The XFL is working on some innovative rule changes ahead of its February, 2020, launch, and one of those might be the chance to go for a five-point conversion after a touchdown.
The re-do of the once-failed football league is aiming to add in some exciting features to set it apart from the NFL, and league officials spent this week testing out potential new rule changes. As XFL News reported, the league conducted three days of testing in Mississippi in conjunction with the National Junior College Athletic Association to see how these potential rules would fit into a real game.
One of those ideas being tested is a tiered extra-point system that allows team to score more points if they are willing to start farther from the end zone.
“This past week they focused on the two-minute drill, new lineman rules and tiered-point conversion after touchdowns,” the report noted. “The tiered-point idea is to eliminate the extra kick after a touchdown. Teams will have the opportunity to go for 1 extra point from the 2-yard line, 2 points from the 5-yard line or 5 points from the 15-yard line.”
There has already been significant progress toward the league’s launch, including the naming of the initial eight teams. As CBS Sports noted, the league did not shy away from some direct ties to NFL cities, with teams playing mostly in stadiums that already host NFL teams.
There does not appear to be much inter-league competition, however. In Seattle, where the XFL team will play in CenturyLink Field alongside the Seahawks, coach Pete Carroll is rooting for the XFL to succeed.
“Our fans go crazy, so I hope that they’ll really enjoy it and embrace it,” he told reporters . “And the fact that that would be here in town, I would love to have that, to watch guys, see guys develop and all that kind of stuff.”
But Carroll also joked about the reputation the league garnered in its initial go-round as a no-holds barred sports equivalent of owner Vince McMahon’s WWE.
“I don’t know the makeup of the XFL games at this point,” he said. “Is this the XFL that’s the — they’re not wearing the thorns on their helmets and stuff like that, right?”
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The report noted that there is no word yet on whether the league accepted the extra-point system, but the full slate of rules is expected to be released in the coming months as the league takes shape.
