15 Former NFL Players In Vince McMahon's XFL
The names to look out for as the XFL season kicks off.
19 years after the XFL's initial launch, not one to be held back by failure and massive financial losses, Vince McMahon is trying again. It does seem that things will be different this time, but even now, before the season has even started, the WWE boss is set to take another huge monetary hit.
Instead of an ill-advised crossover between the WWE and the NFL like before however, Vince appears to be pushing the XFL toward being a genuine American Football league. Though not likely to rival the National Football League yet, that surely is the ultimate aim.
Coming just one week after the Superbowl, as the fans are facing their first NFL-free weekend after the close of the season, the views will likely come in to start with. However, the league needs to sustain this in order to be a success, and one of the best ways to do this is to bring in some familiar names.
From young talent that never quite made it in the big league, to journeymen who've been around forever and looking for one final paycheck, there are plenty of recognisable players making to the jump from the NFL to the XFL.
15. Hau'oli Kikaha
Representing the Dallas Renegades in the upcoming XFL season will be linebacker Hau'oli Kikaha. At just 27 years old, the former NFL player's career struggled to take off thanks to two ACL tears during his college days, and another causing him to miss the entire 2016 NFL season.
The New Orleans Saints obviously saw something in Kikaha, taking him in the second round of the 2015 draft, but their faith was not rewarded. Taken either side of their pick in the draft were Benardrick McKinney and Eric Kendricks, two fellow linebackers who went on to Pro Bowl appearances in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
After just three seasons, one of which he completely sat out, the Saints waived the linebacker, ending his time in the NFL. Taken with the eighth pick in the third phase of the XFL draft, the Renegades will be relying on Kikaha to anchor their offensive line when they host the St. Louis BattleHawks in week one.