The NFL Needs the XFL (1 Viewer)

[zftcg]

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/1/26/16935920/xfl-vince-mcmahon-ufl-usfl-afl-positive-influence-football

I thought this article made an interesting point. We all complain about how the NFL is too stuffy and conservative, and embraces innovation too slowly. But upstart leagues, even though they inevitably flame out, frequently inject some new thinking into the game. (I'm reminded of the famous Richard Hofstadter quote about third parties in American politics: "Third parties are like bees: once they have stung, they die.")

Here's a crazy innovation I'd love to see McMahon try: Ban punting (or ban it on 4th and less than 5 or in opposing territory or whatever). You'd get more fourth-down attempts, which fans would love, plus it would have a big impact on in-game strategy.

Like Clark, I don't have high expectations for XFL II and probably won't watch. But I'd love to see them say "F### it!" and throw a bunch of ideas against the wall to see what sticks

 

[TripleThreat]

the biggest benefit will be if the XFL can determine what is and what isn't a catch

 

[JuniorNB]

I could see some interesting social dynamics.  McMahon is going to try to win the fans who have stopped watching (or pretended to) because of the kneeling. I'm sure he'll establish rules about standing for the anthem and no wearing anything with any social commentary.  How soon until BLM or Kaepernick start pressuring black players from being a 'slave' to McMahon and his racism?  I can absolutely see it becoming a movement.

 

[Gandalf]

the biggest benefit will be if the XFL can determine what is and what isn't a catch

It’s so easy to fix. It’s a catch if the ref thinks it is. Can we go back to that please???

 

[Gandalf]

I could see some interesting social dynamics.  McMahon is going to try to win the fans who have stopped watching (or pretended to) because of the kneeling. I'm sure he'll establish rules about standing for the anthem and no wearing anything with any social commentary.  How soon until BLM or Kaepernick start pressuring black players from being a 'slave' to McMahon and his racism?  I can absolutely see it becoming a movement.

Yes - this is his chance. It might work. And by work I mean be like a minor league version of the pros

 

[Arodin]

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/1/26/16935920/xfl-vince-mcmahon-ufl-usfl-afl-positive-influence-football

I thought this article made an interesting point. We all complain about how the NFL is too stuffy and conservative, and embraces innovation too slowly. But upstart leagues, even though they inevitably flame out, frequently inject some new thinking into the game. (I'm reminded of the famous Richard Hofstadter quote about third parties in American politics: "Third parties are like bees: once they have stung, they die.")

Here's a crazy innovation I'd love to see McMahon try: Ban punting (or ban it on 4th and less than 5 or in opposing territory or whatever). You'd get more fourth-down attempts, which fans would love, plus it would have a big impact on in-game strategy.

Like Clark, I don't have high expectations for XFL II and probably won't watch. But I'd love to see them say "F### it!" and throw a bunch of ideas against the wall to see what sticks

I am all for this sort of experimentation in minor leagues but this particular one...

I'll just tell my RT to false start until I have enough distance to be allowed to punt, if I don't want to go for it.

 

[candian fantasy guy]

A farm system style of league would be the way to go, I think that is the only hope of this ever having a chance of surviving. 

 

[zftcg]

A farm system style of league would be the way to go, I think that is the only hope of this ever having a chance of surviving. 

The whole point of the article is that it doesn't have a chance of surviving. But hopefully it can hang on long enough to come up with an innovation or two that migrates to the NFL.

 

[Riversco]

I think the broader statement here is that new products are coming online to try to cater to a new brand of right winger that is willing and wants to walk away from brands viewed as too far too the left. And then they all link together to create their own large media universe.  Like a right wing nfl network links up with a right wing twitter and right wing google etc.  right wingers may not have cared enough until 2016 to truly walk away but now may the time and this may be just the early stages. 

