By OLIVIA RAY
WISH-TV
Football fans fell hard and fast for the XFL, but its first season was canceled — and with that, most hope for the league’s future dashed — halfway through due to the coronavirus.
“This is the real deal, and it’s a great fit when the NFL is in the offseason,” said Reece Horn, Tampa Bay Vipers and former University of Indianapolis wide receiver.
“It kinda was like a mixture of hard knocks and like a live football game. So that’s why I think people really enjoyed it,” said Kirk Barron, Seattle Dragons and former Purdue center.
A collection of local products were a part of the XFL’s debut, all trying to prove their dreams aren’t out of reach.
J-Shun Harris II, New York Guardians and former Indiana University and Fishers High School wide receiver, said, “They liked what they saw. And so I was at Topgolf here in Fishers whenever I got the call during the draft.”
“My agent, he said this would be a great time, you know, a great experience for you, create exposure, you know, get filmed and show teams that you’re not just on maybe like a practice squad, but you’re actually playing and getting good game reps and, and showing the world what you can do, too,” Horn added.
Barron said, “It was a quality product that we put out in the field. Like none of the games were ever really blowouts. It’s not like we were JV football players out there playing, you know. Like a lot of the guys on my team have won Superbowls.”
Plenty of alternate professional football leagues in the past crashed and burned. When the XFL relaunched earlier this year, they were trying to prove they were different — until five games into the first season, the coronavirus brought it all to a halt. The fallout in the XFL led to a total shutdown.
On Friday, the XFL suspended all operations and terminated all league employees.
“Our assistant strength coach texted us and he said, ‘The league is done.’ And we were like, ‘Wait, what? What do you mean?’” said Barron.
The news came as a shock to players, who said all messaging to this point had been that the XFL was committed to returning for the 2021 season and beyond.
“Yeah, this is a first-year league, but they have this built out the right way towards gonna last the long haul. I think they’re doing a really, really good job with, with setting the foundation first.” Horn added, “They’ve made it very well clear that the 2021 season is rolling around.”
So, while the XFL no longer has plans to continue in 2021, the league will not be forgotten. In fact, it could change football forever.
Harris said, “That’s because of, you know, some of the different changes with special teams, the game being much faster. So it’s given everything that the fans have wanted in one for a few years now.”
Barron said, “I thought the kickoffs made a lot of sense for the NFL. And the extra points were definitely a little crazy because you can never just rely on a kicker just to kick it through the uprights. It was like, all right, now we’re going for one, two or three. So, I think that might be something that will translate into the NFL.”
So long, XFL: It was fun while it lasted.
