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When Vince McMahon sees an opportunity he capitalizes. That's what good capitalists do and the billionaire head of WWE is one of the very best capitalists in history. McMahon knows how to fight, to take what once belongs to another and utilize it for his own financial benefit. He grew up in a trailer; but, worked his way up the ladder and against his own father's wishes began buying up wrestling territories.
He is used to a life against the grain. Eventually, he would buy his own father's company: the WWE. McMahon has since turned the former East Coast territory into a publicly traded company; a global industry with its own television network.
NFL ratings are on the decline. Whether its fans simply seeking other forms of entertainment or tuning out due to certain players' perceived lack of patriotism, the NFL's power grip on professional sports is undoubtedly weakening. In comes Vince McMahon, who never lets a good opportunity go to waste.
The XFL debuted in 2001 with great fanfare; however, its gimmick-laden football players and games ultimately failed to get over with American fans and the league folded after its inaugural season. McMahon was never able to let that failure go and has, like a billionaire apex predator, been waiting for the most opportune time to strike again. That time is now.
With the NFL's declining ratings and a record level of audience disapproval, McMahon cashed out $100 million in WWE stock, which is a hefty sum even for a billionaire. Still, McMahon has told those closest to him that he plans to spend close to half a billion of his own fortune meaning the new XFL will have incredibly deep pockets. The league may even be able to lure some big-name NFL stars into its fold.
The XFL officially relaunches in 2020 and will be looking to make an immediate splash. Gone are the gimmicks and professional wrestling styled themes. The league will be looking for talent to put on the best football possible. This leads to an obvious question: Which NFL stars would consider switching leagues and joining the XFL? We answer this in Top 5 NFL Stars That Should Play In The NFL.
#5. Ndamukong Suh
Ndamukong Suh has been one of the league's most talented and maligned stars since being drafted second overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2010 NFL Draft. He is a relic to the era of Dick Butkus when "dirty" play was the norm. Aggressive and downright mean, Suh doesn't play the game to make friends. Instead, he plays to utterly annihilate anyone unfortunate enough to come across him.
Unfortunately, Suh's non-stop football spirit oftentimes gets him into trouble. In a move that scored him more love from the martial arts community than the NFL, Suh is famous for kicking then Texans QB Matt Schaub in his nether regions.
He's also used his ninja skills on future Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger:
His aggression has been so extreme that he even brutally kicked then Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in the head:
Suh's aggressive behavior doesn't even let up for the holidays. He was once ejected from a Thanksgiving game for slamming then Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground and then stomping on him in front of a national television audience:
Suh's aggression knows no bounds. While he is one of the NFL's best players, he is also one of the least marketable in a league plagued by off the field issues that have severely tarnished the brand. Suh is currently signed to the Super Bowl contending Los Angeles Rams; but, only on a one year deal. When one of the league's most dominating defensive players is signed on a year to year basis, he is ripe picking for a startup league with deep pockets.
The XFL is attempting to lure a fan-base that believes the NFL has become too soft, which makes the aggressive Suh an ideal XFL star once 2020 rolls around.
#4. Johnny Manziel
The troubled 2012 Heisman Award-winning Texas A&M star is now playing in the Canadian Football League, not the NFL. He squandered his NFL opportunity after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Manziel succumbed to a life of partying and quickly saw himself out of the league he worked so hard to gain entry to.
Vince McMahon asserted that no player with a criminal record will play in the XFL and Manziel was arrested in 2016 on domestic violence charges. Recently; however, XFL CEO Oliver Luck told the HawkCast that the league may be looking at other ways around the criminal conviction issue,
"We’ll have to develop sort of more specific policies about what would disqualify a guy. We haven’t quite honestly gotten around to that yet."
Eventually, Manziel overcame the substance abuse issues that plagued him early on in his NFL career and returned to professional football. When he found the NFL to be unwelcoming, he joined the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats; but, has since been traded to the Montreal Alouettes, where he has struggled.
The Texas A&M star is out of place up north, where football is played on a longer wider field with more defenders and different rules. A return to the states may be just what the doctor ordered for Manziel, who would undoubtedly be extremely marketable, especially for a Texas XFL team.
Manziel is a quality player with the talent to be great, if he has the right surrounding cast. McMahon has the funds to provide such a cast. He has already brought former NFL coaches Jon Fox and Jim Caldwell in as advisors and would likely do more for a player of Manziel's caliber. With the right system and the right coaching, Johnny Manziel might just find his career resurrected under the tutelage of Vince McMahon.
#3. Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick is arguably the most controversial athlete in history; but, as Eric Bischoff would contend, controversy creates cash. While McMahon is trying to capitalize on what a disgruntled fan-base doesn't like about the NFL, Kaepernick would be the most talented available free agent period. Plus, he would bring instant media attention and viewership. Ratings would be enormous and so would the cash-flow for the new league.
McMahon is holding his ground when it comes to his National Anthem stance. All XFL players must stand for the Anthem; however, Kaepernick may reconsider if it means resurrecting his pro career. Perhaps an agreement can be made between McMahon and Kaepernick that would involve Kaepernick standing for the Anthem with a fist in the air and, in turn, giving him a political platform to speak, as well as a hefty donation to one of his chosen charitable causes.
While starring for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick routinely put up Pro Bowl worthy numbers. He has thrown 72 touchdowns coupled with a mere 30 interceptions. He has thrown for over 12,000 yards and run for an additional 1,000 yards. Kaepernick has a lifetime QB rating of 88.9, which is nearly three points higher than Hall of Famer Brett Favre. While Kaepernick hasn't played since 2016, in his final NFL season he put up a QB rating of 90.7 and threw four times as many touchdowns than interceptions.
