Seattle Sea Dragons

The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment, the franchise was acquired by Alpha Acquico, LLC, a consortium led by actor and former WWE star Dwayne Johnson and longtime business partner Dany Garcia, in August 2020 following Alpha Entertainment's bankruptcy sell-off of the league.

Seattle joined New York, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Washington, D.C. as the league's inaugural cities. Teams had 40-man active rosters and played a 10-week season. Vince McMahon said "the game will feature simplified rules for a faster pace of game that should complete in under three hours", and draw from former college and NFL players.

The Seattle Dragons started play on February 8, 2020, one week after Super Bowl LIV, and hosted their inaugural home game on February 15, 2020. The rechristened Sea Dragons will begin play in Spring 2023.

History

2020 season

Seven out of eight of the teams that were awarded an inaugural team from Vince McMahon were located in an NFL city. The Dragons shared CenturyLink Field with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL and Seattle Sounders FC of MLS.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that "he doesn't mind" the fact that the XFL will host a team in Seattle and "in fact, if anything...Seattle should welcome the new league with open arms."

Former Seahawks quarterback Jim Zorn, who was the first quarterback to start for the Seahawks, was named the team's first head coach on February 25, 2019. On June 22, 2019, the XFL Summer Showcase was held in Seattle's Memorial Stadium, which hosted about 100 players trying out for the new expansion team.

On June 27, 2019, the USPTO revealed that XFL parent company Alpha Entertainment had filed for trademarks on the names Seattle Dragons, Seattle Wild, Seattle Fury, Seattle Surge and Seattle Force. Seattle Dragons was the name ultimately revealed on August 22.

The Dragons schedule was announced and season ticket deposit holders were given seating in September 2019, and the team attended the first XFL draft in October 2019. In November 2019, the team began their training camp. The team logo and uniforms were unveiled on December 3, 2019. The Dragons inaugural game was played on February 8, 2020.

In what would be Seattle's final game of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dragons trailed undefeated Houston 32–23 with nine seconds remaining. The Roughnecks opted to go for it on fourth down in an attempt to run out the clock. Their down ended with a quarterback sack, which would have given Seattle the ball at the cusp of the Houston red zone. However, officials controversially ruled that the game clock had expired, denying the Dragons a chance for the tying score, as XFL possessions could net as many as nine points with a touchdown and three-point conversion. After the game, the XFL announced that there should have been two seconds remaining on the clock.

Revival as Sea Dragons

When the XFL reorganized after the COVID-19 pandemic under the ownership of Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, the name of the team was altered from the Seattle Dragons to the Seattle Sea Dragons. Former NFL player and coach (college, World League of American Football, NFL, UFL) Jim Haslett will serve as head coach and general manager for the team.

Players

Current roster

Staff

References

External links

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{{Washington Sports

American football in Seattle
American football teams established in 2018
American football teams in Washington (state)
2018 establishments in Washington (state)
XFL (2020) teams