David Cobb, former University of Minnesota star running back has played in the NFL, CFL, AAF and the Spring League. He’s looking to add the XFL to his resume now as well.

Twin Cities Pioneer Press caught up with Cobb and here’s what he had to say.

“I’m definitely very interested in that,” the free agent said by phone from his home in Austin, Texas. “If I don’t get into (an NFL) training camp, I just have to be prepared to take on the next thing.”

“I’m not old, but I’m old for a running back,” said Cobb, 26. “But I’m still trying to play as long as I can. Maybe an injury pops up here or there (with an NFL team). If not, wait for your next opportunity.

“There’s a lot of things I want to do outside of football, but I want to play football for as long as I can.”

Cobb hasn’t been on an NFL roster since the Bears released him in May 2017. He had a tryout with the Vikings in August 2017 but wasn’t signed.

After rushing for a school-record 1,626 yards as a senior in 2014, Cobb was taken in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft by Tennessee. He rushed for 146 yards as a Titans rookie but was cut before the start of the 2016 season.

He participated in The Spring League in 2018, and as a result, signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (CFL) on June 4, 2018, in time for their final preseason game. After recording 2 rushes for 1 yard, Cobb was released on June 11. Cobb would go back to The Spring League again for their summer showcase.

In September 2018, Cobb was signed by the San Antonio Commanders of the AAF for the 2019 season. In 8 games played prior to the AAF suspending operations, Cobb earned 137 yards on 35 rushes, and caught 3 passes for 11 yards.

Yes. Money is a key factor, and by way of McMahon’s wallet, the XFL has a lot of it. It’s been reported that the second coming of the XFL is funded for at least three seasons. If true, it puts them in a much better position than the original and light years ahead of the AAF before kickoff. The numbers vary depending on who you ask, but we estimate the league has $500-700M in backing. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at the reasons the new XFL will last longer than the original, the AAF and the USFL.

Broadcast Partners

Although the deals are similar, they are also very very different. Let’s start with the similarities; simply put, the XFL will not be receiving rights fees from networks. That being said the broadcast partners will be footing the bill for the production costs. That comes out to roughly $500,000 per game.

The AAF showed potential drawing a little over 2 million viewers for its debut broadcast on CBS. Unfortunately for the league, the subsequent weeks would be aired on CBS Sports, NFL Network or via the Bleacher Report application. Luckily for the XFL, this is not an issue they will need to overcome. Every XFL game will be aired on ABC, ESPN, FOX or FS1; with the option of streaming via the networks app. In my opinion the league should be able to easily draw an average of 2 million viewers per game, if not more. The Alliance did very well with what they had, but you need to admit that the new XFL has much better visibility than its predecessor.

The Right People in the Right Places

When we look back at the original XFL, there’s a lot of things we could point out for the reason it ultimately failed. One of its major issues was having true football minds in control of the product. Although there is still speculation that Vince McMahon may step down from the WWE when the XFL kicks off, but I wouldn’t count on it. This time around McMahon has put Oliver Luck in charge, and this isn’t his first rodeo.

Luck has prior experience building a spring football league as well as building up a new sports league. After leading the Fankfurt Galaxy and the Rhein Fire as General Manager, Luck was promoted to CEO of NFL Europe. Luck held that role until 2000, during which time he oversaw the league’s rebranding as NFL Europe. This was intended to strengthen the connection between the league and its parent, the NFL.

In 2005, he was named president of the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. Luck worked with the City and County to create a publicly funded downtown soccer stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, which opened to much fanfare in March 2012. This is just just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Oliver’s skills. This is exactly the person that you need running a new sports organization, Luck along may be the sole reason that the XFL does not repeat history.

Beyond Luck, we have seen the league make a lot of significant hires; from Doug Whaley, Dean Blandino all the way to the coaches where we’ve seen Bob Stoops, June Jones and others put their faith into the league. The AAF looked impressive as well, the good news being is that we’ve seen a lot of former AAF coaches and executives transition into the XFL.