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Best thing McMahon said in the pressers yesterday was to try to get games down to 2 hours.  That would be awesome

 

[SlaX]

Best thing McMahon said in the pressers yesterday was to try to get games down to 2 hours.  That would be awesome

If only he'd get Raw back down to 2 hours while he was at it.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

If only he'd get Raw back down to 2 hours while he was at it.

Maybe he'll devote one quarter of XFL games to cruiserweights

 

[flapgreen]

I'll watch it more than the NFL if they can make it enjoyable. 

 

[voiceofunreason]

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/1/26/16935920/xfl-vince-mcmahon-ufl-usfl-afl-positive-influence-football

I thought this article made an interesting point. We all complain about how the NFL is too stuffy and conservative, and embraces innovation too slowly. But upstart leagues, even though they inevitably flame out, frequently inject some new thinking into the game. (I'm reminded of the famous Richard Hofstadter quote about third parties in American politics: "Third parties are like bees: once they have stung, they die.")

Here's a crazy innovation I'd love to see McMahon try: Ban punting (or ban it on 4th and less than 5 or in opposing territory or whatever). You'd get more fourth-down attempts, which fans would love, plus it would have a big impact on in-game strategy.

Like Clark, I don't have high expectations for XFL II and probably won't watch. But I'd love to see them say "F### it!" and throw a bunch of ideas against the wall to see what sticks

Please, college is 100 times bigger than this will ever be.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

I think the broader statement here is that new products are coming online to try to cater to a new brand of right winger that is willing and wants to walk away from brands viewed as too far too the left. And then they all link together to create their own large media universe.  Like a right wing nfl network links up with a right wing twitter and right wing google etc.  right wingers may not have cared enough until 2016 to truly walk away but now may the time and this may be just the early stages. 

Go away

 

[zftcg]

I could see some interesting social dynamics.  McMahon is going to try to win the fans who have stopped watching (or pretended to) because of the kneeling. I'm sure he'll establish rules about standing for the anthem and no wearing anything with any social commentary.  How soon until BLM or Kaepernick start pressuring black players from being a 'slave' to McMahon and his racism?  I can absolutely see it becoming a movement.

Well, in terms of the specific issues you cite, I doubt the national anthem will still be a huge controversy two years from now. Also, to my knowledge Kaepernick has never protested against the NFL. His protest was always targeted at police, and for the last year he's barely said anything.

To the broader question of whether McMahon can come up with a more "conservative" version of the NFL to target that audience (similar to what Fox News did 20 years ago), it could work, but there are a couple big problems. One, the (politically) conservative audience McMahon would be targeting would also probably prefer a more conservative type of football. (As someone once joked on Twitter, the Venn diagram between "Stick to sports" guy" and "Teams should use the fullback more" guy is two completely overlapping circles). When you call your league the XFL, the "X" presumably meaning "extreme", you're not really appealing to that audience.

The second issue is that the "old school, none of this namby-pamby crap" attitude the XFL took on the first time around (and that people like Trump have been very vocal about supporting) is much harder to pull off in the age of CTE. Purely from a business standpoint, any marketing that glorifies violence and minimizes the importance of concussions is going to open McMahon up to long-term legal liability, which I'm sure he is well aware of. I don't follow the WWE, but my impression is that they are scrambling as much as other sports to belatedly address concussions.

But like I said, I don't particularly care whether McMahon is able to thread the needle. He could do everything right and the XFL would still probably fail. I just hope he comes up with some cool innovations on his way out.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

They should call it the boring ### GOP football league. No cheerleaders. No drama. No fun. No one watching.

 

[zftcg]

I am all for this sort of experimentation in minor leagues but this particular one...

I'll just tell my RT to false start until I have enough distance to be allowed to punt, if I don't want to go for it.

Well, the "whatever" was meant to indicate that it was a fairly half-baked idea ...

But let's think this out a little bit. What if they got rid of all the exceptions and just said, no punting period? Wouldn't that make for a more exciting game? What about mandatory two-point conversions? Only allow onside kicks?

