Author: XFLBoard Editor

XFL Week 3 – Players of the Week – “Fan’s Choice” by XFLBoard.com

Posted on by XFLBoard Editor
Cam Phillips (Houston Roughnecks), Mike Stevens (LA Wildcats), Tre Williams (LA Wildcats), Joe Powell (St. Louis BattleHawks)

Welcome to our Week 3 XFL “Players of the Week” results. Voting began immediately at the completion of the final game on Sunday. We gathered over 2,600 votes between this time and the closing of polls at Noon Eastern on Tuesday 25 February 2020. We thank all who voted!

Fans were asked to nominate any player they deemed worthy of the honor, in four categories: Offensive, defensive, lineman, and special teams.

Winners below are based on the number of votes received for each player.

YouTube video

Offensive Player of the Week: Cam Phillips, Houston Roughnecks

Wide receiver Cam Phillips became the number one receiver in the XFL through 8 catches where he added 194 yards to the Roughnecks offense and three touchdowns. Cam was the number one offensive weapon in a high-scoring XFL week 3.

Fan comments:

  • 8 catches 194 yards 3 TD’s. Nuff said! (Anonymous)
  • Most dangerous receiver in the league. (Anonymous)
  • Eclipsed all receivers in the league in week 3. (XFL Forever)

Honorable Mentions

  • PJ Walker, Houston Roughnecks
  • Martez Carter, LA Wildcats
  • Jordon Ta’amu, St. Louis BattleHawks

 

Defensive Player of the Week: Mike Stevens, LA Wildcats

LA Wildcats cornerback Mike Stevens picked off DC Defenders QB Cardale Jones twice, leading the Wildcats shutdown of the powerful DC Defenders offense..

Fan comments:

  • He stepped in for the Cats and got 2 picks, 4 tackles and 1 sack. (XFL_FAN)
  • Injuries to LA’s top two corners turned into a blessing in disguise. Stevens stepped in and had the Wildcats’ best defensive performance of the season. (Xtremefanforever)
  • 6 combined tackles, 1 sack, and 2 interceptions while holding undefeated DC Defenders to single digit scoring. Your Defensive Player of the Week. Mike Stevens.. (@berto_la2ca)

Honorable Mention

  • Will Smith, LA Wildcats
  • Will Hill, St. Louis Batttlehawks

 

Lineman of the Week: Tre Williams, LA Wildcats

Tre Williams combined 8 tackles with 1 sack in the Wildcats shutdown of the DC Defenders.

Fan comments:

  • Kept the DC Defenders off the board by pressuring Cardale Jones all day. (Anonymous)
  • Ended a DC Defenders drive with a massive sack. (XFL Linebacker)
  • Led the Wildcats defense in pressuring Cardale Jones. (Anonymous)

Honorable Mention

  • Steven Johnson, Seattle Dragons

 

Special Teams Player of the Week: Joe Powell, St. Louis BattleHawks

In a kickoff return, Powell made XFL history by taking a reverse from Keith Mumphery and running the ball over 80 yards for a touchdown.

Fan comments:

  • Historical first XFL kick return for 84 yards! (Anonymous)
  • He took the reverse and returned the kickoff to the house. First time in the XFL! (Stephen Q.)
  • First kickoff return for a TD in XFL history deserves this honor. (Anonymous)

Honorable mention:

  • Taylor Russolino, St. Louis BattleHawks

XFL – Are Concepts Foreign to American Football the Key to New League’s Success?

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Guest Editorial by Author/Richard J. Lynch – Commissioner, GlobalGridiron.com
XFL – Are Concepts Foreign to American Football the Key to New League’s Success?

The upstart XFL football league has returned in February of 2020 to much fanfare and overall good reviews. Nineteen years after scrubbing their first effort that was perceived as rushed to the marketplace they have squarely put the focus on football and left the wrestling antics and storylines in the ring.

XFL Logo

But, while founder Vince McMahon could essentially hand pick, create and fabricate many of his WWE stars there’s no faking football. One concern that keeps popping up on the numerous forums that now regularly discuss all things XFL is whether or not there’s enough gridiron talent to go around to sustain an expanding league in the long run.

The centenarian senior circuit gobbles up many players and each of its 32 teams have substantially sized practice squads. Then you have dozens of units that play an indoor variety of the game. An then there’s the Canadian brand north of the border.

But, speaking of Canada – the CFL and their slightly odd approach on the field are now leading the way in developing the game around the world. Randy Ambrosie, Canadian Football League (CFL) Commissioner has done admirable work in forging the International Alliance of Gridiron Football, which was founded last November in Calgary, Canada, prior to the 107th playing of the CFL’s championship game, the Grey Cup. The Alliance is a multilateral organization dedicated to expanding gridiron football’s footprint around the world. The organization now includes the sport’s federations and elite leagues from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, and Sweden.

The game of American Football has truly and finally emerged as a force beyond the North American continent. The sport gained a foothold in Europe during World War II when American soldiers passed the time throwing the pigskin on foreign shores. Later, it achieved a heightened level of consciousness in the Old World thanks to the NFL’s ambitious experiment known as the World League of American Football.

