Established | 2001 |
---|---|
Folded | 2001 |
Based in | Whitney, Nevada |
Home stadium | Sam Boyd Stadium |
Head coach | Jim Criner |
League | XFL |
Division | Western |
Colors | Red, black, sand [1] |
League titles | 0 |
Division titles | 0 |
The Las Vegas Outlaws were an American football team in the XFL. They played in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, San Francisco Demons and Memphis Maniax. They played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium. On February 3, 2001, The Outlaws hosted the first nationally televised XFL game on NBC against the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. [2] [3]
Before the 2001 season began there was already question if Las Vegas could support a professional sports team due to past failed attempts with: Las Vegas Americans (Soccer-MISL- 1984-85), Las Vegas Dustdevils (Soccer-CISL-1994-1995), Las Vegas Posse (Football-CFL-1994) Las Vegas Quicksilvers (Soccer-NASL-1976-1978), Las Vegas Seagulls (Soccer-ASL-1979), Las Vegas Sting (Football-Arena Football League-1994-1995) and Las Vegas Thunder (IHL-1993-1999) [4] The Outlaws were sponsored by Cox Communications, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Station Casinos, PacifiCare Health Systems and Findlay Toyota. Just like the Posse (and the later Locomotives), the Outlaws had a difficult time selling tickets. For the home opener against the Hitmen 13,700 tickets were sold for a stadium that seats 36,000. There were only 7,000 estimated season ticket holders. Compared to the rest of the league, the Outlaws' attendance was about average, at 22,000 fans per game. They were one of two teams (the league-leading San Francisco Demons being the other) to consistently play in a stadium that was more than half full. The league-leading defense, led by Defensive Coordinator Mark Criner, was nicknamed "The Dealers of Doom."
Among the team's players were the XFL's most well-known, Rod Smart (later with the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, and the Oakland Raiders), who went by the nickname of "He Hate Me", which appeared on the back of his jersey. (He was originally going to put "They Hate Me", but there wasn't enough room.) Coached by former Boise State and Scottish Claymores head coach Jim Criner, the Outlaws competed in the XFL's only season, held in the spring of 2001. The team encouraged their fans to come up with a nickname. They selected the "Dealers of Doom Defense". After a strong start, the Outlaws suffered repeated injuries to their quarterbacks (by the midpoint of the season they were on their fourth-string quarterback) and lost their last three games to finish in last place in the division with a record of 4-6-0, just one game out of a playoff spot.
Despite having a two-year contract, NBC announced shortly after the season that it was getting out, as the season's later games had garnered the lowest ratings for a major American television network since the Nielsen ratings had begun tracking them, and the league folded shortly afterwards.
The team was the centerpiece of the 2003 book about the XFL, Long Bomb: How the XFL Became TV's Biggest Fiasco. It was written by Brett Forrest of Details magazine.
Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4th Western | Out of playoffs |
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | February 3 | New York/New Jersey Hitmen | W 19–0 | 1–0 | Sam Boyd Stadium |
2 | February 11 | at Memphis Maniax | W 25–3 | 2–0 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
3 | February 17 | Los Angeles Xtreme | L 9–12 | 2–1 | Sam Boyd Stadium |
4 | February 25 | at San Francisco Demons | W 16–9 | 3–1 | Pacific Bell Park |
5 | March 4 | at Chicago Enforcers | L 13–15 | 3–2 | Soldier Field |
6 | March 10 | at Orlando Rage | L 15–27 | 3–3 | Florida Citrus Bowl |
7 | March 17 | Birmingham Thunderbolts | W 34–12 | 4–3 | Sam Boyd Stadium |
8 | March 24 | at Los Angeles Xtreme | L 26–35 | 4–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
9 | April 1 | San Francisco Demons | L 9–14 | 4–5 | Sam Boyd Stadium |
10 | April 7 | Memphis Maniax | L 3–16 | 4–6 | Sam Boyd Stadium |
2001 Las Vegas Outlaws staff | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
|
Western Division | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | ||
Los Angeles Xtreme | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 235 | 166 | W1 | ||
San Francisco Demons | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 156 | 161 | L1 | ||
Memphis Maniax | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 167 | 166 | W2 | ||
Las Vegas Outlaws | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 169 | 143 | L3 |
Legend | |
---|---|
Led the league |
Passing statistics [lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | |
Ryan Clement | 7 | 6 | 3–3 | 78 | 138 | 56.5 | 805 | 9 | 4 | 83.2 | |
Mark Grieb | 4 | 3 | 1–2 | 37 | 78 | 47.4 | 408 | 3 | 4 | 54.9 | |
Mike Cawley | 2 | 1 | 0–1 | 17 | 38 | 44.7 | 180 | 1 | 2 | 45.9 | |