Quality and Pace of the Game

Let’s be honest, the original XFL may have been fun, but it was hardly good. The AAF proved that you could present a quality football game with non-NFL caliber players. The XFL looks to keep that model, and improve on it. We don’t know the official rule set of the new XFL just yet, but we do know that they are going for a fast paced game. Less Stall, More Ball; that’s the motto they’ve been throwing around.

Luck and McMahon have both stated, this new league will not be full of gimmicks. No nicknames on jerseys, no scramble for the ball; just traditional football, with a few twists. Rather than change the game of football, they are making tweaks to remove the non-quality plays. Basically, anything that doesn’t involve playing football, they want to minimize as much as possible. The league has stated that they are aiming for a roughly 2 1/2 hour game, 3 max with overtime.

The league held its own version of the NFL combine this summer in each of their home markets, which they dubbed the Summer Showcase. This season ticket depositors an opportunity to see what the new XFL is all about.  We we’re lucky enough to attend the event in Houston and everyone in attendance that we spoke to was impressed, and in some cases surprised. We think there’s going to be a lot of people that tune into the first XFL game expecting a train wreck that will turn into long term fans. Commissioner Luck has stated we should be getting the finalized rule book late August/early September, so we’ll know soon enough.

Money = Time

Yes, we said that the answer wasn’t just money. But, it does have a lot to do with it still. Vince McMahon doesn’t like to fail, and he wouldn’t try the XFL again if he thought it would fail. He has already invested roughly $750,000,000 into the new league; which, is no chump change. When we look back at the AAF, the WFL and even the USFL their major undoing was capitol. Due to the fact that the leagues owns all of the teams, none of the teams will fold if the league stays afloat.

The other important thing that capitol brings, is time. Due to McMahon’s investments the XFL has had the time to do things right this time around. The AAF rushed to get on the field to beat the XFL to market, and it resulted in them folding prior to the seasons end. There was some hope when Tom Dundon saved the league after the second week, but because of that he had complete control to shutter the doors. The XFL doesn’t need to worry about that. From past interviews it seems that the new XFL is funded for at minimum three seasons. We think that gives this new league a fighting change, especially when you add in the broadcast partners.

At the time of publication we’re just 195 days away from kick off. The first game airs on ABC at 2pm EST on Feb 8, 2020; with a second game being aired on Fox later that afternoon. You can feel the excitement building from the fans. Team names/logos are coming, then we head into the draft and kickoff will be here before you know it.

This Week in the XFL we look at the two recent XFL departures, discuss Luis Perez working out for the Panthers, dissect the new XFL trademark and end off talking about Spurrier receiving an AAF Championship Ring.

It wasn’t too long ago that we saw Trent Richardson attend the XFL Summer Showcase in St. Louis. It seems that the XFL isn’t the only league that has interest in the former AAF star. In an interview with the Pensacola News Journal’s Eric J. Wallace on Tuesday, Richardson revealed that he has received interest from both the NFL and the XFL after the AAF folded earlier this year:

“I’ve gotten a few phone calls, but you never know about the NFL. Hopefully I put enough out there to show I can still move and play. I’m doing this for myself and my kids.

“A lot of people have been calling me. The XFL has been calling me. The NFL has been calling me…. The opportunity is there and if the NFL doesn’t come through, then definitely (I’d pursue XFL).”

Richardson finished his time in the AAF’s short existence as arguably the most productive player with the most rushes per game, and had a league best 12 total touchdowns. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a former AAF player/Summer Showcase attendee receive interest from the NFL. We reported earlier that former Birmingham Iron QB, Luis Perez has also had interest from the Carolina Panthers.

