Is the XFL just a bad Friday the 13th movie, resurrecting Jason every few years? Is the third movie in any series good, bad, or ugly? Rocky III featured Mr. T as Clubber Lang which is one of my favorites from that series. Return of the Jedi has to be the weakest link in the first three Star Wars movies, but it was still enjoyable. Here we go again with another XFL reboot. The original XFL came on to the scene in 2001, and that mixed football and wrestling together which was complete disaster. What do you expect? The league was owned by Vince McMahon who owns the Wrestling Federation.

McMahon struck again with the second reboot in 2020 during which the wrestling aspect of the XFL was removed and it was just football in the Spring. XFL II was no Empire Strikes Back at the box office as the pandemic ended the season that only made it to the halfway point. XFL III, Vince McMahon sold the rights to the “Rock” Dwayne Johnson, former wrestler and now actor, as he is involved with others who purchased the league. In Spring 2023, XFL will be back for the third time with eight teams after the Superbowl, playing football. This time the XFL will have company. The USFL reboot came back last Spring and did what most of these leagues have not done in quite a while, finished a season with a champion. Maybe it will be Walgreens versus CVS. Maybe McDonald’s versus Burger King has enough love to go around. Too much football can turn into overkill as many stadiums could be bare bones. Plenty of elbow room for the few fans that are diehard.

THE NAMES

The XFL will start reboot three like they did in 2020 with 8 teams. The XFL have announced the nicknames of each city that will have a team playing in 2023. Most of the nicknames are same from the league in 2020. We have some different cities then we had in part two of the XFL. The state of Texas will have three teams going in the XFL in 2023.

In 2020 the Renegades played in Dallas. In 2023 the Renegades will play in Arlington.

Arlington Renegades

The Houston franchise returns with the same name called the Roughnecks.

Houston Roughnecks

The only team with new a nickname from the reboot in 2020 is the San Antonio franchise. San Antonio is a new city as well. They will be called the Brahmas. Whatever the hell a Brahma is?

San Antonio Brahmas

The city of St. Louis will have a returning team from 2020 and keep the same name, the BattleHawks. You can’t always say that about a football team staying in St. Louis.

St. Louis BattleHawks

The nation’s capital is another returning city from the 2020 XFL reboot two. DC will feature the same name, the Defenders. Will the DC crowd bring back the beer snake?

DC Defenders

Seattle is another returning city from the 2020 league. In 2020, the Seattle franchise was known as the Dragons. This go around Seattle added Sea to the name. Like the Seahawks in the NFL, Seattle will have the Sea Dragons.

Seattle Sea Dragons

In 2020, the XFL featured teams in LA and New York. XFL, like Jake the Snake Plissken, will escape the two major U.S Cities.

The XFL retired the Wild Cat name that LA had. The Guardians of New York have been adopted by new city Orlando.

Orlando Guardians

XFL has three Texas teams. Why would they need two Florida teams? Tampa Bay gets stripped away their XFL team just in time for the Buccaneers to go to shit. The city of Vegas has adopted Tampa Bay’s nickname, the Vipers.

Vegas Vipers

XFL EVEN HAS COACHES IN PLACE

All these Spring leagues over the last few years have made sure they hired some bigger names. Some of these guys have a ton of coaching experience. Some of these guys just played the game.

Arlington Renegades: Bob Stoops

Stoops did a ton of college coaching. Stoops is the only coach hold over from the 2020 league.

Houston Roughnecks: Wade Phillips

Coaching runs in the Phillips family blood. Wade Phillips had a ton of defensive coordinator jobs in the NFL. Phillips also was head coach in the NFL more than once.

San Antonio Brahmas: Hines Ward

Hines Ward was a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers who has a Superbowl ring. Ward is one of the best blocking receivers all-time and a guy who can catch the ball.

Vegas Vipers: Rod Woodson

Woodson is another X-Steeler who has won a Superbowl ring. Woodson is one of the best safeties in Steeler history. Woodson has done some coaching as this would be his first head coaching job.

Seattle Sea Dragons: Jim Haslett

Haslett had some head coaching jobs as well in the NFL.

Orlando Guardians: Terrell Buckley

Buckley is a long-time defensive back for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL who had 50 career interceptions during his NFL career.

DC Defenders: Reggie Barlow

Barlow also played in the NFL. Barlow coached at the College level. He was the other Alabama’s head coach. Alabama State.

St.Louis BattleHawks: Anthony Becht

Becht was a tight ends coach for the San Diego Fleet of the AAF.

Becht also played tight end in the NFL and scored 21 career touchdowns.

The XFL will kickoff this February. The XFL will have a player’s draft this month in November. The Wild Shamrock will update you on all the developments of the third spin of the XFL.

