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Georgia football: The former Bulldogs of the original XFL

By Kyle Funderburk

3 Feb 2001: A general view of official XFL Footballs during the game between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Outlaws defeated the Hitmen 19-0.Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /Allsport
3 Feb 2001: A general view of official XFL Footballs during the game between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Outlaws defeated the Hitmen 19-0.Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /Allsport /
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3 Feb 2001: A general view of official XFL Footballs during the game between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Outlaws defeated the Hitmen 19-0.Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /Allsport
3 Feb 2001: A general view of official XFL Footballs during the game between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and the Las Vegas Outlaws at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Outlaws defeated the Hitmen 19-0.Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /Allsport /

The original XFL only lasted for one season in 2001. Many former Georgia football players were on the rosters of the leagues eight teams.

World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahon announced Thursday afternoon that he is reviving his short-lived football league from 2001, the XFL. This new XFL is planned to begin competition in 2020. Unlike in 2001 when the league was owned by the WWE (then WWF) and NBC, McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment Corporation is the sole owner of the XFL.

But all those specifics can be found elsewhere online and there’s still a lot of mystery to the new XFL. Others are and will cover the XFL a lot more than us. But all this talk about the NFL did have me thinking, which former Georgia football players competed in the original XFL?

That league debuted in 2001. In the 1980’s and 90’s, Georgia football became a great pipeline for NFL talent. Of course, not everyone can make it in the NFL so many former Bulldogs were bound to end up in the XFL.

Just who were the Bulldogs who played in the original XFL? To sum it up, a lot of linemen. Of the eight teams in the XFL, five had one Georgia football player on their roster at the end of the only season. Four of those players were offensive linemen and one was a defensive lineman.

However, I’m somewhat disappointed that none of the former Bulldogs had nicknames on their jersey’s. One of the most interesting features about the league was that players could chose what name to have on the back of their jerseys. Some players had fun names (Rod Smart – He Hate Me), other’s were lame. But most players just used their last name.

Before we get to the Bulldogs who played in the XFL, there was one drafted into the XFL that never appeared. The New York/New Jersey Hitmen drafted Juan Daniels, one of the best receivers in Georgia football history, in the 12th round. Daniels never caught on in the NFL, but he did spend time playing in the Arena Football League and the World league of American Football.

But his post-UGA career mostly included 10 years in the United States Flag and Touch Football League. The National Flag Football Hall of Fame inducted Daniels as a member in 2010. With Daniels out of the way, lets go over the five Bulldogs who did play in the XFL.

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