Stars Can Be Made. But Will They Stay?

As we have seen through the first half of this inaugural XFL season, players you never heard of, or not known that well, can become stars in this league. Obviously PJ Walker is a big name, probably the biggest in the league. Not many knew of him at all. Now he is the front runner for league MVP. Due to that, the interest level for him in the NFL has grown significantly. Which is GREAT for him. But selfishly (in a good way), upsetting to XFL fans. As "XFL Football Official" (@BarstoolXFL_) said on twitter, when talking about this subject:

"Yeah we hope they stay too, but personally it wouldn’t make sense for them, financially at least, not in this stage of the XFL. Hopefully it grows and players will have to decide between the XFL and NFL"

And they are absolutely right. But if every time a star is born in the XFL, and the NFL goes and signs them, then there is no way the league can grow at a healthy rate, in my opinion. Having these players stay will only help the league and teams with popularity, especially for the hometown fans. Houston is loving their team and their QB right now. Hell, they are 5-0. But how is it going to feel IF he gets signed to the NFL this upcoming season and the Roughnecks have to start someone new next year, who probably isn't near as good. They are going to feel a bit robbed. Fans will have a hard time attaching themselves to their team's best players because chances are they might end up leaving for the NFL at seasons end.

This more than anything, at this point in the XFL journey, has worried me the most. The XFL has stated several times that they are not a developmental league. They aren't competition to the NFL either. But from the path the XFL is heading, early on, is where players who don't make the cut in the NFL come to play. Then go back after performing well. A developmental league. There is nothing "wrong" with that, but the XFL ending up that way means they fell short of their goal and there isn't anything that can really be done about it right now.

Furthermore, I have heard things like "PJ Walker should get signed to the Seattle Seahawks to back up Russel Wilson". For PJ that would probably be great. But as fans who now know him as an XFL Superstar, why would we want him to be on the bench in the NFL instead of under center in Houston lighting it up in the XFL. I know it's selfish. It will just suck to see our favorite players up and leave. And there are many more players in this pool of talent the NFL is looking at. I just used Walker as the most known example of this.

At the end of the day, I want this league to survive. I think it is refreshing, innovative and really entertaining. Only good can come from this league staying around and being successful. So let's cross our fingers and hope we do enough as fans to help make that a reality.

- Scott Summers