Suddenly the Chicago Bears went totally off script as they acquire wide receiver Chase Claypool from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears have been in full tear down getting rid of anything not bolted to the floor and collecting draft picks. Has the ghost of Ryan Pace just entered Ryan Poles’ body? The old regime is suddenly haunting the new regime at Halas Hall. The Bears’ new brass and the old clowns have not done any favors for their young quarterback, Justin Fields. In the off season, the new Bears regime sent Justin Fields out to the Wolves with no improvements to a much in need of help on the offensive line. Fields is working with one of the worst receiving cores in the history of the Chicago Bears. No wonder Muslim Muhammad once said Chicago is where receivers go to die. Somehow Fields is still walking vertically, and the offense of the Bears has come to life in the past few weeks. With this trade, adding Claypool means the Bears front office and the coaching staff think Fields is the guy of the future. Bears fans have been down this dark road for decades. Claypool is not exactly the boobie prize for Fields and the Bears offense. Instantly he becomes the Bears’ number one guy who they do not have. How many teams in the entire NFL would have Claypool as the number one? Steelers season is in shambles like the Bears and Claypool is not even the number one guy there.

I like to think that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback X-Bears QB Mitch Trubisky wished Chase Claypool good luck with a smirk on his face seeing him head off to Chicago. Maybe a chuckle by Trubisky with a recommendation of a good pizza place in the Windy City. The Steelers, with of course a savvy front office, get a second round pick for Claypool. It is what they used to draft him in 2020. Steelers do well at drafting a football team. Steelers know how to draft wide receivers. Unfortunately, the Steelers drafted talented wide receivers that are head cases. The Steelers are quick to cut off the zombie bitten infested legs when things go sour with some of these head cases they have gathered over the years. We all remember what A.J. Brown did last year wearing a Buccaneer uniform. Steelers felt the law firm of Ju Ju Smith-Schuster was unraveling at the seams so they let him walk off and he may be a Chiefs’ problem in the future. Remember Plaxico Burress shot himself in the foot while he was a New York Giant. Steelers drafted great citizens as well as Hines Ward, one of the best blocking receivers in the game that caught many balls as well. This year Steelers are happy with rookie George Pickens and Diontae Johnson has been on the rise. Steelers have a rookie quarterback developing in Kenny Pickett. Perfect time & perfect season to cut ties with Chase Claypool.

With Ben Roethlisberger, Chase Claypool came into the league in 2020 like gangbusters out of the University of Notre Dame. Claypool, now 24 years old, had 62 catches with 873 yards. This during his rookie campaign with 9 touchdowns. Roethlisberger last year in the game did not have enough gas in the tank to throw the ball deep. In 2021, Claypool had 59 catches with 860 yards and only two receiving touchdowns. Big Ben retired. Steelers went with X-Bear Mitch Trubisky as they already mixed in rookie Kenny Pickett behind center as Claypool through 8 games has 32 receptions with 311 yards and only one touchdown grab. Claypool would be second on the Bears charts this season as Darnell Mooney has 25 grabs for 364 yards. Last season, Justin Fields’ rookie season only played in ten games. Last year, the Bears offense with 10 starts by Fields, Andy Dalton, and Nick Foles behind center the team finished 27th in the league in points. The Bears’ 2021 offense was 24th overall in yards gained. This year Fields has played in every game and the Bears are 23rd in points while falling to 27th in yards gained. Claypool should help the Bears overall offensive numbers improve.

This trade the Bears made landing Chase Claypool baffles me. I like the fact that Green Bay wanted Claypool and the Bears got him by paying more. Green Bay’s season is in the crapper so they don’t have a leg to stand on to throw their two cents in the ring. Then I think of when Ryan Pace got fleeced by the 49ers to give San Francisco a pick just to move up one spot to draft Mitch Trubisky. Steelers sell off their pool for the same amount they paid for it. While the Bears usually have to pay double for someone to take their pool from their backyard. My biggest fear is Claypool is a cancer to the locker room. This Bears team right now will overhaul most of this roster by next season. I think someone on Bears coaching staff thinks they can fix Claypool who thinks he is a number one receiver. Congratulations. Claypool is the number one receiver on the Bears roster. Darnell Mooney I love, but he’s a 2 or a 3. I think Claypool is a 2 or a 3. If Bears go out and draft or sign a number one free agent receiver next year adding him to the mix with Mooney and Claypool, you now have a nice core. Let’s not forget about addressing the offensive line that I keep harping about. Justin Fields and Claypool have 9 more games this season, so they could really get to know each other very well. If they can get on the same page, this move can be golden by the time the Bears add the pieces around them. I hate overpaying and using draft capital on ideas that are bad. This trade only cost the new regime one draft pick, but an important second rounder. I like gambling on some players which you have to do sometimes to get your team over the hump. This move may be too soon for the Bears to jump into the Claypool. They may belong right now in the kiddie pool.

