Recap

Mike Pawlawski went 31 of 47 for 289 yards and two Touchdown Passes as San Francisco Demons opened the first ever XFL season at Pacific Bell Park in the Golden Gate City with a 15-10 defeat of Los Angeles Xtreme. Los Angeles Xtreme’s Brian Robertson had 12 catches for 127 yards, but fumbled the ball late in the fourth quarter to set up Mike Panacuk’s game winning Field Goal.

The Game was played in front of World Wrestling Federation Owner Vince McMahon who had paid to set up the League in conjunction with the National Broadcasting Corporation which had lost the rights to show the National Football League, while McMahon had been refused ownership of a Canadian Football League franchise.

What the game was more talked about other than the WWF connections and scantily-clad cheerleaders, was the opening kickoff, which rather than a coin toss to decide who would kickoff featured a 20-yard dash to the centre of the field by a player for each side, the first of whom to reach the ball and gain control of it would win possession. The first attempt in this game resulted in a season-ending shoulder injury to one of the players and the gimmick was shelved from the rest of the season.

Scorers

1st Quarter

SFD – Vaughn Dunbar 3yd Pass from Mike Pawlanski [3:31] 6-0

2nd Quarter

LAX – Darnell McDonald 28yd Pass from Tommy Maddox (PAT Run by Rashaan Sheve) 6-7#

4th Quarter

LAX – Jose Cortez 36yd FG [12:23] 6-10

SFD – Calvin Schnexnayder 32yd Pass from Mike Pawlanski 12-10

SFD – Mike Panajuk 33 FG [0:06] 15-10

Logo References

[1] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Xtreme_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Xtreme_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

Logo references

[2] Las Vegas Outlaws Wayback Machine (2001) oultaws_logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20010301185743im_/http://www.lasvegasoutlaws.com/images/oultaws_logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[3] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Xtreme_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Xtreme_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[4] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Maniax_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Maniax_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[5] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Demons_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Demons_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[6] Birmingham Pro Sports (2021) logo birmingham thunderbolts [Internet] Available from: http://www.birminghamprosports.com/birminghamthunderbolts/logo%20birmingham%20thunderbolts.jpg [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[7] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Enforcers_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Enforcers_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[8] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Hitman_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Hitman_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

[9] Official XFL Wayback Machine (2001) Rage_Logo1 [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20011024192051im_/http://www.officialxfl.com/images/smalllogos/Rage_Logo1.gif [Accessed 11 August 2021]

References

Newspapers

[1] First Down (2001) XFL February 8-14, 2001. pg. 22

[2] First Down (2001) XFL February 15-21, 2001. pg. 20

[3] First Down (2001) XFL February 22-28, 2001. pg. 14

[4] First Down (2001) XFL March 1-7, 2001. pg. 14

[5] First Down (2001) XFL March 8-14, 2001. pg. 16

[6] First Down (2001) XFL March 15-21, 2001. pg. 16

[7] First Down (2001) XFL March 22-28, 2001. pg. 16

[8] First Down (2001) XFL March 29-April 4, 2001. pg. 17

[9] First Down (2001) XFL April 5-11, 2001. pg. 

[10] First Down (2001) XFL April 12-18, 2001. pg. 

REFERENCES

IMAGES

[2] Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001) XFL Logo [Internet] Available from: https://www.birminghamprosports.com/birminghamthunderbolts/logo%20xfl.jpg [Accessed 20 July 2019]

WEBSITES

[2] Remember the XFL (2017) XFL Final Standings [Internet] Available from: http://sites.google.com/site/rememberthexfl/standings [Accessed 3 February 2017]

[3] Remember the XFL (2017) Weekly Results [Internet] Available from: http://sites.google.com/site/rememberthexfl/weekly-results [Accessed 31 December 2019]

NEWSPAPERS

[4] First Down (2001) February to April 2001.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Donie, Nigs, Ian Breathnach, Alan Gray, Mark Mahon, Mark, Denis Culhane, Willie Winters

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 11 August 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020-2021

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.