The point is, if your goal is to make the product more exciting, eliminate the most boring part of the game (anything involving kicking). I'm sure we could come up with (and find fault with) a million other innovations in that vein.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Well, the "whatever" was meant to indicate that it was a fairly half-baked idea ...

But let's think this out a little bit. What if they got rid of all the exceptions and just said, no punting period? Wouldn't that make for a more exciting game? What about mandatory two-point conversions? Only allow onside kicks?

The point is, if your goal is to make the product more exciting, eliminate the most boring part of the game (anything involving kicking). I'm sure we could come up with (and find fault with) a million other innovations in that vein.

Punt and kick returns are exciting if they actually happen and dont have penalties

 

[Saboo]

The XFL will be luck if it even gets off the ground

 

[bucksoh]

Could be huge if they do it right.  There's a huge disconnect with the NFL.  Fantasy football has propped up the NFL, I wouldn't even watch it, if it wasn't for it.  NFL has to embrace the hitting and let the defenders not be neutered with NFL rules.  Make their own and allow violent hits like football use to be.

 

[JuniorNB]

Could be huge if they do it right.  There's a huge disconnect with the NFL.  Fantasy football has propped up the NFL, I wouldn't even watch it, if it wasn't for it.  NFL has to embrace the hitting and let the defenders not be neutered with NFL rules.  Make their own and allow violent hits like football use to be.

It will always be the minors to the NFL. If their selling point is that they're going to allow violent hits and not be concerned with player safety, you're going to get all the players who aren't good enough to play in the real leaked. Why would any player sign up for that willingly?  The league will get a little bit of a boost early on from the fans whose feathers are ruffled because of kneeling. But the XFL has to be very careful how it markets that aspect of it. If they get too Trumpish about it, black athletes are going to take a stand against it. There will also be advertising boycott issues. 

 

[BoltBacker]

Yes - this is his chance. It might work. And by work I mean be like a minor league version of the pros

I think NFL Europe wasn't a terrible idea, the problem was just that it was too ambitious at the time for an audience that was too foreign to football. If they started a minor league that used second tier US markets with established football fans like the USFL did(San Antonio, Birmingham, Portland, Orlando, Memphis) and then just added some North America international cities like Toronto, Mexico City, Vancouver BC I think it could work as long as it was played in the late spring/early summer when football fans are starved for ANY football. That way the international games would be in a timezone that a US audience could watch and people could actually attend the games in pleasant weather. Maybe each NFL division could cobble together a team with day 3 draft picks, undrafted free agents and practice squad players. Or create a bigger practice squad so teams could develop players so they aren't picking up guys off the street in the middle of the season. I would love to see guys like Bucky Hodges, Malachi Dupre and Jeremy McNichols get an actual chance on the field with the new rookies coming in. 

The problem is you really need the NFL to run it. This XFL isn't just going to be second tier talent(those guys are already on the fringes of the NFL) but third tier talent and maybe even fourth tier talent if they have a recognizable name. On one hand they want to be the "classy" version of the NFL and on the other hand their biggest draw would probably revolve around letting a guy like Johnny Manziel sell tickets because at least some people have heard of him. The old XFL was all fireworks and poor football, the new XFL sounds like it's going to be deadly boring....... and poor football. 

 

[BoltBacker]

Punt and kick returns are exciting if they actually happen and dont have penalties

Peace in the Middle East also works, ya know.... when everyone just gets along with each other.

 

[BoltBacker]

Well, in terms of the specific issues you cite, I doubt the national anthem will still be a huge controversy two years from now. Also, to my knowledge Kaepernick has never protested against the NFL. His protest was always targeted at police, and for the last year he's barely said anything.

Are you sure about that?

If a Kaepernick protests in the woods.....

 

[zftcg]

Could be huge if they do it right.  There's a huge disconnect with the NFL.  Fantasy football has propped up the NFL, I wouldn't even watch it, if it wasn't for it.  NFL has to embrace the hitting and let the defenders not be neutered with NFL rules.  Make their own and allow violent hits like football use to be.

