Drew Kerekes

I haven’t watched a single XFL game since its season kicked off two weekends ago. This is not a debate on the quality of the product the league is putting on the field. Anecdotally, every reaction I’ve seen on social media has been positive, saying it’s “good football,” but those are just random posts I see on Twitter and Facebook.

Since the league was announced the XFL was making a return several years ago, I watched the Alliance of American Football in the fail in 2019. I remember the original XFL failing in 2001. Both of those leagues went defunct after just one season. A few years before I was born, the United States Football League lasted just three seasons, from 1982-85, before it went under. Oh, and the Arena Football League filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this past November.

Naturally, I was skeptical of a return of the XFL at the time it was announced, and just last year, two professional football leagues bit the dust. Future viability of the current iteration of the XFL remains to be seen, but history of non-NFL professional football leagues is not on its side. How could the XFL set itself apart?

One idea pitched to me by a good friend a while back piqued my interest: What about turning the XFL into what would essentially be minor league football? You already have guys in the league hoping to make enough of an impression to either get a shot or a second chance at the NFL, so what about offering elite high school recruits the opportunity to develop their game right after graduating, spending a few years in the league before being eligible for the NFL Draft?

There are several obvious obstacles to such an idea. Firstly, the money would have to be there. Given there are questions about the chances of the XFL sticking around after just one year, any plan of paying football players fresh out of high school would likely have to involve the NFL supporting the league financially in some capacity. The NBA supports the WNBA financially, for example, and MLB handles contracts for its minor league players. Not only would XFL teams need to be able to pay these athletes to skip college, but they would also need to hire the caliber of coaching staffs needed to sell the idea that they’re getting good enough coaching to become NFL Draft lottery picks.

Another potential obstacle was pointed out to me when I casually ran the idea by Southeast Lauderdale head football coach Calvin Hampton. He pointed out that these high school athletes would be going against professionals. These guys would, at minimum, have several years of college experience, and some even have NFL experience, whether it’s playing in games for a couple of years or being on the various teams’ practice squads. Point is, having guys fresh out of high school go against those types of players could be dangerous, Hampton said.

Both are fair points. I’ve seen no indication that the NFL wishes to do anything that would disrupt the college football system in a major way, and supporting a league financially so it could pay high schoolers to play football for a few years before getting drafted would do just that. Further, I think any such plan would have to include a mandatory “redshirt” season, where rookies out of high school couldn’t play in their first year, though they could still practice and get paid while doing so. The three-years-removed-from-high-school NFL Draft eligibility rule would have to apply to these players just like it does college football players as well.

But in an ideal world, I think the XFL becoming full-fledged minor league football would be a good thing. Any high school athlete that has a serious interest in getting an education would still be able to attend the school of their choice and play football while studying to earn a degree. For the ones who aren’t as interested in being a full-time student — and let’s face it, there will always be athletes who just want to get developed for the NFL and see school as more of a secondary focus — this hypothetical XFL would be work.

The chances of this happening appear slim, but I’m surprised more people haven’t at least casually pitched the idea. It’s not like professional football leagues outside of the NFL are having much success in America, and given the ongoing debate about paying college athletes, wouldn’t the gimmick of “paying guys to practice and develop into NFL players” make it stand out more than simply being he next professional football league to try an make it?

Actually, I’m probably just bored on a Monday in thinking this up. 

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com