According to a team email, the team of Kevin Burkhardt on play-by-play, Greg Olsen on color commentary and Jenny Taft on the sidelines will call the February 9th Fox broadcast of Tampa Bay at New York to open the XFL season.
Olsen, while not retired from the NFL, the 34-year-old tight end ended his nine-year tenure with the Carolina Panthers. He will enter NFL free agency this March, but for the time being, he will venture into broadcast. The former Hurricane will attempt to parlay his post-playing career into a new career on television.
In the past, Olsen has spent his bye weeks while with the Panthers working with Fox NFL broadcasting crews. In 2019, he was an analyst during the week seven matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants.
NEW XFL RULES
The new rules the XFL has set into place will likely pose as a learning curve for the viewers at home just as much as they will challenge the broadcasters. Some of the innovative rules include:
25-Second Play Clock
- The play clock will begin after the ball is spotted for the next play
Running Game Clock
- Outside the last two minutes of each half, the game clock will run after incompletions and out of bounds plays once the ball has been spotted.
- Aside from incompletions and out of bounds plays, game clock rules outside the last two minutes of each half are the same as the NFL.
Comeback Period
- Occurs after the two-minute warning in each half.
- On plays that end in the field of play, the game clock will be stopped until the ball has been spotted and five seconds have run off of the play clock.
- On incomplete passes and out of bounds plays, the game clock will stop completely until the ball is snapped.
Timeouts
- Each team will have (2) one-minute timeouts per half
Replay Rulings
- The XFL will have no coaches’ challenges and all plays will be subject to review from the Replay Official, who will be stationed in a booth above the field.
*all rules taken directly from the official XFL Media Guide
In addition, the new point-after touchdowns will take some getting used too on both sides.
After a touchdown, the team has the option of running a play from the 2, 5, or 10-yard line, worth 1, 2, or 3 points respectively. The team must run an offensive play and no kicking plays are allowed.
via XFL Gameplay Innovations
Similarly to the NFL’s two-point conversion rule, if an opposing defense is able to cause a turnover and return the ball to their opponent’s end zone the resulting score is equal to the number of points the offense was attempting to score on the PAT.
We will likely see some of the XFL’s new innovations this weekend. Stay tuned to XFL News Hub for updates and highlights of the new rules in action this weekend.
