So a thing happened yesterday…
This is football reimagined. This is the XFL. Watch the official announcement — LIVE NOW! #XFL2020 https://t.co/KFX5oLmkHw
— XFL (@XFL2023) January 25, 2018
This… this is pure garbage.
The short version of… whatever this is… is very simple: a failed NFL knockoff from a decade ago, focused on becoming a ‘better version of the NFL’ is coming back around for another go at it.
Ultimately it all boils down to one key concept for Vince McMahon & his new XFL:
“We’re going to give the fans what they want.”
McMahon is essentially promising a drama-free, faster game, with more action and better quality play on the field…
OR… is he just telling people what they want to hear?
When asked about a league model, Vince McMahon suggested there would be “a single entity- we’re not going to have a franchise model.” This was essentially his way of saying the XFL (McMahon) has the ultimate say in every operating aspect within the league… much like Roger Goodell in the NFL, which correct me if I’m wrong, is a major gripe of fans and players alike, isn’t it?
No change there.
McMahon also promised fans a “Shorter, faster-paced, family friendly, easier to understand game,” and when pressed further about how he’d do that, he vowed to “eliminate halftime” and “try to get the game down to 2 hours.”
First and foremost, if anybody watched the XFL last go-around, you know damn well it’s about as ‘family friendly’ as watching The Wire (last XFL run featured a bit discussing taking the cameras into the cheerleader locker room at halftime- family friendly stuff right there!). So that whole narrative is laughable right out of the gates. But beyond that, McMahon failed to address how they’d cut so much time to go from a three-hour NFL game down to two hours. Halftime in the NFL runs 12-15 minutes, so somewhere along the way, they need to make up 45 more minutes. Obviously they can’t cut commercial breaks out or they’d cost themselves money, so the only logical answer is removing stoppages in play.
The problem with that? In doing so, they’d basically be decreasing the actual amount of plays run, thus less action, not more.
So much for ‘giving the fans what they want’ Vinny!
One more note on the play on the field: McMahon was specifically asked about a ‘faster game’ in contrast to the health and safety of the players. As all NFL fans know, the league has attempted to slow down certain aspects of the game (namely kickoffs) in order to increase player safety. But a league with faster play… how do they simultaneously make it safer?
Turns out, Vince doesn’t even know!
When asked about CTE concerns with head shots, and understand a faster game with fewer players on the roster (only 40, versus the NFL 53), and fewer breaks in play, McMahon simply said “Re-imagining the game of football means you’re re imagining it on all levels, and that includes safety.”
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
Then there was the ‘war cry’ to the #ProtestTheNFL crowd, dropping bombs like “as far as the national anthem is concerned, I think it be appropriate to do that (stand)” and “as far as our league is concerned, it will have nothing to do with politics or social issues.” When questioned further about what type of players would be in the league, McMahon seemingly gloated, “you want someone who does not have any criminality associated with them, and in the XFL, even if you have a DUI, you will not play in the XFL. If Tim Tebow wants to play he can very well play.”
Pssssst! Folks who are (still) protesting because of the anthem (from 13 Ravens games ago): don’t believe McMahon’s anthem rally cry!
He was asked on three separate occassions about mandatory standing for the anthem. Not once did he outright say “you must stand.” Instead, he tiptoed around it, saying things like “I think it would be appropriate” or “there will be rules players would have to abide by.”
But he never said it.
What’s more (this crowd will really hate this) he was asked directly about Colin Kaepernick and whether he’d be allowed in the league, to which McMahon dodged the question again, answering instead with a generic “I think anybody who meets the criteria would be allowed in the league.”
Again- never flat out said no. But hey! You can have Tim Tebow back, so that’s neat!
Honestly, though? None of those blatant lies really matter, when you realize there’s no way the XFL is going to get any semblance of talent on the field, and that’s assuming they actually find eight cities to call home for their eight teams.
(The XFL wants to occupy NFL cities & to use their stadiums- GOOD LUCK!)
McMahon claimed that “There’s a wealth of talented players we can draw from, but the quality human being is as important as the quality of the player.”
Now I don’t speak fluent greasy-car-salesman, but I believe this is basically his way of conceding that the talent he’s going to get on the field is the equivalent of a D3 college team, and by suggesting ‘the XFL won’t take anybody shy of squeaky clean’ is a scapegoat for why he won’t get actual talent.
The truth of the matter is that no former, current, or fringe NFL player would consider going to a league that has a zero-tolerance policy on social issues, has no union, an owner who vows no leniency on even the smallest misdemeanor or infraction, will pay less than the NFL, and is likely gone from existence by 2021.
Ultimately, what the head of WWE is promising XFL ‘fans’ is a watered down, mockery of the NFL product, with worse talent on the field.
Let’s see if it lasts longer than its last run of… (Google check)… 1 season???
