighthawks.
Defensive Deflections
1) I know the fifth game seems to be early to proclaim that a game is a "must-win", but if the Defenders want to win a division title, it could be.
D.C hosts first place St.Louis and are currently behind the Nighthawks by one game.
Win next week and move into a tie for first, lose it and fall two behind with five to go.
Not insurmountable, but behind the eight ball for sure.
2) I'm not sure what happened to this team in two weeks.
They looked like (along with undefeated Houston) to be the best team in the league and just crushed in back to back games to winless teams?
Befuddled.
3) Pep Hamilton wasn't a coach that I was excited about in picking my team, but the cameras and microphones don't him any favors.
Hamilton gives off the vibe that "Michael Scott" vibe that seems oblivious to the chaos around him and has no idea what to do about it.
Hamilton's calm and while I'm not saying he has to go crazy, a little outward emotion may help.
4) Here's Hamilton at his worst.
Midway in the second quarter, Cardale Jones throws a deep ball to Malachi Dupre on a third down.
Dupre is ruled out of bounds on the catch, which was a good call, but it was worth a review.
The officials look at it and rule that Dupre was out of bounds and kicker Ty Rausa enters for a field goal attempt.
Rausa lines up and just as he kicks the ball, Pep Hamilton has used one of his two timeouts to "review the play".
We know this because the cameras catch all this, Hamilton asks for a review that has been completed, so back comes Rausa for another try.
Kick Blocked.
5) Someone trying to stop the run might be a nice idea as well.
Tampa Bay's starting running backs DeVone Smith and Jacques Patrick each rushed over 100 yards on the evening as the Vipers finished with 266 yards rushing.
D.C. had no clue for the Viper running game, which wasn't overwhelming anyone in their previous three games.
6) Not that they were any better against the pass as Tampa Bay's backup Taylor Cornelius completed 24 of his 31 throws for over 200 yards and a touchdown.
The pass rush didn't register a sack and allowed Cornelius to have as much time as he needed in the pocket.
Other than a nifty interception by Rakim Moore, I can't come up with anything nice to say about the defense.
7) Cardale Jones continued to struggle as he completed only nine of twenty-two passes for 72 yards and an interception.
The offensive line hasn't given him a lot of time to throw and the communication issues continued in the loss, but some of the inaccuracy has to go to Jones, who overthrew Rashad Ross in the second quarter on what would have easily been a long touchdown and could have shaken some of the mildew off the offense.
8) This was a painful game to watch and for a team with this much talent (for the level) to be demolished like this two weeks in a row is very concerning.
It does seem that (other than Houston) home field is immensely important in the XFL and the Defenders will bounce back next Sunday at home.
If they don't- the playoffs may not be out of hand, but the division title could be.
At the end of the first two weeks of the XFL season, the D.C. Defenders had a case for being the class of the league with the Houston Roughnecks as the only teams to win both of their games.
I agreed with that viewpoint, but I pointed out last week that we couldn't be sure as the Defenders would have to prove it on the road.
They didn't.
The previously winless Los Angeles Wildcats rolled over, up, and through the Defenders on their way to a 39-9 win in Los Angeles.
The only Defenders touchdown didn't occur until late in the fourth quarter on a 39 yard run by Nick Brossette.
Cardale Jones threw four interceptions and finished with only 103 yards passing with Nick Brossette finished with 75 yards on the ground to lead the Defenders.
D.C. drops to 2-1 overall and with St.Louis defeating New York earlier in the day, the two teams are now tied for first in the Eastern Division.
Defensive Deflections
1) If the stat sheet was the entire story, you might think this game was reasonably close.
However, there is more to games than only stats and the Defenders offense seemed very out of sync on offense from the start.
D.C. didn't cross mid-field until their final drive of the first half, threw three interceptions, lost a fumble, and punting three times before their only score of the half on a 32 yard Ty Rausa field goal.
2) And one week after I crowed about the Defenders defense as being the best in the league, they allowed 39 points to a winless team.
The defense didn't play well, but three of the six Wildcat touchdowns were with great field position off turnovers.
They weren't great, but the loss cannot be totally placed on them.
3) The first half "fumble" on the scoresheet may have noted as such, but it was really a stuffed punt when punter Hunter Niswander had no chance to get the punt into the air, took a hit from a Wildcat and turned the ball over at the four-yard line.
Zero blame for Niswander there, but plenty of blame to the blocking unit.
4) There was a brief moment when I felt that maybe the tide could be turning in this loss.
The Defenders kicked a field goal at the end of the first half and at 27-3, it was unlikely, but the Defenders took the kickoff and put together an impressive drive in moving into Los Angeles territory.
