J.ROSS-My Time In The XFL

This title even looks funny to me.  It looks like I was a former player in the first incarnation of the XFL.  I did not have a clever nickname on the back of my jersey like “He Hate Me” but I was a part of the league the first time around.  Back in the late winter and early spring of 2001 I was fortunate enough to have a chance to work with the San Francisco Demons.  It started out as a chance to be on the field as a sideline reporter then grew into a chance to actually call the action from the booth.  Initially I was doing the sideline reporting for the Demons with Roxy Bernstein calling the game and ex San Francisco 49er defensive back Merton Hanks was the analyst.  Roxy had obligations with Cal basketball so then I got a chance to call quite a few games.  I loved it.  I love play-by-play and I really enjoyed the people that I met in the XFL.  It got labeled as a gimmick league but by the end the football was pretty good.

To be calling games from beautiful Pac Bell Park (now AT&T park) was truly special.  I was hoping for at least another couple of years of the XFL.  That didn’t happen.  It was one and done.  Now it is coming back in 2020.  I am not quite sure how this will work, or if it will work.  There have been several leagues that have tried to take on the juggernaut that is the NFL and almost all are gone now.  The competition comes in with plans of grandeur but they fizzle fast.  Vince McMahon will have deep pockets but what did he learn from the first try.  Will the public have a thirst for another football league?  I am very skeptical but you better believe that if I get another chance to get involved, I will jump right in.  I had a blast before and would anticipate the same thing the second time around.

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