25 former AAC stars make XFL opening rosters

Football is not over.

The Super Bowl is typically the end of the football season but there is something to look forward to as the XFL will make its return this weekend when the Seattle Dragons take on the DC Defenders. It will be the second installment of the league after a failed attempt in the early 2000s which lasted just one season.

Many wonder if the XFL will have a similar fate as the Alliance of American Football could not complete a full season just a year ago. The AAF also had eight teams and its ending left several players unpaid, many of which are now making the transition to the XFL. The league has made some rule changes from their failed past which they hope will draw fans to the game.

Regardless, it is an opportunity for players who did not catch on with a NFL team to showcase their talent. That includes several players who shined in the short history of the American Athletic Conference. Two former AAC Player of the Year winners will don a XFL uniform in Keenan Reynolds and Quinton Flowers.

Here is a list of every former AAC standout that will take part in the XFL:

Cincinnati

WR Kahlil Lewis - Houston Roughnecks

WR Mekale McKay - New York Guardians

LB Nick Temple - Seattle Dragons

ECU

CB Josh Hawkins - Dallas Renegades

QB Philip Nelson - Dallas Renegades

Houston

RB Kenneth Farrow - Seattle Dragons

LB D’Juan Hines - New York Guardians

DT Joey Mbu - New York Guardians

Memphis

DT Latarius Brady - Los Angeles Wildcats

Navy

WR Keenan Reynolds - Seattle Dragons

SMU

No players

Temple

OL Cole Boozer - DC Defenders

WR Adonis Jennings - Los Angeles Wildcats

DE Praise Martin-Oguike - Seattle Dragons

OL Jaelin Robinson - Los Angeles Wildcats

TE Colin Thompson - Tampa Bay Vipers

QB P.J. Walker - Houston Roughnecks

Tulane

No players

Tulsa

No players

UCF

DT Tony Guerad - Dallas Renegades

DB Rannell Hall - Tampa Bay Vipers

OL Jordan McCray - Tampa Bay Vipers

LB Terrance Plummer - Tampa Bay Vipers

USF

LB Reshard Cliett - Dallas Renegades

OL Quinterrius Eatmon - Seattle Dragons

QB Quinton Flowers - Tampa Bay Vipers

CB Deatrick Nichols - Houston Roughnecks

TE Sean Price - Dallas Renegades

The Temple Owls led the way with six former players making a roster. Three programs failed to have any players on a XFL roster as SMU, Tulane and Tulsa had zero former athletes catch on with a team.

We are all hopeful the XFL’s second coming has a better outcome than the AAF experiment.