XFL Houston Roughnecks: Ready, Rough, and H-Town Tough

Are you ready for some football? Diehard football fans, don’t enter into your “seven months until football” hibernation just yet. Because this year you’re in Luck. As in Oliver Luck, commissioner and CEO of the XFL, a brand-new winter and spring professional football league.

Mr. Luck, who also happens to be the dad of former Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, wants to keep football fans happy even during the traditional offseason and so does WWE CEO Vince McMahon who launched the XFL league. The league promises exciting gameplay innovations that deliver what football fans have said they wanted - a faster pace of play and more action: “Less stall and more ball,” as stated on the XFL site.

Kaelin Burnett, Roughneck linebacker, catches a good laugh while on the sidelines. (Photo: Thomas Campbell, Houston Roughnecks)

The XFL surveyed fans and has adjusted some of the traditional rules to help the game move faster. A few new rules that fans are excited about include: 

• No kicking for extra point. Instead, run a play from one of three designated spots
• Overtime differences. Instead of a 10-minute overtime period, overtime will consist of 5 “rounds” of single-play possessions. 
• 25- second play clock, which is shorter than the NFL’s 40-second play clock and will mean more plays
• One foot inbounds for catch

But the most exciting news of all for H-Town fans is that we have our own team. Welcome your Houston Roughnecks led by Head Coach June Jones! Their motto? “Ready, Rough, and H-Town Tough!”

The league will play its inaugural games this weekend. On Sat., Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. CST, the Houston Roughnecks host the Los Angeles Wildcats at TDECU Stadium on the University of Houston campus. The game will air nationally on Fox.

The league will have eight teams in 2020, divided into two geographical divisions: Washington, New York, Tampa Bay and St. Louis are in the East division, while Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston are in the West.

Teams and home fields include: 

• Dallas Renegades (Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas)
• D.C. Defenders (Audi Field in Washington, D.C.)
• Houston Roughnecks (TDECU Stadium)
• Los Angeles Wildcats (Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.)
• New York Guardians (MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.)
• St. Louis BattleHawks (The Dome at America’s Center)
• Seattle Dragons (CenturyLink Field)
• Tampa Bay Vipers (Raymond James Stadium)

The Houston Roughnecks looking sharp in their new uniforms and ready to go get them dirty once they hit the turf on gameday. (Photo: Thomas Campbell, Houston Roughnecks)

Every XFL game will air live on national television thanks to XFL media partners ABC, ESPN, and FOX Sports. XFL says on their website that they are launching this new league for the love of football and it’s as simple as that. Lucky for them, there’s a lot of people in the Houston area that love football.

Houston, get Ready, Rough and H-Town Tough. That sounds like our kind of people! Go Roughnecks! 

See ticket information here.

Editor's Note: See this Aug. 2008 story on the Luck family.