The cheerleaders show more cleavage than dance moves. Microphones on the field broadcast every cuss, every smack, every ankle sprain over the stadium’s public address system. The league’s tanking, the media don’t care, and the stadiums are half-full, if that.
This is the XFL, and it’s Casey Dailey’s second chance.
Once Northwestern’s all-time leader with 26 sacks and a first-team All-Big Ten selection, Dailey is one three NU alumni – the others are offensive linemen Paul Janus and Bryan LaBelle – clashing helmets with the XFL’s Chicago Enforcers. Now struggling through its first year, the league was founded by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation and combines the grit of football with the theatrics of pro wrestling.
It’s not Dailey’s ideal gig. Almost three years ago, he was an NFL rookie with the New York Jets, and coach Bill Parcells was saying he “had high hopes for this kid.” But the outside linebacker broke his foot in training camp before the 1998 season, suited up mostly for special teams after that and was cut in August 2000.
Now Dailey’s playing for what he calls “a really good college team.”
“I’m not going to chase this dream forever,” says Dailey, who will miss Sunday’s game with a hand injury. “But I realistically think I can get back for a couple years and have a good time.”
For now, the three former Wildcats see the XFL as a paycheck and a stepping stone – and a chance to play the game they love.
Like Dailey, LaBelle ran into bad luck with his shot at the NFL. In 1999, he tore his ACL in training camp with the New Orleans Saints. And after former Saints coach Mike Ditka was fired, LaBelle lost his connection with the team and was released.
“It’s just a chance to play football again, which is what I spent the last year training for,” he says of the XFL. “It pays a heckuva lot better than the other leagues outside of the NFL.”
But LaBelle isn’t just chasing after cash. In college he played for a diploma; now he’s trying to make a living and have some fun.
“If you don’t love to play football, you shouldn’t be playing it,” LaBelle says. “I’d have a helluva lot more fun if we were winning, but the guys on the offensive line are good guys.”
Playing next to Janus, his former NU linemate, makes things better for LaBelle. They sometimes reminisce about their college years.
The Enforcers’ first scrimmage against the New York/New Jersey Hitmen, for instance, stirred up old memories – they played in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl, where NU lost to Tennessee in 1997. The Enforcers dropped that scrimmage, and also lost there on opening night to the Orlando Rage. This makes the NU trio 0-3 in Central Florida.
They’ve all been part of some of NU’s losing traditions as well.
Dailey and Janus were both members of NU’s 3-7-1 team in 1994, and LaBelle joined them on the Cats’ 5-7 team in 1997. LaBelle was also captain of NU’s 3-9 team in 1998.
Add to this the fact that the 0-4 Enforcers are currently the XFL’s only winless team, and you can see that losing is nothing new for these former Cats.
“Anytime you lose is tough,” says Janus, who bounced around the NFL for a few years, going from the Vikings to the Panthers to the Lions. “You never get used to it. We’ve been close in these games, (but) it seems like the breaks are pulling against us.”
The breaks haven’t been going the league’s way either. After booming with a 10.3 Nielsen rating for the first weekend of action – televised during primetime on NBC – the XFL’s ratings have since plummeted. Going into its fifth XFL broadcast, NBC has seen the ratings take a nosedive to 2.6, the second lowest ever for a primetime show on either of the three major networks.
But Dick Butkus – the former Chicago Bears great who now serves as the XFL’s director of football competition and rule enforcement – warns against jumping to conclusions about the league.
“Our projections are a lot different than what everybody else thinks,” he says. “We’re right on what (league organizers) have projected and their business plan a year ago. So if it continues it will be a very successful year for us.”
Dailey isn’t too concerned about the state of the league either.
“It’s really not my problem,” he says of the ratings drop. “I can’t do anything about it. If the league folds, the league folds. They’re paying me now, and I’m having fun, and what happens after that is their responsibility.”
Dailey, who graduated in 1998 with a degree in communications, says he is willing to stick it out a few more years and see if he can wiggle his way back into the NFL. Although he’s not sure what he’ll do if his football career doesn’t pan out, Dailey hasn’t ruled out graduate school.
On the other hand, Janus, who graduated in 1998 with a degree in economics, says he may hang around in the XFL for as long as he enjoys playing football – that is, if league is still going. He enjoys the XFL’s hard-hitting style, and he loves the WWF and the antics of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
“It’s great football,” says Janus, who is out indefinitely after fracturing his left hand. “It’s competitive, it’s smashmouth, it’s exciting. The fireworks, the music and the camera angles are great – the cheerleaders aren’t too bad either. It’s exciting for the fans and exciting for the players. I think this league will flourish.”
To Dailey, the sideshow is an attraction for the fans, not a distraction for the players – though he says he’d like to meet the cheerleaders and that “they seem like nice girls.”
“That’s for the fans,” he says. “It’s just football. I enjoy it and I don’t mind all the extra stuff. It’s a good show, and it’s entertainment. We’re not doing brain surgery, so there’s no reason to be so serious about everything.”
LaBelle, for his part, isn’t certain how long he’ll stay in the XFL. With a degree in organizational studies, he acknowledges the possibility of returning to the Chicago area and getting involved with the NU Alumni Association.
For now, the three former NU players have their sights set on snagging a spot in the NFL, a league they’ve gotten only a sample of.
Lucky for them, they can bide their time in the XFL.
“I’ve just gotta get the drive back to get back,” Dailey says.
