The National Football League (NFL) season has ended and now Sundays are left vacant. Despite the great ending to an insane NFL season, some fans still want more football. Fortunately for football fans everywhere, there is more football on the horizon to keep fans happy until the new NFL season.
The XFL, unofficially the “X-treme” Football League, has made a comeback to television screens everywhere with its third iteration of the game. According to ESPN, the XFL had tried to kick off two other times before, the first time was in 2001 and the second was in 2020 but it was cancelled due to COVID-19. It is currently co-owned by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia. There are currently eight teams in the XFL: Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians, San Antonio Brahmas, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks and Vegas Vipers.
The XFL season has already kicked off its season Saturday, Feb. 18. The season began with a double header on Saturday starting with the Vipers traveling to Arlington to take on the Renegades. Both teams showed up and showed out in its debut. The game was close, but the Renegades came out on top, 22-20. The second game on Saturday was not as close as the first when the Roughnecks defeated the Guardians with a score of 33-12.
There will be 40 regular-season games, two semifinals and a title game of the XFL season. After a multi-year deal with Walt Disney all the games will be shown on ESPN, ABC and FX. The XFL season will conclude Saturday, May 13.
Another league to watch until the NFL season starts is the United States Football League (USFL). The USFL kicked off its first season after 40 years in 2021.
The league began in 1983 and continued for three seasons after its inaugural season until it was shut down in 1986 due to financial problems. According to Athlon Sports, the USFL has seen various players who went on to play in the NFL such as Steve Young, Reggie White and Doug Flutie. Most recently, the USFL was home to Dallas Cowboys kick and punt returner Kavontae Turpin. Turpin was drafted by the New Jersey Generals where he led the USFL with 540 receiving yards per Fox Sports. Turpin also went on to win Most Valuable Player in the USFL in 2022.
Just like the XFL, the USFL consists of eight teams: Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, Memphis Showboats. Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philidelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers. There will also be a total of 40 games in the span of 10 weeks. The games will be played on Saturday and Sunday with doubleheaders on both days.
The USFL season kicks off just in time for spring football 2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 15 with the Stars vs. the Showboats and the Generals vs. the Stallions at 5:30 p.m. The 2023 USFL season concludes Sunday, June 18 with the Breakers taking on the Gamblers and the Stars taking on the Panthers.
Katrina Villarreal is the multimedia editor and may be reached at [email protected]
