Million Dollar Game

The Million Dollar Game, also known as the (2001 or 1st) XFL Championship, was the lone championship of the original 2001 incarnation of the XFL.[1] The game was played on Saturday, April 21, 2001 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Western Division champion Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the western runner-up San Francisco Demons 38–6.

Million Dollar Game
"The Big Game at the End"
San Francisco Demons
(6–6)		 Los Angeles Xtreme
(9–3)
6 38
Head coach:
Jim Skipper		 Head coach:
Al Luginbill
1234 Total
SF 0006 6
LA 318107 38
DateApril 21, 2001
StadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
MVPJosé Cortez, placekicker
FavoriteXtreme
RefereeDavid Witvoet
Attendance24,153
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersMatt Vasgersian, Jesse Ventura and Mike Adamle

The game's original name was the "Big Game at the End of the Season;" it was changed during Week 3 of the regular season due to wordiness and concerns over potential to be genericized.[2] The "Million Dollar Game" name derived from the pot of one million dollars that would be split among the players of the winning team (with each team having 38 players, each player would receive approximately $26,316 for winning).

Background

The Orlando Rage had finished the 10-game regular season with the XFL's best record, 8-2. Los Angeles was 7–3 while both San Francisco and the Chicago Enforcers each finished 5–5 (thus Orlando and L.A. were the only two teams out of eight to finish with winning records in the regular season; the Memphis Maniax were also 5-5 but San Francisco won the playoff berth on a tie-breaker). The last game of the regular season ended up serving as the western division championship; had the Demons won that game, they would have won the division on a tiebreaker with both teams at 6–4. Instead, Los Angeles won.

The 2001 XFL used a crossover playoff format: each division champion would host the second-place team in the other division (the XFL, as with the National Football League, features each team playing its division rivals twice in the regular season, and thus this format avoided making teams play three times in a season, at least for the first round). The Xtreme defeated Chicago 33-16 in the first round, while the Demons upset Orlando 26–25 in their semifinal.

Game synopsis

The Xtreme, led by regular-season Most Valuable Player Tommy Maddox, won the Million Dollar Game 38–6. The Xtreme dominated the game and held the Demons scoreless until their third-string quarterback Oteman Sampson (pressed into service after Mike Pawlawski was pulled due to ineffectiveness and backup Pat Barnes suffered an injury) scored a scrambling touchdown in garbage time to avoid the shutout. [3]

The game's MVP was Xtreme kicker Jose Cortez.

Aftermath

The XFL folded shortly after the Game was played. Sparse attendance at the Coliseum was noticeable, as most of the television camera angles would only show close-ups of sections with fans and sideline interviews used distorted camera perspectives shot from near the ground to avoid the camera catching empty seats.[3] A second XFL season would not be played until 2020.

After each had been released by National Football League teams earlier in their professional careers, both Maddox and Cortez eventually found themselves back in the NFL. Maddox signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001. He replaced Kordell Stewart in the 2002 season and led the Steelers into the playoffs. That performance earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Maddox lost his starting job to Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and was released in 2006, however still became the first former XFL player to be a part of a Super Bowl champion after the Steelers won Super Bowl XL over the Seattle Seahawks.

Cortez went on to become an NFL journeyman for the next five seasons playing two seasons each with the San Francisco 49ers (for whom he scored over 100 points in the 2001 and 2002 NFL seasons) and Minnesota Vikings; his final season in 2005 saw him play for five professional teams as a fill-in for injured kickers, four in the NFL and one in the Arena Football League.

Box score
Million Dollar Game: Los Angeles Xtreme vs San Francisco Demons
1 2 34Total
Demons 0 0 066
Xtreme 3 18 10738

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP SFD LAX
1 8:59 9 18 4:10 LAX 37-yard field goal by Cortez 0 3
2 14:22 9 79 4:49 LAX Wilcox 1-yard touchdown reception from Maddox, 2-point {{{2pt type}}} {{{2pt result}}} 0 9
2 9:51 1 73 4:50 LAX Durden 71-yard punt return for a touchdown 0 15
2 0:20 11 40 2:13 LAX 34-yard field goal by Cortez 0 18
2 0:00 1 — — LAX 50-yard field goal by Cortez 0 21
3 9:37 2 25 0:57 LAX Copeland 19-yard touchdown reception from Maddox, 2-point {{{2pt type}}} {{{2pt result}}} 0 28
3 1:31 11 44 6:08 LAX 22-yard field goal by Cortez 0 31
4 3:48 8 30 4:27 LAX Rachal 10-yard touchdown reception from Shehee, 2-point {{{2pt type}}} {{{2pt result}}} 0 38
4 0:25 7 78 3:23 SFD Sampson 21-yard touchdown run, 2-point {{{2pt type}}} {{{2pt result}}} 6 38
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 38
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References
  1. "XFL Million Dollar Game Recap". www.all-xfl.com.
  2. "7 Reminders of How Ridiculous the XFL Was". Complex. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  3. Bulkema, Will. The only XFL championship was also the worst by SB Nation, February 7, 2019
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