Could it be that future stars of the game will emerge from these foreign markets? We think the answer is an obvious and inevitable “yes”!

Speaking of stars – the XFL has within its ranks a rising quarterback named P.J. Walker who is thrilling and impressing every week leading his now 3 and 0 Houston Roughnecks to gridirion glory. The mobile field general is drawing comparisons to Patrick Mahomes and he’s a sure bet to make the move to the NFL once the inaugural XFL 2.0 season is complete.

That fact alone seems likes a major missed opportunity for the XFL. They are going to have to face the indignity of watching one of the stars they helped create just up and leave to chase greener pastures and lots more money in that other league. Perhaps in the future they will look into another foreign concept in sports made popular by that other type of football – the transfer fee.

If the talent and future promise of P.J. Walker is in fact on par with the likes of the Super Bowl champ’s chief gunslinger then you can’t let that go for nothing. Future XFL contracts should be arranged that players can jump ship but it will come at a price. If the XFL can pick up multiple millions for each skill player they help create, brand and bring to the public’s awareness – well, that will go a long way in helping recoup its founder’s half a billion dollar investment.

It’s not really out of the realm of possibilities. Recent transfer fees for soccer players represent the highest prices ever generated just to acquire the right to sign an athlete. Consider the record breaking sum of 222 million Euros paid by Paris SG for Brazil’s star forward Neymar. This begs the question of how can the XFL just let P.J. Walker walk to their chief competitor? Surely he’s got to be worth at least a few Euros to someone!

Episode 26 – XFL Week 3 – James Butler and Greg Parks

Posted on by XFLBoard Editor

First, we go to the Houston and speak to James Butler a running back with the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. We talk to James about how he is making the most of his opportunity with the Roughnecks, and about something he calls the “Houston Hop.” Then we speak to Greg Parks, one of our XFLBoard.com team reporters for the Tampa Bay Vipers. Greg helps dissect a very interesting XFL week 3, and provides a look forward into week four. Will week 4 be just ask interesting. Greg thinks so, and I tend to agree with him.

Music: Are You Ready – Free music archive.

Where can you subscribe to this podcast?

Collective Wisdom – Week 3 Results

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Collective Wisdom by XFLBoard.com

We had over 750 XFL fans add their wisdom to our system.  We thank all those who entered. In Week 3 the collective was very accurate.

Collective Wisdom – Week 3 Results

 This Week
3-1

 Overall Record
10-2

In picking the Week 3 winners, the collective went 3-1. Very wise!

The Collective Wisdom season record is 10-2.

Week 3 Games

 Collective Wisdom

Actual Score

 Picked Winner? Point Differential

Houston Roughnecks at Tampa Bay Vipers 

26-15

34-27

Accurate

 21

Dallas Renegades at Seattle Dragons

23-19

24-12

Accurate

 8

New York Guardians  at St. Louis BattleHawks

13-25

9-29

Accurate

 8
DC Defenders at LA Wildcats 29-19 9-39

Wrong

 40

Weekly Winner

The entrant who came the closest to predicting the actual scores was Greg Patterson.

Compared to the actual scores, Greg Patterson’s entry had a total point differential of 26. Very wise!

Here is the winning entry:

  • Houston Roughnecks 35 at Tampa Bay Vipers 26
  • Dallas Renegades 24 at Seattle Dragons 14
  • New York Guardians 10 at St. Louis BattleHawks 28
  • DC Defenders 14 at LA Wildcats 24

Greg Patterson has won the Genius of the Week tee-shirt. Congratulations!

Stay tuned for Collective Wisdom Week 4!

Collective Wisdom – Week 3 Predictions

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Collective Wisdom by XFLBoard.com

We are happy to say that just over 530 XFL fans added their wisdom to our system. The closest entrant will win a tee-shirt proclaiming them the Genius of the Week.

We have crunched the numbers and have come up with the predictions for this week’s games. This week the collective wisdom says the visitors will win 3 of 4 games. Could this be true?

Last week our Collective Wisdom went 4-0, to increase our season record to 7-1.

Collective Wisdom – Week 2 Predictions

Visitor

Home

Houston Roughnecks

26

Tampa Bay Vipers

15
Dallas Renegades

23

Seattle Dragons

19

New York Guardians

13

 St. Louis BattleHawks

25

DC Defenders

29

 Los Angeles Wildcats

19

 

XFL Week 2 – Players of the Week – “Fan’s Choice” by XFLBoard.com

Posted on by XFLBoard Editor

Welcome to our Week 2 XFL “Players of the Week” results. Voting began immediately at the completion of the final game on Sunday. We gathered over 1,800 votes between this time and the closing of polls at Midnight Eastern on Monday 17 February 2020. We thank all who voted!

Winners below are based on the number of votes received for each player.

Cameron Artis-Payne, Dallas Renegades (Credit: XFL.com)

Offensive Player of the Week: Cameron Artis-Payne, Dallas Renegades

Running back Cameron Artis-Payne owned the Los Angeles Wildcats defense. In 14 carries he totaled 99 yards on the ground, 32 yards receiving, and scored two touchdowns, leading the Renegades to their first victory.

