The 2001 XFL Draft was the only

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

for the first-iteration

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

football league. The

took place over a three-day time period from October 28 to October 30, 2000, during which time a total of 475 players were selected by the league's 8 teams from a pool of approximately 1,600 or so eligible players. The draft consisted of 59 rounds—10 rounds taking place on October 28, 15 rounds on October 29, and 34 rounds on October 30. The draft was followed by a supplemental draft on December 29, 2000, during which 65 additional players were selected in an effort to completely fill out team rosters. Most eligible players came from either the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, retired NFL players, or previous college players who had gone undrafted by the NFL but had not yet signed with another league. The XFL draft took place in order for teams to be ready to begin league play when the season kicked off on February 3, 2001.

Notable players drafted

Many of the players selected in the XFL draft went on to compete in the NFL and other football leagues. Notable players selected in the draft included Las Vegas

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Rod Smart Torrold DeShaun "Rod" Smart (born January 9, 1977) is a former professional American football running back. He played college football for Western Kentucky. He was originally signed by the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL ...

, who first gained popularity because the name on the back of his jersey read "'' He Hate Me.''" Smart stated that he had wanted to put "''They Hate Me''" (a jab at his critics) but there wasn't enough room. Smart, who was only picked 357th in the draft, later went on to play for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, and the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, thus becoming the second XFL player (after receiver

Yo Murphy Llewellyn "Yo" Murphy (born May 11, 1971) is a former gridiron football player of multiple professional leagues. He was originally signed by the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 1993; he played colle ...

did as a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

) to play in a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

, participating in

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

, which his team lost. Many other XFL "alumni" who were selected in the draft went on to play in the NFL, including

Kevin Kaesviharn Kevin Robert Kaesviharn (born August 29, 1976) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the Iowa Barnstormers as a street free agent in 1998. He played college football at Augustana. Kaesviharn was also a member of the San Franci ...

Jose Cortez Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

Corey Ivy Corey Terrell Ivy (born March 21, 1977) is a former American football cornerback. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1999. He played college football at Oklahoma. Ivy was also a member of the Frankfurt Ga ...

Mike Furrey Michael Thomas Furrey (; born May 12, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver and safety who is currently the head coach of the Limestone Saints. This is Furrey's second stint as Limestone's head coach following his two seasons with t ...

and

, and many others played extensively in the CFL, including

Kelvin Anderson Kelvin Anderson (born February 4, 1972) is a former professional gridiron football player. As a running back, he rushed for over 1,000 yards in eight consecutive seasons in the Canadian Football League, a league record. He won the CFL's Grey Cup c ...

, John Avery, Duane Butler,

Jeremaine Copeland Jeremaine Copeland (born February 19, 1977) is a former professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He has played with the Montreal Alo ...

Marcus Crandell Marcus Crandell (born June 1, 1974) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback and coach. He was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Saskatchewan Huskies of the University of Saskatchewan. He played 11 seasons for the Edmont ...

, Reggie Durden, Eric England, Paul McCallum (who wore the jersey nickname "CFL Reject"),

, Noel Prefontaine and

Bobby Singh Bobby Singh (born November 21, 1975) is a retired professional American and Canadian football guard. He was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders in the first round of the 1999 CFL Draft. Singh has the distinction of being the only player in footba ...

. The

also absorbed some former XFL players.

Player selections

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xfl Draft Xfl Draft

Draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

American football drafts Xfl Draft