Not all football around here is terrible.
The ♕New York Guardians, in their first game of the revamped XFL on Sunday, beat the Tampa 🍸Bay Vipers 23-3 at MetLife Stadium. Neither the Jets or Giants won their regular-season home-openers last season.
Former Raiders backup quarterback ꧃Matt McGloin was 15 of 29 for 182 yards, with one passing and running touchdown for the Guardians, which is part of the eight-team league founded by Vince McMahon.
The league, which operates under different rules than the NFL, is the successor of the original XFL, which la💙sted just one season in 2001.
There is hope that sports betting, combined with the games being watched on high-profile networks, will help this version of the league survive. Sunday’s game was broadcast on Fox, like many NFL games.
In addition to McGloin, there are plenty of former NFLers sprinkled across the XFL, including Guardians head coach Kevin Gilbride, the Giants offensive coordinator from 2007-13.
The announced attendance for Sunday’s game was 17,634. MetLife Stadium holds 82,500, and the Jets and Giants usually bring in around 70,000 fans to their games. Only the lower bowl was open for Sunday’s XFL game.