I was just starting to think "a quick TD here and a stop, who knows?"
Then Cardale Jones threw interception number three.
5) Cardale Jones didn't play very well.
Four interceptions already said that, but the entire passing game was out of sync.
Some of this goes with Jones, but I saw far too many passes hit the turf without a receiver in the area.
That's a lack of communication and can be spread around to many persons, but it looks worst on Jones.
6) I wonder how much the Anthony Johnson for Bradley Sylve trade affected the Defender offense?
It was just two weeks ago and who better than a defensive back that works against a quarterback every day to know their tendencies?
I wonder how much Sylve was able to prepare the Wildcats for what the Defenders were likely to do?
7) The Defenders ran for 200 yards in this game and lost by 30.
I don't have the statistics on how often that has happened in football, but I'd bet not very often.
Think about this- if a team rushes for 200 yards, they usually are eating clock, rolling up points, and often both.
That keeps the other team from having the ball as often and for as many possessions, so logically it should be difficult to win by 30 and allow 200 on the ground- Unless the losing team turns the ball over often and gives up touchdowns off short drives.
We have a winner.
8) Nick Brossette led the team in rushing (eight carries, 75 yards) with most of it in garbage time, but Brossette showed a lot of wiggle and he was the only Defender that showed inspired play in the fourth quarter.
If I'm Pep Hamilton, I'm rewarding Brossette with more playing time next Sunday in Tampa.
9) One week after smashing every New York Guardian quarterback in sight with sacks and hits, the Defenders didn't register a sack and rarely pressured Josh Johnson.
It's not fair to say the Defenders are overrated, but they looked awful in this loss.
10) The Defenders travel to Tampa to play the 0-3 Vipers and you would think that playing the only team that hasn't won a game yet would be an excellent chance to rebound from this loss.
However, Los Angeles hadn't won a game either and look at how that resulted for D.C.
Still, the Defenders should be favored and a win would put them at 3-1 and should New York lose next week, the Defenders could have a two-game lead for a playoff spot with six to go.
Cardale Jones threw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns and the defense produced the best effort in the tiny history of the XFL as the D.C. Defenders defeated the New York Guardians 27-0 at Audi Field in Washington.
Jameer Thurman grabbed a Matt McGloin pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown to lead a defense that held New York to a mere 137 yards of offense.
Rashad Ross led the team in receiving yards with 95 on four catches with DeAndre Thompkins finished with 92 yards receiving and caught a Jones pass for a score.
Washington improved to 2-0 with the victory and the Defenders will face their first road game next Sunday in Los Angeles against the 0-1 Wildcats, who will host Dallas on Sunday.
Defensive Deflections
1) I know it's corny to talk about the strength of a defense after two games of a brand new league, but the Defenders are going to be at the top of defenses in this league.
Holding a team to 137 yards is nothing to sneeze at in any league and the Defenders controlled this game entirely.
2) Jameer Thurman's pick-six was the second in as many games for D.C. and adding the punt block/recovery against Seattle to the total would give the Defenders three touchdowns in two weeks that didn't come from the offense.
3) The player that I discussed in last week's game that returned a pass for a touchdown against Seattle, cornerback Bradley Sylve, wasn't around for this win.
Why? Well, apparently whoever is running the Los Angeles Wildcats isn't going to be patient as after the Wildcats lost their opener to Houston, the team fired defensive coordinator and traded their defensive captain Anthony Johnson to the Defenders for Sylve.
It'll be interesting to see the Wildcats next Sunday night when the Defenders arrive in Los Angeles.
4) Cardale Jones continued his fine play with the command of the deep ball and unexpected touch on the short and intermediate passes.
Other than his one interception on a tipped pass that was thrown under pressure, Jones looked comfortable in and out of the pocket.
Jones is the main promotional point for the Defenders and if the XFL is going to succeed, the league will have to show that their quarterbacks will have the skills to play in the NFL and make the XFL a training ground for quarterbacks that need snaps for their development.
Cardale Jones is going to be an interesting test case in the NFL- are these games enough to earn his an NFL position and then will it be enough for him to have an opportunity to play and then succeed?
5) Entering the season, I thought the Defenders could have the best receiving corps in the league and after two games, I think that is the case.
Nine different players caught passes, six receivers/tight ends and three running backs with Rashad Ross and DeAndre Thompkins running from the outside and Eli Rogers from the slot dominating the Guardians pass defense.
6) Eli Rogers played Saturday and missed his mother's funeral to do so.
I do wonder sometimes how much importance we place on sports.
That's not a knock on Rogers and the difficult decision that he was forced to make, but in a regular job people receive time off for a family loss, yet in sports often players and coaches bull through.
