6 things to love about the XFL as league returns this weekend

Well on this Valentine's Day, we are bringing you things to love about the XFL, which returns this weekend after the season was shortened in 2020. And also life is like a box of chocolate specifically telling you to watch the XFL on ESPN on February 18th. And so to help me talk more about this really sweet news, I've ESPN reporter Tiffany Blackman here with me. Hey Tiffany. Hey, how are you Brittany? Doing great. Thanks. How are you? Thank you guys for having me.

Absolutely. So first question here, just to get right into it, what do we need to know about the XFL games on Saturday? Oh my goodness. I think the biggest thing is, well, what a sweet surprise for you guys to get and how sweet it is for us to be able to talk about this on Valentine's Day. But I think what you guys can expect is just a lot of excitement and the timing just could not be any better with the Super Bowl being over, you know, on Sunday. And look on social media lots of times. And the first thing I see are these tweets as soon as Super Bowl's over saying, I miss football already. Well, here we are with the XFL, you know, my first game and everyone's first game are going to be happening this weekend.

Mine in particular is on Sunday. But I just think that the timing could not be better. Excitement, the expertise and access we're going to be able to bring you guys with the XFL is just going to be unparalleled and unmatched and something that fans, I think are going to be really excited about. Absolutely. I do remember that from the season in 2020 and just the fact that football is not over. There's still plenty of it here. And so I do want to talk a little bit about the expertise that fans can expect to get from all of this as well.

There's still going to be plenty of play by play, sideline analysts, also different commentator teams, and you are part of this coverage as well. You touched a little bit on it already, but can you just talk more about your role in this coverage in the season? Yeah, I'm a part of a four man team with Matt Berry, Joey Galloway and Eric McClain with Matt and Joey in the booth for us. And then you did mention having the sideline reporter, which is me. And then we also have a field analyst, which is Eric, which is going to be really cool for fans to have. And basically our job on the field, as it is, you know, with any sideline role is to kind of be the eyes and ears of the sideline. And so it's just to give you some different perspective. We're going to be down there with me being able to tell some of the stories that are happening in game and also cool stories about the guys off the field as well.

Eric's going to be able to do the same thing and the field analyst position, but he's also going to be able to, you know, break down the gate from you from a different perspective than Joey may have in the booth. And that's something that's so unique and really cool for the XFL to have. And then at the same time too, we're bringing you all this access where we're able to get you that instant reaction that you're looking for being on the sideline, you know, if a cool play happens, you know, if there's a pick or, you know, a sack, anything like that, we're able to try to go up to these players, even the coaches and be like, Hey, can you break this down for us just on the spot? Which is something that, you know, you haven't seen. And so that's going to be a really cool feature that the fans are going to be able to enjoy with this one. I think that's probably one of my favorite parts. It's just the fact that you don't have to wait until post game or locker room. You can go up to them right there and then in the moment and get everything that you want to know about.

So part of that too is there's different innovations being used in the production of this as well. Can you talk a little bit about that and just really how the XFL differs from the NFL when it comes to the rules and the pace of play? How can fans really get into this action? Yeah, everybody loves the skycam, right? I feel like everyone's always talking about the skycam. That's going to be hovering above the field for all of our games. And then at the same time too, while that's happening, our coaches and some key players, they're going to be mic'd up. So you're going to be hearing the game as it's going. It's just not something that you're going to get to hear the mic'd up session. If you're looking at a clip post game and like you see when you're looking at the internet or on Twitter, this is in game.

This is like the action is right there. It's happening right now. And you're going to get to really feel like you're almost on the field with us and get to be a part of it. So those are some of the cool features. We're also going to be able to take you into the locker rooms. Eric and I will be going in at halftime. So halftime is like 10 minutes and we're a part of that.

So if there's a whiteboard up there, I can kind of stick the mic in and be like, Hey, can you take me through this? Or maybe what adjustments are you going to be making going into the second half? Things of that nature. That's going to be really cool. I keep mentioning the word access, but that seems to be with this league, you know, is really all giving you that unique perspective and pulling you basically from your couch, to your table, to your table. And then you're going to be able to get into the second half of the game. And then you're going to be able to actually onto the field and stuff with us. How does this create opportunities for the players? We know at least one guy, PJ Walker went on to be with the Panthers and the NFL. So some guys may not have been able to have their shot before, but how does this really bring them back to the forefront and give them another opportunity? I think this is so awesome because because we're happening, we're getting ready to start.

So you're going to have hyper focus on this league and guys, like you mentioned, you know, maybe didn't get that opportunity to get into the NFL right away. Maybe they suffered an injury in college and they're trying to fight their way back. And now they're better and they want to get people to have some eyes on them and really showcase their skillset. So, or maybe it was a guy that was already in the league that kind of dropped off. And now he's making a comeback. And so the XFL has all these great stories about players that are now making this push to have a different set of eyeballs on them. And a lot of those eyeballs are going to be, you know, obviously fans, but you're going to have scouts and people from the NFL.

And the goal is to really help these guys, not only just stay at the XFL, but they really want to see them achieve their dreams of hopefully going on to the NFL too. And this is a great setup for them to be able to do that. And because you have NFL caliber players, you're going to get the same great quality that everyone does. When it comes to watching football, one of the great things to lastly is just how you can watch these games. Can you tell us a little bit about all the different places that you can find the XFL games this season? I know my game. I'll shout it out. And I'm telling you in St.

Louis this weekend and that game is at the Alamo Dome, but it's on ABC at two o'clock central time. So you can watch games on ABC ESPN, but you can watch games on the same day. And you can watch games on the same day. You can watch games on ABC ESPN, FX. There's a number of different ways within the ESPN, Disney umbrella that you'll be able to tune in and watch XFL football. So it's kind of a lot of access. I love that word, but.

No, I do too. I think that's the perfect word to describe this. I'll shout out Houston cause we're in H town talking about the Roughnecks because you can watch the Roughnecks game on Saturday on ESPN FX. Pick up at 7 30 PM at TD ECU stadium. That's on Saturday. So really, really excited that XFL is back. Tiffany, is there anything else that you think everybody should know? I just think everyone should buckle up.

I mean, we've got Danny Garcia behind us and the rock behind us. And, you know, the ESPN. So, I mean, this is just a exciting league. And, you know, our ownership brings that excitement. And it's going to translate on the field with, with our head coaches and the players. And it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. And I'm really excited to be a part of it.

Nice. Well, I know you said you didn't get to have your chocolate. So I guess I'll just eat one for you. There's a few of us here in the newsroom who've already eaten far too many, but we'll, we'll have one for you. So thank you so much, Tiffany. Really enjoyed this. Thank you so much for your time.

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