Sounds like a trial lawyer's dream. 

Anyway, I'm not really interested in what the XFL can do to survive long-term (nothing), or what its politics will be (it won't be around long enough to matter). The only thing that really matters is what innovations it can introduce that might eventually migrate to the NFL and make it more interesting.

I think changes that minimize the role of the kicking game would be good. As @Ted Lange as your Bartender says, speeding up the game would also help; they could keep the clock running on out-of-bounds plays outside of 4-minutes left in a half. Also maybe something with technology, like the long-promised "chip in the ball" that automatically indicates if the runner breaks the plane. Or a better replay system.

I'm spitballing here. What else?

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I could see some interesting social dynamics.  McMahon is going to try to win the fans who have stopped watching (or pretended to) because of the kneeling. I'm sure he'll establish rules about standing for the anthem and no wearing anything with any social commentary.  How soon until BLM or Kaepernick start pressuring black players from being a 'slave' to McMahon and his racism?  I can absolutely see it becoming a movement.

They’ll be amazed at the lack of attendance then...sock puppet & bot accounts can’t buy tickets. 

I read that an estimated 500,000 fake accounts are/were used by Russia to share false / incendiary stories, and spread hashtags. The take a knee campaign was apparently heavily targeted by them.

if McMahon thinks he’ll sell 30,000+ tickets to that crowd, he’s gonna be sorely disappointed by the :crickets: 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Could be huge if they do it right.  There's a huge disconnect with the NFL.  Fantasy football has propped up the NFL, I wouldn't even watch it, if it wasn't for it.  NFL has to embrace the hitting and let the defenders not be neutered with NFL rules.  Make their own and allow violent hits like football use to be.

Will never, ever happen. And it won’t happen in the XFL either.

before CTE and other brain trauma conditions were diagnosed, the NFL could pretend it wasn’t a big deal. “He just got his bell rung a little” they’d say. 

Now that it’s been medically proven that repeated head trauma causes brain damage, the style of football you describe would be seen as willful ignorance, and deliberately endangering players. 

That spells lawsuits.

player safety will be as much of a focus of the XFL as it is the NFL. If not, they’ll be sued into oblivion the 1st time a player is seriously hurt. Allowing a player to return to the field without following a proper protocol would be economic suicide for McMahon. 

His attorneys would never allow it. 

Might as well accept it: R.I.P. the NFL as we knew it in the 70s, 80s and 90s. That style of football is dead, and it’s never coming back. 

And while I miss it, I still enjoy the game. I don’t get the hard line stances of “if it weren’t for fantasy I wouldn’t watch.”

then don’t watch, and stop playing FFB. Or stop whining about it.  There are other/better ways to gamble. 

Want to “fix” the NFL? Easy: define a catch to something reasonable people all agree is a catch. Get rid of 20% of the commercials. Stop doing picture in picture commercials during the huddle. Stop going to commercial after a punt, or after a TD, before a PAT, then after the PAT. It’s insane the amount of interruption they allow to ruin gameflow. And for F’s sake, get rid of the spot foul for DPI. No penalty should be worth 50-60 yards and a first & goal. That’s ridiculous. 

The NFL’s problem isn’t that the hitting isn’t hard enough - it’s inconsistency of penalty & continuity of gameplay. Mostly the latter. 

If the XFL accidentally manages to improve either of these before they go out of business, they’ll have my gratitude.  

 

[JuniorNB]

They’ll be amazed at the lack of attendance then...sock puppet & bot accounts can’t buy tickets. 