7) I often wince at the television gimmicks that are used in new leagues to gain attention. but in this game, the broadcast actually gave the viewer something worth watching.
New York quarterback Matt McGloin, formerly of Penn State, was in the midst of a miserable game, but while wearing a microphone, McGloin loudly blamed his teammates for the offensive woes in the first half while talking to coach Kevin Gilbride.
As McGloin walked to the locker room at the half, reporter Dianna Russini asked McGloin what needed to be done to turn the tide in the second half.
McGloin's response was to throw the coaching staff under the bus as they "need to tear the entire game plan up and create a new one".
McGloin continued to struggle in the second half and the cameras caught McGloin's removal from the game with Gilbride.
If you thought the "seeing ghosts" comments by the Jets Sam Darnold against the Patriots last season were those of a player flustered, Matt McGloin would have been seen to be downright intoxicated.
8) I stated last week that I wasn't wild about the in-game interviews, but Defenders linebacker Scooby Wright delivered a succinct yet memorable interview.
Wright had made a hit on Guardians running back Darius Victor that resulted in a fumble and turnover after the recovery by the Defenders Rahim Moore. https://twitter.com/FTBeard1/status/1228765229875482625
Pretty straight to the point.
9) The Defenders running game didn't overpower the Seattle Dragons in week one, but the ground game did finish with over one hundred yards as a team.
Donnell Pumphrey led with 52 yards rushing, but Pumphrey also caught five passes out of the backfield to give the Defenders a reliable checkdown option.
10) Pep Hamilton tried something that could prove helpful down the road but might make the rematch in New York interesting.
The Defenders scored a touchdown with under two minutes remaining on a Cardale Jones pass to Derrick Hayward and with a 20-0 lead throwing the ball could have been seen as borderline.
Hamilton then decided to go for the three-point conversion after the score.
The try was unsuccessful and the experience gained from the situation could be helpful, but if I am Kevin Gilbride and the Guardians I would remember that try in the next game.
11) It's been a fun two games for Defenders fans, but remember they have merely held serve with both wins at home.
The next two games are key road battles with 0-1 Los Angeles and 0-2 Tampa Bay in wait.
Split those two games and 3-1 puts the Defenders in nice shape, but win them both and they could be in tremendous shape for the playoffs.
The D.C. Defenders won the first game in the history of the new XFL at Audi Field with a 31-19 victory over the Seattle Dragons.
Cardale Jones threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns while the special teams and defense each produced touchdowns to lead the Defenders to their first win.
Eli Rogers led the receivers with six catches for seventy-three yards for D.C.
Jonathan Celestin recovered a punt blocked by Elijah Campbell in the end zone in the second quarter and Bradley Sylve intercepted a Brandon Silvers pass in the fourth quarter and raced 69 yards for the backbreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The 1-0 Defenders will host New York, who plays their first game tomorrow, next Saturday at Audi Field.
Defensive Deflections
1) Cardale Jones was excellent and his throws were generally on the money.
I'm not saying that the XFL experience will mean that Cardale Jones will eventually have a chance at a starting job in the NFL but when you consider his limited playing time at Ohio State, Jones could turn out to be one of those players that we look back on and wonder how good he could have been had he been allowed to develop.
2) Jones showed the ability to throw the long pass as the Defenders had four pass plays of over 25 yards with both of the Jones touchdown passes being over thirty yards.
Jones also hit Simmie Cobbs with a seventy-yard pass that didn't result in a score, so the Defenders certainly are going to be an explosive team through the air.
3) The running game didn't generate much offense on the ground as the Defenders rushed for only 69 yards as a team with Cardale Jones scrambling for 28 of those.
Jhrell Pressley was the main back with twelve carries but finished with only 31 yards.
I'm not sure Pressley stays the main back with Donnell Pumphrey around, but Pumphrey did little with his four carries as he gained only five yards.
4) The clinching interception was by Bradley Sylve, who was a touted player at Alabama before an Achilles injury caused him to go undrafted.
Sylve is the type of player that could be very effective in a league of this level as his problem making
making NFL rosters has been a lost step in speed due to the Achilles.
In the XFL, Sylve won't be covering players that have that speed advantage and he should be one of the better corners in the league.
5) Elijah Campbell's blocked punt in the second quarter that was recovered for a touchdown was odd-looking as Campbell didn't really leap into the ball as it looked like he ran into the ball and stuffed Seattle's punter.
It reminded me of those perfectly called plays in Nintendo's Tecmo Bowl as the pass (or kick) never gets off the ground!
