Luis Perez and the Chance of a Lifetime as a Quarterback: The XFL Championship Game Between the Renegades and Defenders

Six years and 10 teams passed before Luis Pérez played the championship game. On Saturday night, his team, the Arlington Renegades, take on the DC Defenders for the first trophy in the XFL.

“It’s very special to play in a championship,” the Mexican-born quarterback said in an interview with ESPN.

The journey to the final was not easy for Arlington, let alone Perez. The Rebels finished second in the South Division, so the championship game had to travel to Houston. Perez, for his part, started the season in Las Vegas, but in Week 6 asked to trade him after the team announced that Jalen McClendon would be the starter and that Duane Taylor would be fired as the Vipers’ offensive coordinator.

“I couldn’t stay without playing, I needed to be on the court. I asked for a change, I made a couple of calls, and Arlington management was interested,” Perez details. The timing of the change was precise. The day before, the Rebels had cut down Ryan Mueller. “It’s hard to put everything that’s happened to me this season into words, but I’m really excited to be in the championship game.”

The Mexican American made it into Week 7 with the Renegades, but it wasn’t until Week 8 that he took over as he learned the rules of the game and got into a rhythm with his new teammates.

“We have a good team. The staff helped me a lot in learning the rules of the game quickly, but the most important thing is to gain the trust of my teammates.”

For this, Perez not only had to show it by studying the game plan, preparing for each game, but also with work ethic.

“To be the first and last to leave the training field, the facilities. They saw how he studied, how he improved on the details and was sending the right plays,” Perez recalled.

Arlington outpaced Houston in the divisional game with a wide margin on the scoreboard (26-11). The game with the most points was led by head coach Bob Stoops. “The way he talks to the team; how all the players are when Coach Bob talks, they all turn to see him. He knows how to explain, and everything he teaches us has meaning,” the quarterback said of Stopes, who was a national champion with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2000. He knows how to reach the players, and we understand and respect him.

In the penultimate week of the regular season, Arlington lost to D.C. (26-28), in a game that ended in overtime in which Luis Perez threw for 335 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception. The Renegades scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and after playing it on 4th-and-15 sent the game into overtime. But on overtime conversions (the XFL’s overtime rule) they lost to the locals. The DC Defender finished as the best team in the league with a record of nine wins and one loss. Speaking of the keys this Saturday, Perez said: “The problem isn’t the other team, it’s us. In the last game of the regular season we made a lot of mistakes, those little ones. But when all 11 on the field are connected we can win. Connection fails.”

Luis Perez’s road to professional American football was long, with ups and downs and many moves. After the championship he won in 2017, with NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Commerce University, he only tried out in the preseason with the NFL’s Rams, Lions and Eagles. He has participated in the USFL and the Alliance, both of the XFL leagues. In total 10 teams.

“I see it more calmly now and wonder how I got through all this. But you think about the present and where I’ve done my best. My goal is to get to the NFL and I know that’s another step. The future and the goal are clear for the 28-year-old.” We win the championship and then I want a real chance in the NFL, a chance where I can compete for a place on the roster.”