With all that talent, why can't Kaepernick get a job in the NFL? It is obvious that is has almost everything to do with his political beliefs. Kaepernick has become more famous for taking a knee during the National Anthem (to protest police brutality) than for his stellar football career and the league is terrified that it will further enrage an already angry fanbase. While many Americans mistake Kaepernick's protest as anti-American or anti-troops, their irrational fears have moved the league to essentially blackball one of its most talented stars. No team has taken a chance in signing the former Pro Bowler.
Would Vince McMahon sign Colin Kaepernick? Would he welcome such controversy to a league that folded after only one season nearly two decades ago? If there is an opportunity for ratings, cash, and quality football, he absolutely would. McMahon recently told XFL commissioner Oliver Luck that he wanted to re-imagine the game of football,
"I want a fast-paced game. I want a high octane kind of a game, lots of plays, almost like the hurry up college offenses you see. I want fewer stoppages because people don’t like all the breaks, whether it’s TV time outs or whatever. I want more rhythm, more flow of the game."
Those instructions are certainly in Kaepernick's wheelhouse.
McMahon won't take a political stance and his own National Anthem rhetoric is based nearly entirely on capital. His preferred color is green and his country is his bank, as evidenced by his recent dealings with repeated human rights abusers Saudi Arabia. Undoubtedly, Kaepernick would be a premiere signee and a lucrative one as well. He would be too valuable to pass up.
#2. Clay Matthews
Clay Matthews has just about done it all in what has arguably been a Hall of Fame worthy NFL career. The linebacker with a non-stop motor was integral to the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl XLV win. Green Bay was in peril when the team lost two of its on-field leaders in Donald Driver and Charles Woodson. Both succumbed to injuries in an intensely played game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Matthews had to take over and he did. It was Matthews after all, who caused a game-changing fumble. The man known for his ability to attack NFL passers, played the run flawlessly and absolutely hammered Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall coughed up the ball and it was quickly recovered by Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop. The rest was history and the Green Bay Packers were once again Super Bowl champions.
That was eight years ago. Flash forward to the 2018 season and things aren't going well for Matthews, who has been the subject of two highly controversial roughing the passer penalties that cost his team victories over the Vikings and Redskins respectively.
The game has drastically changed and not in Matthews' favor. The league lacks star power at the quarterback position. This coupled with declining ratings, has caused the league to go into overdrive when it comes to protecting the position. A form tackle is no longer legal in the NFL. Matthews found this out the hard way two weeks in a row:
A dumbfounded Matthews took to the media to express his frustrations with the league's new rules,
"Unfortunately, this league is going in a direction I think a lot of people don't like. I think they're getting soft. The only thing hard about this league is the fines that they levy down on guys like me who play the games hard. I don't know. I mean, I'm just going to keep playing hard. Maybe now, pass rushers, guys getting after the quarterback, you just have to attack the ball, which is -- I've been playing this game for over 20 years -- that's how you tackle. So we'll see. Something's got to change because the league's not."
A soft league doesn't mesh well with a defender who plays the game with as much passion and intensity as Matthews.
He said it best himself,
"Something's got to change because the league's not."
That something could very well be a move to the XFL, where old-school style tough football is a promise. His style of play is increasingly becoming a relic in an NFL that is increasingly resembling flag football.
XFL CEO Oliver Luck recently promised,
"We want to make this build a serious sustainable league that football fans can enjoy, that families can enjoy, that’s family affordable, that’s as safe as can be while still respecting the great rock ’em sock ’em game of football, which we know and you know better than I, is a very physical rough game."
The rock 'em, sock 'em game of football is the game Clay Matthews adores and he will rekindle his first love in the XFL. Matthews' contract with the Green Bay Packers runs out at the end of this season.
#1. Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow is one of the greatest college football players of all time. The 2007 Heisman winner led the Florida Gators to two BCS National Championships. Tebow's college success was the primary reason the Denver Broncos selected him with their first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
College success; however, doesn't always translate to NFL success. Tebow lacked the arm strength and accuracy necessary to make NFL throws and the Broncos offense did him no favors. It was hardly tailor-made to Tebow's style. Tebow is a running quarterback, a 6'3"235-pound bruiser who does best when defenders have to defend either run or pass. Still, with his options limited in Denver, Tebow was instrumental in the Broncos' 2011 playoff run.
Tebow threw for more than 300 yards and 2 touchdowns to eliminate the Pittsburgh Steelers from the NFL Playoffs. The following offseason, the Broncos signed NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and Tebow's time in Denver was finished.
Tebow floundered in the league garnering unmemorable stints with the New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles before finding himself out of the league entirely by 2015. With his NFL options eliminated, Tebow is now pursuing professional baseball and is in the New York Mets' minor league system.
Tebow has an ideal image. He is squeaky clean and has never been in trouble with the law. He goes to Church, practices the tenets of the Christian faith without hypocrisy, and commits to charitable events like how Vince McMahon commits to money. In fact, Tim Tebow is money. That is certainly how McMahon will see him.
Fans will tune in just to see the former Heisman winner play the game he loves again. If the XFL signs Kaepernick, for many, Tebow will be an appeasement, the babyface to Kaepernick's heel persona. Vince McMahon knows a thing or two about heels and babyfaces
The league also promises to be fast-paced and as Oliver Luck recently said, more like the college game, where quarterbacks run the option. That's exactly the style of offense that Tebow ran as a Florida Gator. One thing is certain, Tebow may get yet another chance to play professional football, something the NFL refused to grant him. He won't need the pinpoint accuracy required to throw in the NFL. The windows won't be nearly as tight in the XFL. With the XFL, Tebow can play the game he loves again and do it at an elite level.
