April 28, 2001
LAS VEGAS – The XFL named a league-high seven members
of the Las Vegas Outlaws to its inaugural All-League
Team, as voted by players and coaches at the conclusion
of the regular season. No other XFL squad placed more
than three players on the All-XFL Team, which is made up
of 24 players, 11 each from offense and defense, one
kicker and one special teams addition.
"I’m very proud of and excited for our
players,” said Outlaws Head Coach Jim Criner, whose
team finished the season 4-6 and out of the playoffs.
“It’s great for them to be recognized by their peers
and opposing coaches around the league.”
Perhaps the inclusion of four members of the Outlaws
“Dealers of Doom” defense comes as no surprise, as
DE Kelvin Kinney, DT Angel Rubio, LB Joseph Tuipala and
S Brandon Sanders earned accolades for their
consistently aggressive and truly stellar play in
leading the XFL’s #1 defensive unit.
On the other side of the ball, however, three members of
the Outlaws’ eighth-ranked offense were recognized by
their peers as deserving of All-League kudos. RB Rod
Smart, known to the world as “HE HATE ME” and the
league’s #3 rusher (555 yards), joins TE Rickey Brady
and OT Lonnie Palelei as three of the league’s
distinguished performers for 2001.
“What this shows is that we had a good draft,”
continued Criner, who is already planning for next
season. “As we said all along, the strength of our
team was on defense. We saw a young, developing group of
wide receivers and running backs. As the season
unfolded, our defense played well all year long, and we
had in Rod Smart a young running back who developed even
though many thought couldn't play at this level”
“The other thing this proves is that you can’t win
in this league without a quarterback,” stated Criner.
“Look at Orlando – they were the best team in the
league through seven games, but they lost their starting
QB and basically fell apart. As far as the Outlaws are
concerned, we lost our starter in camp, were never
consistent on offense and went through another two QBs
trying to find someone, anyone to help us. (Ryan)
Clement came back from injury, was never more than 85%
healthy, and couldn’t even throw in the final game
because of his shoulder.”
Criner’s critique of the Outlaws’ league-high seven
All-XFL standouts:
“Rod is a young back that got better with every game
and was the key to whatever offensive excitement we were
able to generate this season.”
“He was best blocking tight end in the league, without
question, and proved to be best receiving TE as well. He
was consistent and played well all season.”
“Lonnie performed at a very solid level at left tackle
and was the leader on offense. The only offensive
lineman to start all 10 games on an offense that missed
33 games due to injury, with all but one at QB or on the
line.”
“K2 proved to be the best edge rusher in the league.
He placed enormous pressure on opposing passers and was
solid against the run.”
“
Rubio was a force inside, as an excellent run stopper he
pushed the pocket and made it easy for our edge rushers
to get to the QB.”
“Joe was probably our best defensive player. He’s a
solid guy that played well in the passing game, showed
tremendous instincts on every down and on special teams,
and was our hardest hitter.”
“Early in the season, Brandon was the best defensive
player in the league, until his concussion in Chicago.
He was good against the run, showed excellent range in
the passing game and was a leader on our league-leading
defense.” |
