First Scramble In XFL History – VIDEO

This is video of the very first scramble, before the very first XFL game, back on February 3, of 2001, pitting the Las Vegas Outlaws and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen.

The scramble, which replaced the coin toss at the beginning of each game, was an event in which one player from each team sought to recover a football 20 yards away in order to determine possession.

The two players would line up, side-by-side, on their respective 30-yard lines, with the ball being placed at the 50-yard line. At the whistle, the two players would run toward the ball and attempt to gain possession. The player that secured the ball gave his team the choice of either receiving or kicking off.

Here, we have Jamel Williams of the Outlaws going up against Donnie Caldwell of the  Hitmen.

Yes, that is NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, who was the XFL Commissioner.

The scramble, and the XFL, lasted only one year.