Former Bowie State tight end Khari Lee has been drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 XFL Draft by the D.C. Defenders.
The XFL is a football league started by Vince McMahon owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2001 that ran for just one season in 2001. The league was described by McMahon as a “colossal failure” as a result of poor viewership, rating and the host network NBC and the WWE (then WWF) losing $30 million.
Following an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on the XFL in 2017, it was speculated that Vince McMahon was considering reviving the football league. Those speculations were confirmed when McMahon announced in January 2018 that the XFL would return February 2020.
Khari Lee, from Baltimore, Maryland, played for the Bowie State Bulldogs from 2012-2014 where he was named to the All-CIAA First team each year and was invited to participate in the East-West Shrine Bowl in 2014.
He would then go undrafted to the NFL playing four seasons for the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and most recently the Buffalo Bills.
The D.C. Defenders will play in Audi Field home of MLS team D.C. United. Here is a complete list of the D.C. Defenders draft picks:
We wouldn't want to line up against these guys.#DefendersDraft🛡 pic.twitter.com/rzRKqDiozS
— D.C. Defenders (@XFLDefenders) October 15, 2019
Added the big guys up front 💪#DefendersDraft🛡 pic.twitter.com/v91JtIMC6b
— D.C. Defenders (@XFLDefenders) October 15, 2019
You could say we got some playmakers.#DefendersDraft pic.twitter.com/7e2NV0RXot
— D.C. Defenders (@XFLDefenders) October 15, 2019
One player missing from the list is former National Champion Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones who announced he would be joining the Defenders before the beginning of the draft.
