All those rumors about a Vince McMahon football league reboot?

Sounds like they're about to come true:

That's right: The man who brought us one year of the XFL is going to try it again.

Let's look back at the original XFL, which lasted all of one season in 2001, and remember some of the nutty rules, highlights and crazy personalities:

1. There were no coin tosses or kickoffs to start the game

Instead, there was a "scramble" in which two players would dash for possession of a ball at midfield:

2. There were no fair catches or kneeling in the end zone for touchbacks

Which led to stuff like this, which was horrifying then and seems even worse now:

3. Players could wear what they wanted on the backs of jersey

Which led to us all loving Rod Smart, AKA "He Hate Me."

4. Defensive backs could bump receivers downfield

That was eventually dropped because of too may games with low scores.

5. There were no extra point kicks

From a WWE release in 2001:

In the XFL, there will be no PAT kicks, instead teams will have to run or pass from the two-yard line to score one point. What's more, since the clock will be running during this play, any fumbled or intercepted attempt can be returned by the defending team for a one point score of its own.

6. There were quirky overtime rules

More from that release:

The XFL also announced that no game will end in a tie due to its "can you top this" overtime rule, in which both teams will get the ball at least once. Each team will get four downs to score from the opponent's 20 yard line. However, if team A scores a touchdown in less that four downs, team B only gets that many downs to respond.

7. The Jeff Brohm hit and comeback was nuts

Brohm is now the head coach at Purdue.

8. The championship contest was called the Million Dollar Game

It was because the winning team would split a $1 million bonus, much worse than what the game's nickname made it out to be.

9. A bona fide NFL starter emerged from the league

It didn't seem possible, but Tommy Maddox was the XFL MVP who won his team - the Los Angeles Xtreme - a title and came back to the NFL after being drafted in 1992. At age 31, in 2002, he started 11 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers and led them to a divisional playoff game that they lost to the Tennessee Titans. He finished his career in 2005 with 8,087 career yards in the NFL.

He also won a ring with the 2005 Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger's backup.


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