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XFL Arlington Renegades

Sights and Sounds from the Season Opener Between the Renegades and Vipers

February 20, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
Arlington Renegades News Release


ARLINGTON - As the Arlington Renegades and Vegas Vipers warmed up at Choctaw Stadium this past Saturday ahead of the XFL season opener, the XFL owners were on the sidelines watching over two years of hard work come to fruition.

There was Dany Garcia, the league's chairwoman and first woman owner of a major American sports league, talking shop with all different people on the sidelines. There was Dwayne Johnson, fist-bumping crowds of children near the south end zone who responded with the cacophony of a "Let's Rock" chant. There was Gerry Cardinale, the founder and managing partner at Redbird Capital, telling reporters pregame about all the "blood, sweat and tears" that went into making this day happen.

Then all three made their way onto the field for the pregame ceremony. First, it was Cardinale, who joined the captains on the field to conduct the ceremonial coin toss. Then Garcia and Renegades head coach Bob Stoops joined him at the midfield as a young fan delivered the game ball to Garcia.

Finally, Johnson joined the group wearing a Renegades No. 54 jersey, the number that represents the final player cut from an NFL roster. With his co-owners behind him and the players that remind him of himself standing in eyesight, Johnson delivered his homily:

"We're here because the X of the XFL represents the intersection of dreams and opportunity. You bring the dreams. We brought the opportunity. Now let's get to the game that we all love and why we're here today.

"I say this to all the players, to all the coaches, and most of all, to all the fans. We say this, with great gratitude and humility and an insane level of excitement, I declare these words as we kick off our season. XFL, let's ball out, baby."

Hours before Cardinale, Garcia and Johnson stood on the XFL logo at midfield just before kickoff, the energy around Choctaw Stadium was rising.

Children were being prepared for the pregame ceremony on the field, giddy at the opportunity to be on the same field as the league's players and owners. A marching band was enthusiastically playing songs outside of the center field gate.

Warren Thomas, a member of the Biker Brigade that supplied the motorcycles around the tailgate, was sitting in the stands taking in the surroundings. He had been a season ticket holder in 2020.

"It was just a great atmosphere," Thomas said of those games.

Dressed up with a customized cowboy hat in Renegades colors and logos and a Renegades flag draped around him, Thomas was excited to have the XFL back. The players and the opportunity in front of them. The gameday environment and the comradery of fandom.

Outside the stadium, Tyler Pennington and his fiancé Rylee Reel were the first people in line to enter Choctaw. The two live in Tyler, Texas, which is a two-hour drive from Arlington. They left at 9 a.m. and arrived at 11 a.m., well before the approximately 12:30 p.m. opening of the gates.

But they didn't mind waiting. Pennington saw Johnson post about the league on Instagram and decided to come to the game. To get ready, he watched the first episode of Player 54: Chasing the XFL Dream that morning and had been listening to the XFL Week in Review podcast.

"I'm looking for this being different," Pennington said. "This being exciting, having different faces, different names, different teams, different outcomes, different rules. That's my main enjoyment: a new experience."

Pennington got his wish for something different. The first game of the 2023 XFL season featured many of the qualities that separate the league from others in the game of football: a tiered-point system on PATs, a 4th-and-15 onside kick attempt, the opportunity to challenge any play at least once.

Plus, the game wasn't decided until the final seconds.

The moment that swung the game came with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Up 15-14, Vegas faced a 3rd-and-11 from its own 2-yard line=. With pressure coming from his left side, Luis Perez fired a pass toward Martavis Bryant. But Arlington's De'Vante Bausby jumped the route at the 6 and ran into the end zone for the score and the lead.

The Renegades' sideline jumped up. Choctaw Stadium crowd erupted into a frenzy. Bausby got mobbed by his teammates.

Bob Stoops on the sideline put up a single finger and called for the offensive to attempt a one-point PAT. Bausby ran around the end zone, finding teammates with whom he could do handshakes. "It's easy. It's easy," he declared on ESPN in the moments afterward.

The fans stood on their feet and celebrated. Many waved their light blue rally towels. One fan near midfield hugged their friend in excitement. A father lifted his young child into his arms and held him above his head in jubilation.

But the excitement wasn't over.

Down near the field on the south sideline, Marco Martinez was dressed head-to-toe in customized team gear: his cowboy hat emblazed with Renegades logos and scripts, a white tracksuit and even a chain with a massive Renegades logo autographed by many of the team's players. The Renegades super fan and his matching friend had a great day meeting fellow fans and relishing the return of their team.

So when the Vipers responded to the pick-six with a touchdown of their own with eight seconds left - setting up a potential game-tying two-point conversation - Martinez and the rest of the Renegades faithful were on their feet waving their towels once again. Perez was sacked and Martinez pumped his fist in celebration.

"I love it," Martinez said. "Football's back. What else is better than a win, right?"

In the media room after the game, Johnson's pregame speech wasn't explicitly mentioned by any of the players. But his words rang deep as the players said what it felt like to be back on the football field again.

Renegades defensive lineman Tomasi Laulile, who scored Arlington's first touchdown when he intercepted a screen pass and took it to the house in the third quarter, was overwhelmed by emotion.

"I was just excited - I was getting so excited I felt like crying," Laulile said. "It feels good to be back and be able to hit people in pads. It just felt good to play with the team in a game. I was just excited. I couldn't breathe. My heart was pumping, and man I'm just thankful and happy to play the game again."

Arlington starting quarterback Drew Plitt felt tremendous gratitude for the chance to be on the field that day.

He said if he hadn't earned the opportunity to be a member of the Renegades, he probably would have been at home on his couch watching the game.

"We got a chance to play ball and keep playing as long as we can," Plitt said. "That's what we're out here to do. I'm just ready to keep playing this season, have some fun, keep getting more wins."

Even the Vegas side, despite the loss and the disappointment such a result provides, still managed to take Johnson's words to heart.

Vipers defensive back Deontay Anderson, who his team with five solo tackles, found himself Saturday in the center of the X.

"It's a blessing," Anderson said. "Just about three months ago, I was working at Macy's. Just being able to play this game still, being paid, doing something I love to do with a great group of guys man, I'm very grateful every day."

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