More 'backers than backs will be helped by XFL.(pro football)(Brief Article)

The USFL helped produce future stars Reggie White and Herschel Walker. NFL Europe was a proving ground for quarterbacks Jon Kitna and Kurt Warner. Most recently, the Arena Football League sent Oronde Gadsden and Warner to the NFL.

Now that the XFL has kicked off its inaugural in-your-face season, some will wonder: Can any of the players from this startup league help an NFL franchise next fall?

Despite some downright sloppy play in the opening weekend, let me assure you that in time the onfield product will be worth watching. At least we know the games were not fixed, because nothing choreographed could look so ugly.

Vince McMahon's football experiment isn't a gimmick, and the evidence can be summed up in two words: Bob Ackles. A respected NFL executive who joined the XFL after five years as the director of football operations for the Dolphins, Ackles legitimizes what the XFL is trying to build on the personnel side of its operation. To his credit, McMahon was smart enough to realize the success of his new league would hinge on the arms of quarterbacks, not the legs of cheerleaders. That's why guys like Ackles, who is the general manager of the Las Vegas Outlaws, are so important to the long-term success of the league.

From what I saw at scrimmages during the past month, here is how the XFL compares with startups from the past. Is it better than NFL Europe and the Arena League? Definitely. As good as the USFL? Not quite.

Imagine the third and fourth quarters of an NFL preseason game. Backups in, starters out; maybe a couple of names you've heard before, but not many. That's basically what the XFL has to often Not a great option in August, but in February, who's complaining.

NFL Europe is a developmental league, with players allocated for the sole purpose of gaining experience. Each roster in this league could just as easily be the roll call for a college fraternity--a bunch of 21- and 22-year-olds.