Follow CFL

© 2024 CFL. All rights reserved.

Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the XFL: What Is (Was?) The XFL Anyways?

A league that lasted only one year, but spawned a cult following.  We dive into the mystique of the XFL…

With the XFL 15th anniversary on February 3rd, we at the Snap know the league had tons of CFL connections both players that played then, and individuals still involved in the CFL. We are taking this as a time to look back at the XFL and in a separate article have gone through EVERY XFL-CFL connetion.

Just 15 years ago (February 3, 2001) the XFL officially kicked off their inaugural (and ultimately, only) season. In case you don’t remember the XFL or never heard of it, in February of 2000 a joint partnership between NBCUniversal and Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (later re-named WWE as we know it today) was announced, creating an 8-team football league that would debut shortly after the conclusion of the 2001 NFL season. You can find a list of ALL the XFL teams here.

Milanovich_XFLMashUp

Scott Milanovich has had his hands in both leagues, not only was he the #1 overall pick in the XFL draft (by Jim Barker no less) he also played QB for the Calgary Stampeders and currently coaches the Toronto Argonauts.  CLICK HERE for the full Milanovich XFL story.

Though the XFL did not utilize any of the hijinks one might expect to find in a wrestling ring, it did aim to challenge the way we consumed football. From allowing players to put nicknames on their jerseys instead of their last names;

RodSmart

*Rod Smart’s “He Hate Me” was the XFL’s best selling jersey. Smart played one game with the Eskimos following his season with the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws. You may also know his younger brother, BC’s Chris Rainey.

They even got rid of the coin toss altogether, and allowed for “athleticism” to determine who would have first possession.

Though the XFL lasted just one season, it does still have several ties to the CFL.

Click HERE to see all the connections as we look back on the 15-year anniversary of the XFL including a specific deep dive into the Milanovich-Barker connection.

Image via: www.all-XFL.com