Houston welcomes its latest professional sports franchise.
Houstonians will have yet another chance to compete for a championship title. If it doesn’t pan out for our six other professional sports teams, we now have the Houston Roughriders contending for an XFL trophy. With the disheartening ending of the Texan’s season and the retrospect scandal that marred the Astros’ victory, the city’s new team couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. [Featured image courtesy of @xflroughnecks]
WTF is XFL?
The Houston Roughnecks were among seven cities to be inaugurated into the reinstated XFL league. If you recall, the XFL originated in 2001, but only had a one-year stint. Co-controlled by the World Wrestling Federation (WWE) and NBC, the original league incorporated many of the sensational entertainment elements featured in the WWE. The reincarnated XFL, however, aims to achieve a more entertaining, more expedited form of the National Football League without the gimmicks.
In contrast with the NFL, the XFL will feature shorter games in conglomeration with a number of rule changes. Those rule changes regard kickoffs, punts, extra points, overtime, and more. All are meant to encourage the more offensively entertaining and risk-taking aspects of football.
One interesting difference in the XFL is the ability to make two forward passes behind the line of scrimmage on a single play. Another is a shootout-style overtime that allows each teams five chances to score a TD from the five-yard line. There are no ties in the XFL.
The league, owned by WWE promoter Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment company, also seeks to limit off-field controversies.
The XFL consists of a 10-week season followed by a two-week postseason. There are two divisions with four teams in each. The Houston Roughnecks are a part of the West Division, along with the Dallas Renegades, Los Angeles Wildcats, and Seattle Dragons. The East Division includes the DC Defenders, New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks, and Tampa Bay Vipers.
The Houston Roughnecks
H-town’s XFL team kicked off the season with a bang with a 37-17 victory over the Los Angeles Wildcats at the TDECU Stadium.
The Roughnecks have a roster of 55 players lead by former NFL head coach, June Jones. They have two quarterbacks: P.J. Walker and Connor Cook of Temple and Michigan State universities, respectively. The remaining roster features: nine wide receivers, nine offensive linemen, eight linebackers, six defensive linemen, six center backs, five running backs, three defensive ends, two safeties, a long snapper, a kicker, and a punter.
Single tickets start at $24 and top out at $108 for a Tier 1 Club seat. You can buy a season pass starting at $100 that includes extra benefits including exclusive game-day access. There are also group ticket deals that can be found here.
Nine games remain in the regular season — four at home — with an upcoming match against the St. Louis Battlehawks in Houston on Sunday, February 16th. See you there!
