Las Vegas Outlaws

The Las Vegas Outlaws were an American football team in the short-lived XFL in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, San Francisco Demons and Memphis Maniax. They played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium.

History
Among the team's players were the XFL's most well-known, Rod Smart (later with the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, and the Oakland Raiders), who went by the nickname of "He Hate Me", which appeared on the back of his jersey. (He was originally going to put "They Hate Me", but there wasn't enough room.) Coached by former Boise State and Scottish Claymores head coach Jim Criner, the Outlaws competed in the XFL's only season, held in the spring of 2001. The team encouraged their fans to come up with a nickname. They selected the "Dealers of Doom Defense". They finished in 4th place in the division with a record of 4-6-0.

Despite having a two-year contract, NBC announced shortly after the season that it was getting out, as the season's later games had garnered the lowest ratings for a major American television network since the Nielsen ratings had begun tracking them, and the league folded shortly afterwards.

The team was the centerpiece of the 2003 book about the XFL, Long Bomb. It was written by Brett Forrest of Details magazine.

Famous Las Vegas Outlaws Players

 * 87 Werner (Verne) Hippler, a German-born tight end who played 11 years in the NFL Europa League and has also been on the practice squads of the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions.


 * 10 Mike Cawley (James Madison) - The quarterback played in the NFL for five seasons with four different teams, a season in the CFL with two different teams, a season in NFLE with the Amsterdam Admirals, and one year with the Af2 Quad City Steamwheelers.


 * 81 Todd Floyd (UNLV) - The wide receiver played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFLE and was on the preseason rosters of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.


 * 22 Chris Chukwuma (Arkansas) -The running back was briefly on the Dallas Cowboys' roster.


 * 82 Mike Furrey (Ohio State/Northern Iowa) - Like Smart, the receiver has enjoyed a long NFL career.


 * 17 Paul McCallum - Kicker also played for the Claymores. Currently plays for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League.


 * 92 Kelvin T.G. Kinney (Virginia State) - The defensive end has spent time with the Lions and Washington Redskins.


 * 31 Kelly Herndon (Toledo) - The cornerback later landed with the Seattle Seahawks. In Super Bowl XL, he returned an interception for a then record of 76 yards. Since then it has been broken by Steelers linebacker James Harrison.


 * 30 Rod Smart (Western Kentucky) - "He Hate Me" became the first former XFL player to appear in a Super Bowl: Super Bowl XXXVIII for the Panthers.


 * 16 Mark Grieb - The quarterback would go on to win two Arena Bowls with the San Jose Sabercats. In the XFL, Grieb only got his chance when the starting quarterback was injured.

Season-by-season

 * 2001 || 4 || 6 || 0 || 4th Western || --
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Team leaders

 * Rushing Yards: 555, Rod "He Hate Me" Smart
 * Receiving Yards: 273, Yo Murphy
 * Passing Yards: 804, Ryan Clement University of Miami