CFL Exec Calls XFL Quarterbacks ‘Hamburgers’, Says Maddox Better

Long time CFL coach and executive Jim Barker thinks the XFL’s QB’s were below par in their 2020 season. The four-time Grey Cup champion told Dan Ralph of the Canadian Press.

“Who wants to go watch some of the hamburgers they had playing quarterback?” Barker said. “P.J. Walker was fun to watch, he was an interesting guy … but I don’t know if you’ll ever see him in the NFL.

Jim Barker

Barker knows a little bit about the first iteration of the XFL. He was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Xtreme in 2001. XFL legend Tommy Maddox won XFL Player of the Year and only XFL Championship that year with Barker.

“The only XFL quarterback I can think of who made any kind of impact was Tommy Maddox, who played for us. When you don’t have identifiable players that people say, ‘You know what? I want to go see that,’ it’s tough,” Barker said.

Barker made those comments in April. Roughnecks QB P.J. Walker signed a two-year $1.565 million contract that included a $150,000 signing bonus and a $25,000 workout bonus with the Carolina Panthers in March. BattleHawks QB Jordan Ta’amu signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs also.

Maybe Barker likes his hamburgers to moo or way undercooked because the XFL only played in 5 games in 2020. Walker and Ta’amu signed their NFL deals soon after the season was cut short. When was the last time a CFL QB signed that type of deal?

The Arizona Cardinals signed former CFL quarterback Chris Streveler to a futures contract in February. He played for the Grey Cup Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019.

A Grey Cup champion QB gets a futures contract and a ‘hamburger’ gets $1.565 million. Which league is serving ‘hamburgers’.

Barker is currently a football operations consultant and special teams assistant coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The CFL is projected to start its 2020 regular season is September.