6) Eli Rogers looks like he is going to be an excellent fit in the slot.
Rogers had a good rookie year in Pittsburgh when he caught 48 passes for close to 600 yards out of the slot in 2016, but fell down the depth chart for the next seasons before he was waived in 2019.
Rogers will likely lead the Defenders in catches as Cardale Jones top secondary option and I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes with 50-60 catches on the season.
7) Some of the new rules are interesting.
I like the conversion attempts being for either 1, 2 or 3 points a lot and I like the attempt to keep the kickoff in play with players in coverage not being allowed to move until the returner has caught the ball.
Not sure how much I like the ball placement on kicks that go through the end zone (placed at the 15) or balls that are pooch kicked and land before the twenty ( placed at the 45), I might need a few games to form an opinion on those changes.
8) If I was a coach or involved in management for a team in this league, I would assign someone to carefully watch the network broadcasts of these games in an attempt to pick up some intel.
The coaches are miked as are some players and ABC ran a replay with the coaches play call on a gadget play that resulted in a touchdown pass from Cardale Jones to Khari Lee.
As ABC ran the replay, you can hear head coach Pep Hamilton and Cardale Jones yell "Boilermaker"
If I'm New York in preparing for next week's game, I'm paying attention.
9) The ABC crew and the league did go way over the top with the in-game interviews.
I saw way too much of Dianna Russini asking inane questions, one of which saw a Seattle lineman drop an F-Bomb on live TV that even the delay button couldn't stop.
Russini often attempted to horn into the action after every big play, including an effort to get her microphone (and herself) into the end zone celebration after the pick-six in the fourth quarter.
It's the first week and all parties involved will have some wrinkles to smooth on the field and with the broadcast, but a good step would be to tell the on-field reporters to take a step back and let the story come to them a bit rather than dive in and be a part of it.
10) All in all, it was an entertaining game and although it wasn't of NFL caliber, it's never going to be.
IF that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere as you will never be satisfied.
But, if you like football and are OK with an evenly matched game with players that aren't quite NFL level, but are as close as you'll get, I think you may surprise yourself with the quality.
It's another year, another attempt at a spring football league and of course, that means I'll be watching and rooting for a league to last longer than a year.
I enjoyed last season's aborted effort from the AAF and the Arizona Hotshots and I took my time in deciding who I was going to root for in the XFL.
The two top contenders were the local entry, the D.C. Defenders, and the Tampa Bay Vipers.
I liked both teams' colors/uniforms and each had an edge over the other.
D.C. had a solid red (my favorite color) and not cluttered up with junk uniform and the Defenders have three Ohio State players, including quarterback Cardale Jones, but the Defenders are going to be coached by Pep Hamilton, who was formerly the Browns quarterbacks coach and that wasn't a positive
Tampa Bay countered with colors similar to the late-AAF Hotshots, but in the end, I decided to do what I rarely do and root for the local team.
So I'll have D.C. Defenders coverage for the next ten weeks and like the Hotshots last season, I'll be writing about the team and adding the XFL to the PPM.
The team hasn't released depth charts (this was written early in the week), so I'm making a guess on the starters.
Here's the fun and often the difficulty in evaluating the new leagues when they begin play- the players that you have seen play before are often not the players that turn into the stars of the league.
The biggest name of the quarterbacks in the league will play for the Defenders in former Ohio State
quarterback Cardale Jones.
Jones, who spent a few years in the NFL with the Chargers and Bills, is most remembered for those three games at the end of the 2014 season with Ohio State that saw Jones, the third-stringer QB take over and defeat Wisconsin in the Big 10 championship game, stun Alabama and then dump Oregon to win Ohio State the national championship.
It looks like Pep Hamilton is going to run a traditional offense with Jones, a pocket passer, and backup Tyree Jackson, a 6'7, 250 pounder who played his college ball with Buffalo and was part of the last cut by the Bills in training camp.
The running backs should be decent with Donnell Pumphrey, who set the all-time rushing record in NCAA at San Diego State and was a fourth-round pick of the Eagles in 2017 and spent one season in Philadelphia before failing to make teams in 2018 and 2019 training camp attempts.
Former Arizona Hotshot Jhurell Pressley, former LSU 1,000 yard rusher Nick Brossette, and former James Madison Duke Khalid Abdullah round out the running backs.
Pressley rushed for over 400 yards in the eight games the Hotshots played as their leading rusher, while Brossette played well in the preseason for New England and spent time on the Lions practice squad last season.
Abdullah appears to be a depth piece and maybe a special team standout.
It looks like the Defenders have done well in loading up the pass catchers for Jones to throw to and they appear to have done very well in drafting the receivers.