The Chicago Bears new regime is tearing down most of what the old regime did at Halas Hall. The stench by that group is still lingering over Lake Michigan. Last week Bears dealt defensive end Robert Quinn to Philadelphia. This week the Bears send their best defensive player, Roquan Smith, to the Baltimore Ravens. Smith was by far the best pick drafted by Ryan Pace during his tenure as the General Manager of the Bears. Smith is a linebacker out of Georgia University who was once crowned SEC Defensive Player of the Year in his collegiate career. Bears drafted Smith number 8th overall in the 2018 NFL draft. Bears will receive a 2nd and a 5th round draft pick by the Ravens. Baltimore threw in veteran linebacker A.J Klein to sweeten the pot. Smith could have been a pillar of the Bears rebuild, but the linebacker threatened the team with a contract holdout at the start of the season. When Quinn was dealt, Smith cried in a press conference that his friend was traded. Maybe the writing was on the wall for Smith’s future with the Bears. Collecting a stockpile of draft picks to revamp the entire Bears roster is part of the plan for newly hired Ryan Poles who is still in his first year with Chicago.

The Baltimore Ravens get a linebacker that can help their defense now. Ravens seem to always have had a quality defense in the NFL. Since Ray Lewis retired, the Ravens’ defenses over the years have been up and down. Lamar Jackson and the offense are the heartbeat of the Ravens these days. Ravens are one of elite teams in the AFC. Ravens are perched on top of the AFC North looking to claim the division once they owned. Ravens have given up a few late 4th quarter leads this season that have cost them team games. Roquan Smith gives the Ravens a tackling machine on their defense, and a linebacker that has good coverage in the secondary. Smith this season with the Bears has 83 tackles and 2.5 sacks with two interceptions in 8 games. Smith is not a pass rushing linebacker. Smith’s game is chasing offensive players down like a dog from sideline to sideline or in between the hash marks. Smith leads the NFL in tackles this season. Smith gives the Ravens a play maker on their defense. Smith in 4 1/2 years in a Bears uniform has 607 tackles of which 47 of them are for a loss. Smith has racked up 16 1/2 sacks with 20 quarterback hits as he is not used to kill the quarterback. In coverage, Smith has defended 20 passes and has 7 interceptions.

I truly think the Chicago Bears wanted to keep Roquan Smith in the mix. Smith is only 25 years old and has one year remaining under his rookie contract, under which he expects to get paid like a pass rushing specialist. How long will this rebuild take to have the Bears once again relevant? Smith has no agent as he represents himself as most people would be insulted over what your bosses say about you to your face in a contract negotiation. Chicago offered him an extension. Honestly, it can hurt any contract without an agent dealing the negotiations. Bears are going nowhere this year and have a plan to collect as many draft picks as they can. Bears got the most out of this Smith trade with two picks. Plus, A.J Klein can be a serviceable veteran this season who could help Little Kitty band aid the opposing offenses who will start having field days versus the Bears defense. Last week, Dallas hung 49 points on the Bears D with Smith in the line up. Klein is 31 years old, and has played ten seasons in the NFL that features stops in Carolina, New Orleans and Buffalo before signing with Baltimore. I hate giving up your own that you have drafted. In the long run, Bears are better off by trading him now instead of franchise tagging him later and dealing with another future holdout.

The Ravens are all in this season, as Roquan Smith could just be a rent-a-player. Is Smith the final piece for the Ravens to get them through a tough conference of the AFC during post-season? If Ravens can extend Smith and keep him in Baltimore this deal will work out for both teams. I don’t like Smith as his own agent as the Ravens already have a guy like that in Lamar Jackson. Jackson too is playing in his last year of his rookie contract. Jackson would get paid well before Smith. Not sure the Ravens can pay both guys with a max contract. I think Smith is a good person, and a good football player, but crying because your teammate was traded is a different animal. If there is no crying in baseball, football, and hockey have to be above and beyond the Summer pastime. The younger generations crying is probably acceptable even on a good romantic comedy movie night with your own phone. Ray Lewis would lose his mind if a fellow linebacker was crying on his shoulders because they traded someone. Lewis, I still think he got away with murder. Let’s hope Smith can stop the bleeding on opposing teams trying to come back in the 4th quarter the rest of the way for the Ravens season. It would help justify this move in short and long term. Perhaps all the X-Bears will reunite in another city and get the band back together. Khalil Mack is in LA.