I read that an estimated 500,000 fake accounts are/were used by Russia to share false / incendiary stories, and spread hashtags. The take a knee campaign was apparently heavily targeted by them.

if McMahon thinks he’ll sell 30,000+ tickets to that crowd, he’s gonna be sorely disappointed by the :crickets: 

They expect to start a league where black players 'know their place'. So that Trump-types have a place to watch football again. This will never get off the ground. BLM/Al Sharpton..all the way down to the Don Lemons and Denzell Washingtons will be protesting before they even sign their first player. Advertisers will feel pressured to stay away. None of them want to be the target of a boycott. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

They expect to start a league where black players 'know their place'. So that Trump-types have a place to watch football again. This will never get off the ground. BLM/Al Sharpton..all the way down to the Don Lemons and Denzell Washingtons will be protesting before they even sign their first player. Advertisers will feel pressured to stay away. None of them want to be the target of a boycott. 

I would join such a protest. Who would want to support that except white supremacists and anti-Union types? 

I can’t imaging any player willing to play under such conditions either. Since this is an entirely 1-owner entity, I’m assuming there will be no players union? 

League would be dead before it’s even born. IMO the players they’ll attract will consider it a chance to prove they can play at the next level. A stepping stone to The NFL What player is going to risk a future in the NFL playing in a league where they’ve got no representation? 

If all they’re getting are guys who want an XFL paycheck & who are willing to risk serious injury for it, the quality of football is going to suck. Bad. 

 

[JuniorNB]

I would join such a protest. Who would want to support that except white supremacists and anti-Union types? 

I can’t imaging any player willing to play under such conditions either. Since this is an entirely 1-owner entity, I’m assuming there will be no players union? 

League would be dead before it’s even born. IMO the players they’ll attract will consider it a chance to prove they can play at the next level. A stepping stone to The NFL What player is going to risk a future in the NFL playing in a league where they’ve got no representation? 

If all they’re getting are guys who want an XFL paycheck & who are willing to risk serious injury for it, the quality of football is going to suck. Bad. 

This is the target audience that McMahon is going after. Those who claim that they won't watch the NFL any more because Goodell allows the kneeling. 

 

[zftcg]

I would join such a protest. Who would want to support that except white supremacists and anti-Union types? 

I can’t imaging any player willing to play under such conditions either. Since this is an entirely 1-owner entity, I’m assuming there will be no players union? 

League would be dead before it’s even born. IMO the players they’ll attract will consider it a chance to prove they can play at the next level. A stepping stone to The NFL What player is going to risk a future in the NFL playing in a league where they’ve got no representation? 

If all they’re getting are guys who want an XFL paycheck & who are willing to risk serious injury for it, the quality of football is going to suck. Bad. 

I actually think that as long as they're not too blatant about it, the politics wouldn't stop them from recruiting players. There will never be a shortage of guys who are desperate to play football professionally and will overlook that stuff.

I do agree with you on the lawsuits, though, especially since McMahon has already had to deal with all this stuff with the WWE. No way they go down the "Jacked Up!" route.

 

[zftcg]

Want to “fix” the NFL? Easy: define a catch to something reasonable people all agree is a catch. Get rid of 20% of the commercials. Stop doing picture in picture commercials during the huddle. Stop going to commercial after a punt, or after a TD, before a PAT, then after the PAT. It’s insane the amount of interruption they allow to ruin gameflow. And for F’s sake, get rid of the spot foul for DPI. No penalty should be worth 50-60 yards and a first & goal. That’s ridiculous. 

I suspect of all the problems facing an upstart league, "too much advertising" won't be among them. 

Interesting that you mention the PinP commercials. As I understand it, that was rolled out in response to the dissatisfaction with the "PAT-commercial-kickoff-commercial" sequence you mention. I actually don't mind it all that much.

I agree that DPI spot foul should probably be changed, but I don't think it has a substantial impact on my enjoyment of the game. Similar to the "fumble out of end zone = touchback" thing. Sometimes a dumb rule is just a dumb rule.

Broadly speaking, I think the best innovations to the current NFL product would be increasing the pace and minimizing the slow parts of the game. (That would also fit with McMahon's goal of reaching the type of younger male viewers he's cultivated with the WWE, but as discussed, I don't really care about his business strategy for a league that will almost certainly shut down in a couple years).

