Seattle Dragons

The Seattle Dragons are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

Seattle Dragons
Founded2018
LeagueXFL
DivisionWest[1]
Team historySeattle Dragons (2020–present)
Based inSeattle, Washington
StadiumCenturyLink Field
Seattle, Washington
ColorsNavy, green, orange[2]
              
OwnerAlpha Entertainment, LLC
PresidentRyan Gustafson[3]
Head coachJim Zorn[4]
General managerJim Zorn
Websitewww.xfl.com/en-US/teams/seattle

Seattle joins New York, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Washington, D.C. as the league's inaugural cities. Teams had 40-man active rosters and played a 10-week season. Vince McMahon said "the game will feature simplified rules for a faster pace of game that should complete in under three hours", and draw from former college and NFL players.[5]

The Seattle Dragons started play on February 8, 2020, one week after Super Bowl LIV, and hosted their inaugural home game on February 15, 2020.[6]

History

Seven out of eight of the teams that were awarded an inaugural team from Vince McMahon were located in an NFL city. The Dragons shared CenturyLink Field with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL and Seattle Sounders FC of MLS.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that "he doesn't mind" the fact that the XFL will host a team in Seattle and "in fact, if anything...Seattle should welcome the new league with open arms."[7]

Former Seahawks quarterback Jim Zorn, who was the first quarterback to start for the Seahawks,[8] was named the team's first head coach on February 25, 2019.[4] On June 22, 2019, the XFL Summer Showcase was held in Seattle's Memorial Stadium, which hosted about 100 players trying out for the new expansion team.

On June 27, the USPTO revealed that XFL parent company Alpha Entertainment had filed for trademarks on the names Seattle Dragons, Seattle Wild, Seattle Fury, Seattle Surge and Seattle Force.[9] Seattle Dragons was the name ultimately revealed on August 21.

The Dragons schedule was announced and season ticket deposit holders were given seating in September 2019, and the team attended the first XFL draft in October 2019. In November 2019, the team began their training camp. The team logo and uniforms were unveiled on December 3, 2019.[10] The Dragons inaugural game was played on February 8, 2020.

Controversy The Dragons' final game against the Houston Roughnecks was noted for a last-second controversy. Seattle trailed undefeated Houston 32-23 with nine seconds remaining. The Roughnecks opted to go for it on fourth down in an attempt to run out the clock. Their down ended with a quarterback sack, which would've given Seattle the ball at the cusp of the Houston red zone. However, officials controversially ruled that the game clock had expired, denying the Dragons a chance for the tying score (XFL possessions could net as many as nine points with a touchdown and three-point conversion). After the game, XFL brass announced that there should've been two seconds remaining on the clock.

Staff
Seattle Dragons staff
Front office
  • Director of player personnel – Tony Softli
  • Director of football operations – Matthew Hayes
Head coach
Offensive coaches
  
Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Clayton Lopez
  • Defensive line – Donald Johnson
  • Special teams/defensive backs – Chip Garber
  • Linebackers/assistant special teams - Mark Criner
  • Assistant defensive backs – Marcus Ungaro
East Division
DC
NY
STL
TB
West Division
DAL
HOU
LA
SEA

Roster
Seattle Dragons roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Roster updated May 12, 2020
Depth chart
54 active, 8 inactive

→ XFL rosters
East Division
DC
NY
STL
TB
West Division
DAL
HOU
LA
SEA
Team 9

References
  1. "FOX Sports announces 2020 XFL schedule". KMPH. January 7, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  2. "Seattle Dragons' uniforms, helmet". XFL.com (Press release). December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  3. Vorel, Mike (25 March 2019). "Seattle XFL team hires Bellevue product, former Sounders exec Ryan Gustafson as its president". The Seattle Times.
  4. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/seahawks-legend-jim-zorn-named-coach-and-gm-of-seattles-xfl-franchise/
  5. Staff, KOMO (5 December 2018). "Seattle chosen as one of 8 inaugural teams for new XFL football league". KOMO.
  6. Columnist, Larry Stone / (6 December 2018). "Pete Carroll fired up about XFL coming to Seattle, but will anyone else be?". The Seattle Times.
  7. "Pete Carroll thinks Seattle should embrace XFL team that will share the Seahawks' stadium". CBSSports.com.
  8. Hanson, Scott. "'It really is something to savor': QB Brandon Silvers to lead XFL Dragons in franchise's first game". Seattle Times. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  9. Ratchuk, Stephan (June 27, 2019). XFL FILES MULTIPLE TRADEMARKS FOR XFL SEATTLE. XFL2K.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  10. "Seattle Dragons' uniforms, helmet". xfl.com. XFL. December 3, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
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