We’re right around the corner from the NFL season and players are starting to report to training camp. According to NFL Insider Adam Caplan, the Panthers worked out former Birmingham Iron quarterback Luis Perez this past Monday. During his time with the Iron, he had seven starts with 135 of 258 passes completed for 1,460 yards; resulting in five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Perez just recently attended the XFL Summer Showcase in St. Louis, could this be the first of many Showcase members being poached by the NFL? The Panthers in particular seemed to have a fondness for former Alliance alumni. If signed, Perez would be the sixth former AAF player on the Panthers. So far the Panthers have signed former AAF stars Rashad Ross (AZ Hotshots), Brandon Greene (Birmingham Iron), Kitt O’Brien (Birmingham Iron), Parker Collins (Atlanta Legends), Cole Hunt (San Antonio Commanders) and Marcus Baugh (San Diego Fleet).

Playing for the Iron served as Perez’s most-notable professional football experience to date. A First-Team All-American and NCAA Division II National Champion at Texas A&M-Commerce, Perez went undrafted in 2018 before earning an opportunity to try and make the Los Angeles Rams’ roster. He briefly spent time on the practice squad after failing to make the full roster, but was released early in the season. After the AAF dissolved, Perez spent about a month with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Steve Spurrier came out of retirement to coach the Orlando Apollos of the AAF. As we know, The AAF folded after just eight weeks, but Spurrier’s Apollos were clearly the best team throughout the season. When the AAF came to an end, Orlando was in first place with a record of  7-1. Last April, Spurrier stated that he’d like the Apollos to be named the official champs of the AAF in 2019.

“We’re all disappointed, but on the other side, we gotta be the champs right?,” Spurrier said. “We’re 7-1, and the next teams are 5-3.”

Spurrier seems to have gotten what he asked for. Saturday morning, Spurrier tweeted out photos of his AAF championship ring and the team’s championship photo. Spurrier also thanked the Orlando organization for fielding such a great team in the league’s only season.

Thank you Orlando- @MichaelWaddell_, @TimRuskelly and everyone involved in the Apollos organization for putting together the Best Team in the League. Congrats to the 2019 AAF Champions! pic.twitter.com/5097YlYDma

— Coach Steve Spurrier (@SteveSpurrierUF) July 20, 2019

From what we understand each member of the Apollos, both on and off the field, had the option to purchase a championship ring.

We have just learned that Russ Giglio, former AAF Director of Player Personnel will be joining the XFL as Director of Player Administration. Previous to his time with the AAF Giglio spent over 11 years at the NFL working in the Player Personnel and Football Operations departments.

Giglio will be charged with overseeing Player Personnel policies and procedure, including the draft and waiver wire. He is to report directly to SVP of Football Operations, Doug Whaley.

This Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw, a new character was introduced; Gary Barbutt. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre agreed to pay $5,000 to a janitor named Gary ‘The G.O.A.T’ Garbutt if he teamed with Roman Reigns on the July 8 episode of Raw. The Jackson Sun reports that Gary Garbutt is actually Kosha Irby.

Kosha Irby is the former team president of AAF’s Memphis Express. He also previously worked for WWE years ago as regional director of live events.

Does this mean we’ll see more of him in the WWE, or possibly in the XFL. We don’t know just yet, but if we hear more we’ll let you know.

Gary "The GOAT" Garbutt is putting on a SHOW as he teams up with @WWERomanReigns on #Raw! @shanemcmahon @DMcIntyreWWE pic.twitter.com/ZVYBW7Hop6

— WWE (@WWE) July 9, 2019

This Week in the XFL we look at the upcoming Q&A hosted by XFL Houston Team President Brian Michael Cooper, discuss the last Summer Showcase in St. Louis, analyze the latest hires in the league, and lastly we give an update on the status of the AAF asset auction.

This Week in the XFL we talk about Az-Zahir Hakim joining XFL St. Louis as Wide Receiver Coach, then we look at the possibility of a XFL/DraftKings partnerships, look at the possible timing of the XFL team identities and cap it off with by looking at Ebersol’s response to the recent AAF lawsuits.