While the NFL season is now officially about to begin, there's also another league that is currently preparing to launch. The 2023 XFL season is set to get underway in February and will be the first season for the organization since 2020. That outing saw success, but got shut down after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Along with the season getting shut down, Vince McMahon decided to sell the league. The Rock, who began his athletic career in football, decided to buy the league for pennies on the dollar. While off-the-field drama is exciting, here are ten players who could take the field for the upstart league in 2023.
10 Landry Jones
Kicking off the list of possible players is former Oklahoma standout, Landry Jones. The quarterback had a memorable stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers but didn't get too many shots from other squads after leaving them in 2017.
Jones played in the XFL 2020 season for the Dallas Renegades, coached by former college head coach Bob Stoops. With his former coach returning, you could possibly see the Oklahoma product return as well.
9 Trent Richardson
Trent Richardson is known for being one of the most memorable draft busts from the last decade. He flunked out of the NFL after being drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns in 2012 and has bounced around in experimental leagues ever since.
Richardson was last seen playing in Mexico for the FAM league. Given his name value, and previous experience playing in leagues such as the AAF, you could see him take the field for the XFL in 2023.
8 Scooby Wright
Scooby Wright was once one of college football's most exciting defensive players. However, since leaving the NCAA in 2016, he hasn't found a lot of success in the NFL. However, he has done well in leagues such as the USFL.
Wright was a star for the championship-winning Birmingham Stallions last year. Given his success there, and previous experience playing for the XFL in 2020, he could return.
7 Quinton Flowers
Quinton Flowers was once a standout in college for the South Florida Bulls. However, since departing the NCAA in 2018, he's never gotten much attention from NFL squads, likely due to his small frame for a quarterback, as he's only 5'10.
However, Flowers has previously played well in the FCFL and even the XFL in 2020. Given his previous stint, expect him to return in 2023.
6 Michael Vick
Michael Vick was one of the most electric players in the NFL during his stint from 2000 to 2015. However, since his retirement, he's publicly stated that he has the itch to play, hence his un-retiring, and then retiring again last year when he was in talks to play for the FCFL.
Vick could return to football to play for the XFL in 2023. If he has the itch as he hinted, there are very few stages that we will be bigger than the XFL this season.
5 Shawn Oakman
Shawn Oakman's career is a bit of a sad note. Once he looked like a future NFL star. However, after being accused of sexual assault right before the draft (he would later be found not guilty), Oakman never received an NFL shot.
However, he has received shots in the XFL, CFL, and FCFL. Given that he previously got a shot from the league when he was at his lowest, he could play for them again this year.
4 Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens famously came out of retirement last season to play for the FCFL league, after not playing football for over a decade. Despite being in his late 40s, he played quite well and emerged as one of the faces of the upstart league.
Given his ability to play well, and his high name value, he could play for the XFL next season. Owens has been vocal about wanting to play in the NFL, and a move to the XFL gets him one step closer to that goal.
3 Martavis Bryant
Martavis Bryant was an electric player in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders. However, he had the audacity to get high and test positive multiple times, so he's been seemingly banished from the league since 2018.
However, he's not stopped playing football, as he's played for the CFL and FCFL. Given his ability to still play, and his eagerness to prove the NFL wrong for kicking him out of the league, he plays for the XFL next year.
2 Antonio Brown
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Antonio Brown has been seemingly blacklisted from NFL teams due to his many antics and controversies both on and off the field. Even when quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson have lobbied their squads to sign the wideout, they haven't budged.
If Brown wants to prove that he's a stable player, and just play in general, there's only one move to make, and it's the XFL. They're the second-biggest football league, and he'll get the chance to turn his career around.
1 Johnny Manziel
Johnny Manziel is one of the NFL's most legendary busts. When he was in the league, he showed flashes of being 'Johnny Football', but he couldn't keep his nose clean and had too many off-the-field issues to stay in the NFL longer than two years.
However, he's since turned his life around, and has played in the CFL, AAF, and FCFL. If Manziel wants a chance to shine on a big stage, he could play for yet another upstart league in the XFL this season. At this point, it would be a cool comeback story into the spotlight for one of the NFL's most infamous busts ever.