Fan comments:

  • His touchdowns ended the game for the Wildcats. (Anonymous)
  • Without his runs, I don’t think Dallas wins. His runs also helped open things up for Landry Jones. (Metallifreak10)
  • Artis-Payne had 99 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving to go along with two touchdowns as he led the Renegades to their first win. (ethanyeary)

Honorable Mentions

  • PJ Walker, Houston Roughnecks
  • Cardell Jones, DC Defenders
  • Jordon Ta’amu, St. Louis BattleHawks

 

YouTube video

Defensive Player of the Week: Jameer Thurman, DC Defenders

Jamer Thurman shutdown the New York offense when he intercepted Matt McGloin’s pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown.

Fan comments:

  • Pick 6 shut down the New York drive, and shut down the Guardian’s offense for the rest of the game. (James Ready)
  • Picked the ball and he saw the end zone. The rest is history. (XFL Fan)
  • Was a critical element of a stingy DC defense. Made the Guardians pay. (Anonymous)

Honorable Mention

  • Will Smith, LA Wildcats
  • Anthony Johnson, DC Defenders

 

Lineman of the Week: Steven Johnson, Seattle Dragons

Steven Johnson with 10 combined tackles anchored a stingy Seattle Dragons defensive line.

Fan comments:

  • Kept the Tampa Bay running game from scoring. (Anonymous)
  • Linebacker Steven Johnson led the Dragons in tackles for the second game in a row. (Dragon’s Fan)
  • Johnson led the way with 10 tackles and two TFL. (XFL Forever)

Honorable Mention

  • Beniquez Brown, Houston Roughnecks
  • Marcelis Branch, Tampa Bay Vipers

 

Special Teams Player of the Week: Tyler Rausa, DC Defenders

With field goals from the 27, 26 and 26 Tyler Rausa anchored the DC Defenders scoring machine in week 2.

Fan comments:

  • He went 3-3 in field goals. (S. Smith)
  • 3/3 dude should be in the NFL. (HalToTheU)
  • Never missed. He hit it every time he went to the line. (Anonymous)

Honorable mention:

  • Sergio Castillo, Houston Roughnecks
  • Austin Rehkow, Houston Roughnecks

Episode 25 – XFL Week 2 – Dontez Byrd and Mike Mitchell

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First, we go to the west coast and speak to Dontez Byrd, a wide receiver with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL. We talk with Dontez about the Dragons first win, and how exciting it is to play in a sports-minded city like Seattle. Then we speak to Mike Mitchell, our XFLBoard.com team reporter for the New York Guardians. Mike helps dissect XFL Week 2, and provides a look forward into Week 3…  which, according to Mike, includes the first “revenge game” of this XFL season.

Music: Are You Ready – Free music archive.

Where can you subscribe to this podcast?

Collective Wisdom – Week 2 Results

Posted on by XFLBoard Editor

Collective Wisdom by XFLBoard.com

We had over 500 XFL fans add their wisdom to our system.  We thank all those who entered. In Week 2 the collective was very accurate.

Collective Wisdom – Week 1 Results

In picking the Week 2 winners, the collective went 4-0. Very wise!

Game

 Collective Wisdom

Actual Score

 Picked Winner? Point Differential

 New York Guardians at DC Defenders

18-24

0-27

Accurate

 21

Tampa Bay Vipers at Seattle Dragons

18-24

9-17

Accurate

 16

Dallas Renegades  at LA Wildcats

26-18

25-18

Accurate

 1
St. Louis BattleHawks at Houston Roughnecks 19-29 24-28

Accurate

 6

Season record for picking winners 7-1

Weekly Winner

The entrant who came the closest to predicting the actual scores was K. Wilson.

Compared to the actual scores, K. Wilson’s entry had a total point differential of 17. Very wise!

Here is the winning entry:

  •  New York Guardians 12 at DC Defenders 26
  • Tampa Bay Vipers 10 at Seattle Dragons 16
  • Dallas Renegades 24 at LA Wildcats 18
  • St. Louis BattleHawks 24 at Houston Roughnecks 29

K. Wilson has won the Genius of the Week tee-shirt. Congratulations!

Stay tuned for Collective Wisdom Week 3!

Podcast: XFL Xchange. Episode 3

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The King and the Counselor get you ready for week 2 of the XFL!!

Link: XFL Xchange Site

XFL Xchange for news, opinions, predictions and facts. Real Football, Real Talk, with King Mike L and the Counselor.

“Both non-Patriots fans living in New England. We both dislike the Pats actually. I’ve been doing a podcast named Bar Fongool, which is a fictional Italian Bar where I tell stories . We are Italian Americans, lol, and it comes thru in our comedy. But yeah we are a bit retro, but I’ll change it if you want me to. But yeah retro fits in a hurt my feelings, sort of way. Thanks for any advice or help you can provide. I really appreciate it.”

Podcast hosted on Anchor.