The Advance Scout: "Generation XFL" by Jimmy Mohr 
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February 7, 2001
Generation XFL
by Jimmy Mohr
HoustonProFootball.com
For those of you who left the planet this past weekend, the renegade XFL began play after weeks of promises to reinvent the sport of football. The league is the brainchild of Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports, and the infamous Vince McMahon, owner of the WWF. The inclusion of McMahon instantly raised eyebrows and also questioned the legitimacy of a league that had not yet played a down. To McMahon’s credit, he knows how to entertain people and sell a product to the public. He is a man who has made millions marketing a “sport” that has kept its fans on the edge of their seats for two decades, despite the fact that the matches are predetermined. McMahon and Ebersol’s challenge with the potential fan base of the XFL is twofold: the first is to get them to watch and the second is to keep them coming back for more. If anyone can pull it off, McMahon’s as safe a bet as any.
I tuned in on Saturday night to watch the Las Vegas Outlaws and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in what was the first-ever nationally televised XFL game. I was interested to see if this new league was full of real football players or consisted of a bunch of Stone Cold and The Rock look-alikes, body slamming their opponent up and down the gridiron. I also wondered if some of these XFL players could possibly find themselves in an NFL training camp this summer, or, closer to home, maybe even playing for the Houston Texans in 2002?
Most, if not all football fans’ knee-jerk reaction to that question was an emphatic “no,” based seemingly on the idea that any football player in the XFL is obviously not good enough to make it in the NFL. After watching a few games this weekend, for the most part, that assumption is accurate. In fact, the XFL already has its fair share of NFL failures, including Tommy Maddox, Rashaan Salaam, Alvin Harper and Jim Druckenmiller, to name just a few.
Collectively, the ex-NFL players are chasing a dream that they once experienced firsthand. For many of them, McMahon’s league is their last shot at getting back to the Promised Land of the NFL. When these players are thrown into the mix with guys from the Arena League, World League and the Canadian Football League, you have a field full of dreamers with something to play for. (In fact, they earn a bonus of $2,500 for winning a XFL game.)
So I disagree that none of the XFL players are good enough to play for a NFL team. I’m not saying I was overly impressed with the level of play I witnessed last weekend, but I think a few of them do have the potential to at least earn an invitation to an NFL camp this summer. And before you start calling me an idiot, how many of you would have thought an Arena League quarterback could eventually become an NFL MVP? Is there a Kurt Warner lurking in the shadows of obscurity in Birmingham or Memphis? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean Charley Casserly and his staff should arbitrarily dismiss the new league as useless. And if they do happen to catch a few games, they should look beyond mere talent.
When I watch teams like San Diego, Cincinnati and even Dallas, I sense each could use an infusion of players who will pour their heart and soul into every single game. Too many of today’s NFL players seem to succumb to the Super Bowl-or-bust mentality, meaning they quit on themselves, their teammates and their coaches when the playoffs appear out of reach. All the while, collecting fat paychecks for doing nothing more than going through the motions. If some of the more talented XFL players are given a chance to tryout for an NFL team, you can bet that these dreamers would leave everything they had on the field, pushing some of the lethargic veterans. And that could be beneficial, especially to an expansion team expected to lose often in the first few years of existence.
Think back to when the NFL players went on strike in 1987. The owners hired “scabs” to keep the league going, even though they knew the level of play would be compromised. In some cases, these “scabs” actually earned their way onto the club when the strike ended later that same season. The Oilers featured house painter-turned-special teams expert, Eugene Seale (who remains one of my favorite all-time Oilers), whose relentless kickoff coverage inspired and fired up his awed teammates. He was a man living out his dream.
Consider the XFL players on the same talent level as the “scabs” over a decade ago. If some of the “scabs” continued to play in the NFL after the strike ended, there are bound to be a few XFL players capable of making a similar transition. And while it’s still true that teams need superstars to help them win, they also need men who will give them 110% of whatever talent they have. Give me a team full of Eugene Seale’s and I will show you a squad that will never quit no matter what the score. So keep watching. I know I will, because you never know who may be wearing a Houston Texan jersey come 2002.
Jimmy Mohr still promises to make good on his vow to eventually try out for an XFL team. If lucky enough to make it (he’s currently working on long snaps), the back of his jersey will read, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
