New York / New Jersey Hitmen
Hitmen
QB Charles Puleri gets checked out
after
a hard sack in Week 3.
The Hitmen started off the season with a shutout loss to Las Vegas, but themselves pitched 2 shutouts in later games (one against Chicago, another against Birmingham). In spite of having many talented players, mistakes plagued the team throughout the season, and they finished at 4-6.
The Hitmen made a change at QB in the early part of the season, replacing the struggling Charles Puleri with Wally Richardson. Richardson rallied the team to their first win, a shutout against hapless Chicago. The team rallied to fans' chants of "Wally, Wally, Wally" streaming in from the stands. Richardson, however, was himself injured later in the season and was replaced by Puleri, who led the team to a shutout victory over the Birmingham Bolts in the season finale.
Perhaps one of the most enduring moments in the Hitmen's brief history is the contrived drama between NBC announcer Jesse Ventura and Head Coach Rusty Tillman. Ventura tried to inject a little wrestling hype into XFL broadcasts of Hitmen games by publicly challenging Tillman's manhood and decision-making abilities. Coach Tillman, ever the consummate professional, brushed off the jabs by Ventura and refused to respond. In the end, Ventura's attempts failed, and this also contributed to overall decline in viewers for NBC's XFL broadcasts.
The Hitmen
had a lot of talent and a lot of promise,
but mistakes haunted the team all
season long. There is little doubt
that Coach Tillman and his staff would
have been able to field a much better
team had there been a second season,
and it is a shame that fans will never
know how much better the team would
have been.
XFLBoard NY/NJ Hitmen News Archive
| 30 December 2000 | NY/NJ HITMEN ACQUIRE FOUR IN SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT |
| 30 January 2001 | CAN THE HITMEN ATTRACT FANS? |
| 2 February 2001 | Las Vegas is Gonna Take a HIT |
| 5 March 2001 | Xtreme Dominate the Hitmen |
| 10 March 2001 | Tillman and Pearson May Get Whacked! |
| 12 March 2001 | The New and Improved Hitmen? |
| 16 March 2001 | Will The Maniax Drive The Hitmen Crazy? |
| 18 March 2001 | The Hitmen Outlast The Maniax |
| 21 March 2001 | Let The Games Begin |
| 24 March 2001 | Hitmen Look To Continue Their Winning Ways |
| 26 March 2001 | The Hitmen Fall Hard To The Rage |
| 29 March 2001 | The Hitmen Prepare For The Playoffs Before The Playoffs |
| 30 March 2001 | Rusty Tillman Guarantees a Hitmen Victory |
| 1 April 2001 | The Hitmen Lose Heartbreaker To Chicago |
| 6 April 2001 | The Final Week For The Hitmen? |
| 9 April 2001 | The Hitmen's Playoff Dream Dies In Chicago |
| 11 April 2001 | 2001 NY/NJ Hitmen Report Card |
Aggressive, Relentless, In-Your-Face, and Hard-Hitting is the best way to describe the NY/NJ style of play. The HITMEN team colors are black and blue, just like they expect their opponents to look the day after they play them. You got a problem with that?
Announced:
August 3, 2000
General
Manager:
Drew Pearson
Head
Coach:
Rusty Tillman
Team Colors:
Black and blue
Stadium:
Giants Stadium
Preseason
odds to win championship:
6-1
Final
Record:
4-6
3rd place XFL East
Team Reporter
Mike
Mitchell