Totals | 10 | 10 | 4–6 | 132 | 255 | 51.8 | 1,393 | 13 | 10 | 68.6 |
Rushing statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
Rod "He Hate Me" Smart | 146 | 555 | 3.8 | 31 | 3 | ||
Ben Snell | 31 | 123 | 4.0 | 24 | 0 | ||
Chrys Chukwuma | 20 | 104 | 5.2 | 34 | 1 | ||
Ryan Clement | 10 | 19 | 1.9 | 20 | 0 | ||
Mike Cawley | 8 | 41 | 5.1 | 15 | 0 | ||
Mark Grieb | 2 | -2 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 | ||
Yo Murphy | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Jim Ballard | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 | ||
Mike Furrey | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | -3 | 0 | ||
Totals | 220 | 836 | 3.8 | 34 | 4 |
Receiving statistics | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |||
Yo Murphy | 27 | 273 | 10.1 | 35 | 3 | |||
Rod "He Hate Me" Smart | 27 | 245 | 9.1 | 46 | 0 | |||
Mike Furrey | 18 | 242 | 13.4 | 41t | 1 | |||
Rickey Brady | 15 | 158 | 10.5 | 25 | 5 | |||
Eric Guliford | 9 | 100 | 11.1 | 23 | 0 | |||
Corey Nelson | 9 | 80 | 8.9 | 18t | 1 | |||
Brett Bech | 7 | 95 | 13.6 | 20 | 0 | |||
Nakia Jenkins | 7 | 74 | 10.6 | 27t | 1 | |||
Ben Snell | 6 | 37 | 6.2 | 15 | 1 | |||
Todd Floyd | 3 | 71 | 23.7 | 37 | 1 | |||
Chrys Chukwuma | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 8 | 0 | |||
Werner Hippler | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | |||
Totals | 132 | 1,393 | 10.6 | 46 | 13 |
7-21 (33.3)% on extra point conversion attempts [7]
Total Scoring | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | Rush | Rec | Return | XPM | FGM | PTS | ||
Paul McCallum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 36 | ||
Rickey Brady | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | ||
Rod "He Hate Me" Smart | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | ||
Yo Murphy | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | ||
Chris Bayne | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Chrys Chukwuma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Todd Floyd | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Mike Furrey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Kurt Gouveia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Nakia Jenkins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Jason Kaiser | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Corey Nelson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Ben Snell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Jamel Williams | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
Mike Cawley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Lonnie Palelei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Totals | 4 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 169 |
The XFL was a professional American football league that played its only season in 2001. The XFL was operated as a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation and NBC. The XFL was conceived as an outdoor football league that would begin play immediately after the National Football League (NFL) season ended, to take advantage of the perceived lingering public desire to watch football after the NFL and college football seasons conclude. It was promoted as having fewer rules to encourage rougher play than other major leagues, while its telecasts featured sports entertainment elements inspired by professional wrestling, including heat and kayfabe, and suggestively-dressed cheerleaders. Commentary crews also featured WWF commentators joined by sportscasters and veteran football players. Despite the wrestling influence, the games and their outcomes were legitimate and not based on scripted storylines.
The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 season as part of the CFL's botched American expansion. Lasting only one season, the Posse were one of the least successful teams in CFL history, both on the field and off.
The Orlando Rage was an American football team based in Orlando, Florida as part of the XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation and by NBC, a major television network in the United States.
The San Francisco Demons were a short-lived springtime American football team based in San Francisco, California. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Originally they were to be based in San Jose but prior to the start of the season they were moved to San Francisco. They were in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, Las Vegas Outlaws and Memphis Maniax.
The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were an American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hitmen were the members of the Eastern Division of the XFL. The team played their home games in Giants Stadium of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
Torrold DeShaun "Rod" Smart is a former professional American football running back. He played college football for Western Kentucky. He was originally signed by the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent after the 2000 NFL draft.
