The 2001 XFL Draft was the only draft for the first-iteration XFL football league. The draft 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

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, retired

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

players, or previous college players who had gone undrafted by the

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

Rod Smart, 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 play ...

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. ...

, 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 Ra ...

, 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 college ...

did as a member of the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI) to play in a Super Bowl, 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, Jose Cortez, Corey Ivy,

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 ...

and Rod Smart, and many others played extensively in the CFL, including Kelvin Anderson, John Avery,

Duane Butler Duane Butler (born November 9, 1973) is a former gridiron football linebacker / defensive back. He played college football at Illinois State. College career Duane Butler attended Illinois State University. While there, he was a three time All- ...

, Jeremaine Copeland, Marcus Crandell,

Reggie Durden Reggie Durden (born November 22, 1976) is a former gridiron football defensive back. He was born on November 11, 1976, in Houston, Texas. College career Reggie Durden played two seasons at Florida State University. In 1999, he shared the Most Im ...

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

, Noel Prefontaine and Bobby Singh. The

also absorbed some former XFL players.

Player selections

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xfl Draft Xfl Draft Draft American football drafts Xfl Draft