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

but as discussed, I don't really care about his business strategy for a league that will almost certainly shut down in a couple years).

True that. 

IMO it doesn’t matter what the strategy is, or what rules changes they innovate - if the quality of football being played is substandard, people won’t watch.

To me it’s that simple. The NFL attracts NFL-caliber talent. 

The only NFL-caliber talent the XFL will attract are players who washed out or were suspended for violating rules (performance enhancing substances, chief among them) or malcontents who can’t get along on an NFL roster or who’ve had significant off-field issues. 

And hey, who wouldn’t want to watch a team of roided-out Ray Carruth types bashing head’s for 60 mins while strippers dressed as cheerleaders shake their moneymakers?  

hard pass. 

 

[JuniorNB]

True that. 

IMO it doesn’t matter what the strategy is, or what rules changes they innovate - if the quality of football being played is substandard, people won’t watch.

To me it’s that simple. The NFL attracts NFL-caliber talent. 

The only NFL-caliber talent the XFL will attract are players who washed out or were suspended for violating rules (performance enhancing substances, chief among them) or malcontents who can’t get along on an NFL roster or who’ve had significant off-field issues. 

And hey, who wouldn’t want to watch a team of roided-out Ray Carruth types bashing head’s for 60 mins while strippers dressed as cheerleaders shake their moneymakers?  

hard pass. 

And I could see McMahon going after players he thinks would be a good draw. Just like he does with the WWE. The Manziels and Kaepernicks. Players whose names are known, regardless of talent level. Even Greg Hardy and the like. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

And I could see McMahon going after players he thinks would be a good draw. Just like he does with the WWE. The Manziels and Kaepernicks. Players whose names are known, regardless of talent level. Even Greg Hardy and the like. 

Tim Tebow rides again!  

 

[bucksoh]

Will never, ever happen. And it won’t happen in the XFL either.

before CTE and other brain trauma conditions were diagnosed, the NFL could pretend it wasn’t a big deal. “He just got his bell rung a little” they’d say. 

Now that it’s been medically proven that repeated head trauma causes brain damage, the style of football you describe would be seen as willful ignorance, and deliberately endangering players. 

That spells lawsuits.

player safety will be as much of a focus of the XFL as it is the NFL. If not, they’ll be sued into oblivion the 1st time a player is seriously hurt. Allowing a player to return to the field without following a proper protocol would be economic suicide for McMahon. 

His attorneys would never allow it. 

Might as well accept it: R.I.P. the NFL as we knew it in the 70s, 80s and 90s. That style of football is dead, and it’s never coming back. 

And while I miss it, I still enjoy the game. I don’t get the hard line stances of “if it weren’t for fantasy I wouldn’t watch.”

then don’t watch, and stop playing FFB. Or stop whining about it.  There are other/better ways to gamble. 

Want to “fix” the NFL? Easy: define a catch to something reasonable people all agree is a catch. Get rid of 20% of the commercials. Stop doing picture in picture commercials during the huddle. Stop going to commercial after a punt, or after a TD, before a PAT, then after the PAT. It’s insane the amount of interruption they allow to ruin gameflow. And for F’s sake, get rid of the spot foul for DPI. No penalty should be worth 50-60 yards and a first & goal. That’s ridiculous. 

The NFL’s problem isn’t that the hitting isn’t hard enough - it’s inconsistency of penalty & continuity of gameplay. Mostly the latter. 

If the XFL accidentally manages to improve either of these before they go out of business, they’ll have my gratitude.  

People knew back in the 70s football was dangerous, this is nothing  new.  Have players sign waivers acknowledging those risks, and let them play.  

 

[bucksoh]

Allow players to play after high school also.  To get more talent infused into the league.

 

[bucksoh]

They’ll be amazed at the lack of attendance then...sock puppet & bot accounts can’t buy tickets. 