The Scottish Claymores, known in shorthand as Scotland, were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh and latterly sharing home games with Hampden Park, Glasgow. In ten seasons of NFL Europe play, the Claymores reached the World Bowl on two occasions, with victory in World Bowl '96 but defeat in World Bowl 2000. Their name derives from that of the Claymore, a double-edged sword historically used in Scottish clan warfare. One notable player was Gavin Hastings, a Scottish rugby international who was used as a place kicker in 1996.
Paul McCallum is a former Canadian football punter and placekicker. He is a two-time Grey Cup champion, having won with the BC Lions in 2006 and 2011. He is also a six-time CFL West All-Star and a two-time CFL All-Star. He was also named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian in 2006 and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award in 2011. McCallum had been a member of three different CFL franchises, one XFL team, an NFL Europa team, and a Scottish third division club. At the time of his retirement, McCallum was the oldest active player in the CFL, having played in 24 seasons over the course of his career.
Llewellyn "Yo" Murphy is an American former gridiron football player of multiple professional leagues. He was originally signed by the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 1993; he played college football at Idaho. He has also coached.
Mark Richard Grieb is a former Arena football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League (AFL). Grieb currently serves as the head coach of the Sacred Heart Prep Gators football team in Atherton, California. He was a 13-year veteran of the AFL, having played quarterback for the Anaheim Piranhas (1997) and San Jose SaberCats. Grieb also played in NFL Europe for the Scottish Claymores (1998) and in the XFL with the Las Vegas Outlaws (2001). Grieb is the second quarterback in AFL history to throw for over 47,000 yards, over 900 touchdowns, over 3,800 completions, and over 10,000 pass attempts. He officially retired on November 8, 2012. He played college football at University of California, Davis. Grieb passed for 48,080 yards between the Arena League, XFL and NFL Europe.
The 2001 XFL draft was the only draft for the first-iteration XFL football league. The draft took place over a three-day time period from October 28 to October 30, 2000, during which time a total of 475 players were selected by the league's 8 teams from a pool of approximately 1,600 or so eligible players. The draft consisted of 59 rounds—10 rounds taking place on October 28, 15 rounds on October 29, and 34 rounds on October 30.
World Bowl 2000 was the eighth championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at Waldstadion in Frankfurt, Germany on June 25, 2000. The match-up was between the 6–4 Scottish Claymores and the 7–3 Rhein Fire. 35,860 fans were in attendance to witness the Fire coming from behind to win a close game 13–10 in the second-lowest scoring World Bowl played. Claymores running back Aaron Stecker was named MVP in the losing cause, rushing for 92 yards including a 36-yard TD.
Jim Criner is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Boise State University from 1976 to 1982 and at Iowa State University from 1983 to 1986, compiling a career record of 76–46–3 (.620) as a college football head coach. Criner was also the head coach of the NFL Europe's Scottish Claymores from 1995 to 2000, and the short-lived XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws in 2001. Criner has also been head coach in the French league Ligue Élite de Football Américain.
Ryan Clement is a former American football quarterback. He played college for the Miami Hurricanes and professionally in NFL Europe, XFL, United Indoor Football and the Indoor Football League.
Jamel Ishmael Williams is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He also played in the XFL for the Las Vegas Outlaws. He played college football at the University of Nebraska and was drafted in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL draft.
Mike Crawford is an American former professional football player. He played professionally as a linebacker with of the Miami Dolphins on the National Football League (NFL) and the Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL.
Toran James is a former professional American football linebacker who has played for the San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and the Las Vegas Outlaws of the defunct XFL. He grew up in Ahoskie, North Carolina
Charles "Charley" Puleri is a former professional football quarterback.
Mark Criner is an American football coach. He currently serves as the outside linebackers coach for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team. At the college football level, he served defensive coordinator for six seasons at the University of Idaho, and also held the same position at Middle Tennessee, Cincinnati, Portland State, the original XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws, and CSU–Pueblo. He has also worked as a defensive assistant at Minnesota, Eastern Michigan, Utah State, Lamar, LSU, the Alliance of American Football's Atlanta Legends, and Tulane. He was also the linebackers coach and assistant special teams coach for the Seattle Dragons.