The debut of the new XFL on Saturday had a punt blocked for a touchdown and a juiced-up crowd roaring for big plays.
The actual football was hit and miss. College national championship-winning former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones was the biggest star on the field and took the microphone to address fans before the start of a brand new league.
“This is for the love of football,” Jones said. “Enjoy.”
Photo: Troy Taormina-USA Today
Jones’ DC Defenders beat the Seattle Dragons 31-19 in the opener of the new XFL, which provided plenty of entertainment in person and on TV.
It is far too early to tell if the XFL can take a foothold where its previous incarnation and the recently unsuccessful Alliance of American Football failed, but executives are willing to wait and see.
“For us, if the fans who attend and watch at home feel as though it was a good football game and they had a fun time either watching or being in this awesome venue with us, that’s success,” XFL chief operating officer Jeffrey Pollack said. “We’re taking a long-term view in this. Success ultimately will not be measured in the first game or the first weekend or the first season.”
The first weekend is a chance for fans to catch a glimpse of some of the few players they might recognize.
There was former Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones with Dallas, former NFL quarterback Josh Johnson with San Diego and ex-Navy standout Keenan Reynolds playing for Seattle.
It is not the star power of the NFL, but billionaire Vince McMahon’s latest venture is an attempt to capture the attention of hardcore football fans in the aftermath of the Super Bowl.
“Our expectation for this first season is for football fans to simply give us a look, give us a chance, sample us,” Pollack said. “We understand that fandom is earned. It’s not given... We think that if you love football, you’re going to love the XFL.”
In the league opener, a crowd of 17,163 almost filled up Audi Field, home of Major League Soccer’s DC United. There was a buzz around the stadium in the hours before the XFL’s debut.
“I didn’t have real expectations going into the game as far as what the experience was going to be like,” Cardale Jones said. “If I did ... they would’ve been blown away.”
The location of the first game made sense in the neighborhood of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, who have not won the Super Bowl since 1992 and have just one playoff victory in the past 20 seasons. Fan-made signs mocking the “Hail to the Redskins” slogan and asking Redskins owner Dan Snyder to sell the team were draped from a balcony at the 50-yard line.
The broadcast included in-game interviews with a kicker seconds after he missed a field goal attempt and a defender involved in a scrum that led to a penalty.
On the field, the play was a mix of traditional college and pro style with some different twists.
There was no coin toss and when Reynolds fielded the opening kickoff, he did so with everyone else on the field standing still as part of a rule implemented for safety. The clock ran for all but the time inside each two-minute warning, and some other tweaks were different for players.
“It was definitely an adjustment for some of the stuff,” said Seattle’s Austin Proehl, who caught the first touchdown pass in the new version of the league. “It’s something we’ve got to get used to.”
The Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Winter Games landed in Rome on Thursday following a handover in Greece. The flame was carried in a small lantern aboard an ITA Airways flight between the Greek and Italian capitals. Tennis player Jasmine Paolini — an Olympic gold medalist — and local organizing committee president Giovanni Malago carried the flame off the plane. “I feel honored. It’s an incredible emotion,” Paolini said in brief remarks before the lantern was driven away toward the presidential palace. A 63-day torch relay covering 12,000km is to start in Rome today and wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces
The Kashima Antlers won a record-extending ninth Japanese title on the final day of the J. League season yesterday, holding their nerve to beat the Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1. Watched by Brazilian legend and former player Zico, the Antlers went into the game at their packed home stadium with a one-point lead over Kashiwa Reysol in the table. A goal in either half from Brazilian striker Leo Ceara put the Antlers in control, but Yokohama struck in the first of five minutes of second-half injury time to set up a nail-biting finale, with Reysol winning their game 1-0. The Antlers saw out the
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
ABYSMAL: Wolves have equaled their worst top-flight run since 1981-1982, and they will equal the league’s longest winless start if they fail to win their next two matches Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim on Monday said his team had “improved a lot” after they climbed back into the race to qualify for the UEFA Champions League as Bruno Fernandes inspired a 4-1 rout of woeful Wolverhampton Wanderers. Amorim’s side recovered from their disappointing draw with lowly West Ham United last week thanks to Fernandes’ double and goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount at Molineux. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde had canceled out Fernandes’ opener with Wolves’ first goal in six games in all competitions and their first in the top-flight since Oct. 26. However, Mbeumo, Mount and Fernandes netted after
RSS