XFL CEO/ commissioner Oliver Luck discusses the league’s relaunch in 2020, as well as how his son Andrew Luck is doing in his retirement from the NFL.
Oliver Luck has accomplished a ton in the game of football. Luck starred for the West Virginia Mountaineers before playing five years in the NFL with the then-Houston Oilers. He was the president of NFL Europe, the general manager of the MLS’s Houston Dynamo, the athletic director of his alma mater and is now the CEO/commissioner of the XFL. He’s also Andrew Luck’s father.
With the XFL relaunching in a matter of days after Super Bowl 54 down in Miami, Luck met with FanSided‘s Mark Carman to discuss all the cool things the XFL will be doing this year, as well as how his son is doing since retiring from the NFL last August after seven years in the league.
The XFL will have several different rules from the NFL, including a 25-second game clock and holding the gunners back until the ball is punted. “The best thing we did was this 25-second game clock,” said Luck. “So that’s going to affect every play. It’s probably the most consequential rules innovation. We’ve got a ball-spotting official who does nothing but spot the ball.”
Luck added that every offensive skill position player will have the ability to hear the play-caller, not just the quarterback in the NFL. He believes there will be very little huddles in the XFL and this should create a great up-tempo, high-scoring game. As for how Andrew is doing since hanging up the spikes back in August, Luck would offer this.
“He’s always made good decisions. It’s his call. My only advice to him, and I would say this to any player who is kind of going through that bad cycle of injury and rehab, and injury and rehab: If you don’t have 100 percent enthusiasm and love of the game, then don’t play…You need to have 100 percent enthusiasm to go out and play well.”
Oliver Luck spoke with FanSided on behalf of the XFL. The 2020 XFL season begins on Feb. 8. The DC Defenders will host the Seattle Dragons, followed by the Houston Roughnecks hosting the LA Wildcats.