XFL St. Louis Battlehawks

XFL in Their Own Words: Players, Coaches React to Record-Setting St. Louis Crowd

Published on March 14, 2023 under XFL (XFL)
St. Louis Battlehawks News Release


St. Louis Battlehawks fans had to wait until Week 4 to watch their team play inside The Dome at America's Center. It was more than worth the wait.

The Battlehawks faithful came out in droves Sunday for the team's home opener against the Arlington Renegades. Interest was so substantial that St. Louis opened the third level of the Dome in the leadup to the game. The league sold all the tickets allocated for the game and announced the attendance at 38,310, the highest for any game in XFL history and for any professional spring football game this century.

"I hope we sell even more tickets next week and get even more people in here," St. Louis quarterback A.J. McCarron said. "Maybe we can break 40,000. That'd be something special."

The hometown team sent the fans home happy with a 24-11 victory behind two touchdown passes from McCarron and a standout day from East St. Louis native Brian Hill in the backfield.

Here are reactions from players, coaches and analysis to the historic game, as told to ESPN during its broadcast or in a postgame press conference.

St. Louis Battlehawks quarterback A.J. McCarron

"It was just unbelievable to see the support the city of St. Louis came out with today. It's unbelievable. I said this at Fan Fest at the Armory, it reminds me a ton of the passion and the fan base at Alabama. The expectation to win and striving for greatness is something I'm used to and very proud to be a part of the city."

St. Louis Battlehawks running back Brian Hill

"It feels amazing. I was excited to go back to St. Louis. I haven't played in front of my friends and family since high school. It's been seven years coming. Definitely a fun experience out here. Can't wait to do it next week."

St. Louis Battlehawks wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl

"The years I was here (with the Rams), it was an advantage. It was a true advantage. The noise they bring. The support they've given us. The support they're giving this football team is huge. It's great for this league. It's great for these players. Just so thankful. We all are. As an organization, we talk about it. St. Louis has a rich tradition in sports here. They show their support for their two hometown teams, and they've always done it going back to the Cardinals, the Blues and the Rams back in late '90s and early 2000s. Good people, man. You want to play well for them because they're out there each and every week supporting us. This is definitely an advantage for us to play here in this Dome."

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy

"It's awesome. This was a great experience today. Look, we've been to D.C. We've done games in Orlando. We've done games in Houston. We've done games all over the place but nothing in my experience, both in 2020 and 2023, rivals what we saw today. They were fired up from start to finish. Long before start, they were fired up. The team responded beautifully to the environment as well."

Arlington Renegades head coach Bob Stoops

"This has by far been the loudest and the craziest fans. Yelling at you. Booing you. That's kind of fun. You enjoy that. They did it all today."

St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht

"That was electric. The guys in the locker room were fired up. I told them to feed off that energy. I knew emotionally early in the game, they had to keep their cool; a lot of those guys have not played in that kind of environment for a while. It was good to see. But shoutout to the St. Louis fan base, I did see some extra seats up there. Maybe we can open up another section every single week and get more fans if they decide to come. But just staying there till the end as well. That meant a lot. They just really deeply care. Our players care about the fans as well.

"It's a big deal for me. I want this to be a place where it's hard for teams to play, try to get them amped up as most as I can, stay paying attention to the game on third downs. I really think it's an advantage for us. It really does give energy to our team. It's a big deal. When the other team can hear and it gets loud and rowdy, we're swinging towels around, that's a distraction. It's hard. We want that every week. It's got to be huge next week. We can do even better, I think, but I'm really thankful for the fan base and them showing up. It was really fun to be a part of it."

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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