I read that an estimated 500,000 fake accounts are/were used by Russia to share false / incendiary stories, and spread hashtags. The take a knee campaign was apparently heavily targeted by them.

if McMahon thinks he’ll sell 30,000+ tickets to that crowd, he’s gonna be sorely disappointed by the :crickets: 

Whole lot of racist a holes making this about race.  Lol. Not even racist but if they were close to me I would gladly go.  As long as there not NFL pricing.  And play to the common man this league would be a huge success.

 

[JuniorNB]

Whole lot of racist a holes making this about race.  Lol. Not even racist but if they were close to me I would gladly go.  As long as there not NFL pricing.  And play to the common man this league would be a huge success.

Why do you think McMahon decided this might be a good time to resurrect an idea that already failed once?  What's happening in the NFL that might make a guy like McMahon think it could be successful now?

 

[Chapelboy]

Well, whether it succeeds or not, I'm looking to start up my XFL fantasy league as soon is it's official, and official stats are available. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

People knew back in the 70s football was dangerous, this is nothing  new.  Have players sign waivers acknowledging those risks, and let them play.  

They didn’t have documented proof & president set by lawsuits in the 1970s.

so while they knew concussions are dangerous, the socio-political environment was very different back then. 

And back then they never talked about the cumulative effect related to football. Mostly that was something they spoke of with boxers getting “punch drunk” over time. 

As I understand it, there’s only so much that waivers can cover.  I dunno - not a liability attorney. 

 

[bucksoh]

Why do you think McMahon decided this might be a good time to resurrect an idea that already failed once?  What's happening in the NFL that might make a guy like McMahon think it could be successful now?

Might be because the last time he tried he was going against world league and NFL, now he only has the NFL to contend with.  Already listed several ideas.  NFL needs a farm system cause college isn't cutting it and, so if the NFL wants to succeed they will realize that they need the xfl, just like they needed the world league.  Just a thought.

 

[zftcg]

People knew back in the 70s football was dangerous, this is nothing  new.  Have players sign waivers acknowledging those risks, and let them play.  

LOL. Remind me never to hire you as my lawyer.

 

[bucksoh]

Lol only people like you would use a lawyer, you're everything wrong with America that you would even think u need a lawyer for this.  Lol

 

[zftcg]

Lol only people like you would use a lawyer, you're everything wrong with America that you would even think u need a lawyer for this.  Lol

Good point. I'm sure McMahon won't bother hiring any lawyers to help with liability. He'll just go on the internet and download a waiver form for players to sign. 

 

[Arodin]

Why do you think McMahon decided this might be a good time to resurrect an idea that already failed once?  What's happening in the NFL that might make a guy like McMahon think it could be successful now?

By far the most widespread complaint regarding the modern NFL compared to the NFL during XFL-1 has to do with inconsistent rule enforcement, overlong delays for replay, and a plethora of flags.

A lot of people only watching for fantasy sports and DFS that could be siphoned off or double up in a new league.

Seems like racial issues and anthem-kneeling are a small corner of the fanbase's disaffection at best.

 

[zftcg]

By far the most widespread complaint regarding the modern NFL compared to the NFL during XFL-1 has to do with inconsistent rule enforcement, overlong delays for replay, and a plethora of flags.

I can see the Times Square billboards now: "XFL: MORE CONSISTENT OFFICIATING AND FEWER PENALTIES! FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!!!!" 

 

[Chicago Hooligan]

Maybe they can air it on this "White Entertainment Television" I'm always hearing about.

 

[mquinnjr]

I'll be very interested to see if they truly become a minor league for the NFL. They could potentially draw premium talent out of college if they could become the 1-2 year bridge for stud true or redshirt freshmen or sophomores that show they're the goods for the league but don't want to risk year 2&3 injury as an amateur before they can declare for the NFL draft after year 3. Maybe make the rookie contract 2 or 3 years, then UFA with right to leave for the NFL. Go pro in the XFL, make some money, and if they're the real deal, take it over to the NFL.