Another former Hotshot, Rashard Ross was arguably the top receiver in the AAF with 36 catches, almost 600 yards and seven touchdowns and former Steeler Eli Rogers should be one of the better slot receivers in the league.
Former Indiana Hoosier Simmie Cobbs was a very good player in the Big Ten and I was surprised to see Dallas (XFL) waived him with the Defenders quickly grabbing him with a waiver claim.
Malachi Dupre has been in several NFL camps after his LSU days, DeAndre Thompkins was a big play receiver at Penn State, Jalen Rowell of the Air Force might be a red zone target and Tyler Palka
has spent time in the CFL and Arena leagues.
Tight end may be an issue as none of the three have stood out although Khari Lee does have some NFL time with the Bears and Lions.
Derrick Hayward started for two years at Maryland but caught only eight passes in his college career, while Donnie Ernsberger played in two games for the Buccaneers in 2018.
I have to be honest and say I'm not familiar with the offensive linemen on the team and without a depth chart, I'm not even going to try to venture a guess.
The defensive linemen have a few names of note with former Buckeye Tracy Sprankle leading the way at defensive tackle.
Sprinkle has been in and out of several team's camps, but didn't play in a game.
Elijah Qualls spent 2017 with the Eagles but hasn't made a team since then, while Sam Montgomery was a 3rd round pick by the Texans in 2013 but never played an NFL game.
Montgomery played a few games last season for the AAF's Memphis Express.
Jay Bromley played four seasons for the Giants after New York picked him in the third round in 2014, but other than two games with New Orleans in 2018 has been out of football.
Tavaris Barnes of Clemson played twelve games with the Saints in 2015, but other than some time in the AAF with the Atlanta Legends hasn't played since.
KeShun Freeman of Georgia Tech also played for the Legends last season.
The biggest name of the linebackers is former Brown and Cardinal as well as Arizona Hotshot Scooby Wright,
Wright was the Browns seventh-rounder in 2016 and saw time with Cleveland before he was released and claimed by the Cardinals, where he finished 2016 and 2017.
Antwione Williams played for the Lions in 2016, Jonathan Massaquoi was an Atlanta Falcon for three seasons (2012-14) and played for the AAF's Birmingham Iron last season and Jonathan Celestin was a member of the Carolina practice squad last season.
The secondary has some recognizable names, but as I wrote above in these situations the bigger names often players that may not have the abilities remaining as the lesser names.
Former Ravens first-round safety (2013) Matt Elam attempts a comeback after four years in Baltimore.
Elam played 2018 with Saskatchewan in the CFL but didn't play in 2019.
Safety Rahim Moore spent four years in Denver after the Broncos took him in the second round of 2011 and played last season for the Arizona Hotshots.
Sharmarko Thomas was the Steelers fourth-rounder in 2013 after Pittsburgh traded their 2014 third-rounder to the Browns to move up to take him.
Thomas spent four seasons in Pittsburgh but never broke the barrier of the starting lineup.
Former Michigan Wolverine safety Tyree Kinnel was in the Bengals training camp last season
The corners are very heavy with AAF experience as three played for the Atlanta Legends and two with the Birmingham Iron.
Doran Grant was a fourth-rounder out of Ohio State by the Steelers in 2015 and spent one year in Pittsburgh.
Grant played for the Legends as did Desmond Lawrence and Elijah Campbell in 2019.
Bradley Sylve was highly thought of at Alabama before a torn Achilles slowed his career and Carlos Merritt also played for the Iron.
Ty Rausa, formerly of Boise State will be the placekicker in a league without extra point duties from the kicker while former Northwestern punter Hunter Niswander will be punting for the Defenders.
The Defenders have plenty of recognizable players to the hardcore football person, but I don't know how they will fare.
I wasn't impressed by Pep Hamilton's work in Cleveland and he struggled with Michigan in his two seasons with Jim Harbaugh as "passing game" coordinator, so I have a lot of questions with Hamilton compared to other XFL head coaches that includes a college national title winner (Bob Stoops), a coach that turned bad college programs around and runs an exciting offense (June Jones), a Grey Cup winner (Marc Trestman) and three former NFL head coaches (Trestman, Jim Zorn, and Kevin Gilbride).
I think the season all comes down to Cardale Jones.
New leagues are often about two things making a huge difference- good quarterback play and protecting the quarterback.
Jones has some very nice skill players for this level with him and I think the Defenders will score points.
The key will be protecting Jones, if they can keep him protected in the pocket the Defenders could be a title contender.
If not, they could be a middle of the pack club.
It'll be an interesting season to follow and we'll see how things fall out in Washington.
