As we drift out in the frigid sea of February, drowning without the NFL, we may have a lifeline hurled our way.
Vince McMahon, of wrestling fame and fortune, has revived his failed football experiment, tweaking the more exciting parts and deleting the more soporific. His rebranded version of the XFL - in this instance the X, which once stood for "eXtreme" is simply a variable - kicks off on Saturday at 2 p.m.
There will be eight teams split into two divisions, East and West, playing a ten-game schedule, with the league championship game to be played on April 26. In terms of management, the league will be run by commissioner Oliver Luck. Luck is the father of Andrew, and is a former NFL QB. He brings brains and character to the XFL.
And the coterie of head coaches has ample NFL pedigree. Former Redskins coach Jim Zorn will lead the Seattle Dragons. Former Chargers coach Kevin Gilbride will wear the headset for the New York Guardians (with home games at MetLife Stadium). Rounding out the ex-NFL coaches are June Jones (Houston Roughnecks) and Mark Trestman (Tampa Bay Vipers). They even lured former Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops to run the Dallas Renegades.
This reboot faces some of the same problems that felled its predecessor - a dearth of dominant players and a modest average salary of $55,000. The highest-paid players - the quarterbacks, of course - can make as much as $250,000. Unlike the USFL, which bagged truly great players, from Jim Kelly to Steve Young to Herschel Walker, the XFL can only claim marginal or fringe pro football players for its maiden season. Indeed, XFL stars Landry Jones and Cardale Jones are best known for their days with the Sooners and Buckeyes, not the Steelers and Bills.
But it seems McMahon learned from the failed business model of his pseudo-wrestling football league. Instead of self-indulgent theatrics and players named "He Hate Me," the goal of the new XFL is to add sizzle to football plays, not players.
The games will feature 25-second play clocks (as opposed to 40 seconds in the NFL), They will make kickoff returns more palatable and exciting, and offer one, two, or three-point conversions after a touchdown. Perhaps the most curious tweak to offense will be the option to make two forward passes in one play, as long as the first comes from behind the line of scrimmage.
It's also on us to watch with understanding eyes. If we expect a carbon copy of the greatest and most popular sports league in America, then we're sure to feel badly betrayed. If we expect any facsimile of Kelce snaring a TD bullet from Mahomes; if we expect to see the Bosa brothers spinning, swimming and sprinting their way to the cringing quarterback, we will be disappointed.
But if we see the XFL through a proper prism - as a Bloody Mary for our post Super Bowl hangover, played by athletes who dwell in the talent gap between NCAA and NFL, and coached by men with real NFL experience - then our NFL withdrawal can be assuaged for ten weeks. And it's not like they will be relegated to low-rent cable outlets, with games broadcast on ESPN, ABC, FOX, and FS1.
If you love - no, if you're in love with - football, you owe it to your gridiron soul to check out the XFL. It's up to them to prove that they're in a league of their own, or just another doomed show in syndication.