NFL Journeyman Josh Johnson Posted A Thank You Letter To The XFL That’ll Make You Want To See It Come Back Yet Again

Dear @XFL2020,

I grew in all aspects because of you. And for the couple games we played, fans got to see what happens when people are given an opportunity, a second shot at their dreams 🏈🙏🏽#SincerelyYours, @head8cke pic.twitter.com/PZeIlzHe8G

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) May 26, 2020

Josh Johnson played regular season games for six NFL teams. While he mostly looked decent when called upon, he was unlikely to ever get a chance to start again if it weren’t for the XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats. So Johnson posted this video for LeBron’s Uninterrupted social media handles and it’s kind of heartbreaking amidst some of the light shade he threw the NFL’s way:

Although the XFL did result in a decent number of NFL jobs, slightly older guys like Johnson who were key players for the XFL may never get another chance to be on an NFL roster. Guys who clock a little too slow of a 40 time despite monster on-field performances like former Houston Roughneck and Virginia Tech standout Cam Phillips may never get another shot. And that doesn’t even dig into the dozens, maybe hundreds, of guys who’ll now return to try to find regular work in the current economy without a single prayer of sniffing an NFL practice squad.

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I may be biased since I was in on the original XFL as a teen who loved pro wrestling. I may be even more biased because I was one of few daily fantasy sports analysts who really dug in on the league to find edges from Week 1 on with our pal Sal Vetri in the XFL’s most recent incarnation. It was a lot of fun in both incarnations. To see the league in its most recent iteration run by Oliver Luck was like seeing a kid who went from a life in juvenile detention centers become a respectable father and husband with an impressive professional resumé.

Even if that may be too flowery of a world view, there’s definitely a hole that XFL leaves behind. A sport that innovated its on-field product and let a bunch of men like me or you get back to playing a game they love deserves a chance to live on. It seems as though Vince McMahon and bankruptcy courts will likely submarine a chance for the league to succeed in more normal times but I’ll always have a soft spot for what the league represented.

Spring football and more opportunity for guys to fulfill their dreams with the game is a positive whether you’re a football fan or even a pro like Josh Johnson.