Going to stick with a Gangster theme for my rookie name changes. Since this is the XFL, these aren't necessarily their given names, rather an alias like the infamous He Hate Me (Rod Smart). So while the game will show a different name, I assume payroll will write a check to Martin Sims (just using my 1st pick as an example, Sims doesn't get EVERY check). TBH I really don't know what payroll does, I just own the team.

There are lots of possibilities...real life gangsters, fictional gangsters, actors who portrayed gangsters, and even gangsters with ties to Dayton, Ohio. Which leads me right into...

2022 Gem City Gangsters Draft Class

Pick 1.1MLB John Dillinger Martin Sims will be hereby known as John Dillinger, a 1930's bank robber/gangster who was arrested in Dayton, Ohio in 1933. Dillinger was a successful bank robber because of good planning and forethought, so how did he get arrested in little old Dayton? A woman.

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/the-time-infamous-gangster-john-dillinger-was-arrested-dayton-after-was-drawn-here-romance/EfI6E9HvUaeUCtI3wadUkO/

Pick 2.14CB Pretty Boy Floyd Floyd was a 1930's bank robber with a nickname that might lead to some shenanigans in the locker room. Hopefully he will take that anger out on receivers going over the middle if I move him to safety.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Boy_Floyd



Pick 3.14LDE Al Capone The Gangsters need help/depth everywhere and we hope Capone comes in and dominates like his namesake did in the 1920's during Prohibition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone



Pick 3.15CB Clyde Barrow Barrow's namesake was half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde who terrorized people in the 1930's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde



Pick 4.14FS Pablo Escobar If Escobar sticks on the roster, all the cocaine users on the team will be happy. If he doesn't stick on the roster, I might be killed lmao.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar



Pick 5.14C Bugs Moran Moran was another gangster arrested in Dayton, Ohio. He was a rival of Al Capone, so I'm concerned about locker room harmony.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_Moran



Pick 6.10SLB Baby Face Nelson 1930's bank robbers seem to be a theme, as Nelson was one of these. He even partnered with John Dillinger some.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Face_Nelson



Pick 6.21TE Tony Soprano Soprano was head of the fictional Sopranos crime family on the HBO series of the same name. He was a big dude who I hope has some athleticism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Soprano



Pick 7.14CB Joe Pesci Pesci played a lot of gangsters in the movies and I hope he brings that attitude to training camp.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Pesci



Pick 7.21MLB Bill Stepp Stepp was a modern, local gangster. I had heard people speak of him in the 80's but I am mostly unfamiliar with his exploits. Seemed like a good fit for my last pick of the draft.

https://newspaperarchive.com/crime-clipping-dec-26-1969-485164/



Rookie Free AgentWR Jesse James James was released after being drafted at 6.28 by the Dakota Blizzard. James isn't very fast but he is an upgrade for me at WR5.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James

I am so far behind.

2023 Gangsters Draft Class

Pick 1.23FS John Gotti The 2023 draft wasn't great for Gem City but Gotti is our starting FS when not injured. He is named for the infamous mob boss https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gotti



Nice jacket Mr. Gotti

Pick 2.6WLB Machine Gun Kelly Kelly was supposed to be our next great LB but he flamed out in camp and is now a free agent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Gun_Kelly



Pick 2.32LT Joseph Colombo Colombo was supposed to be a solid OL, but he wasn't quite good enough to stick around. I'm mildly surprised he's not on a roster as OL depth, he doesn't **** that much.

He was named for the boss of the Colombo crime family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Colombo



Pick 3.32CB Whitey Bulger Bulger is the second of our 3 draft picks from 2023 to still be on our roster, and is a starting CB now.

I used a lot of crime boss names this draft, and Bulger is no exception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey_Bulger



Pick 4.32RT Vincent Gigante Yet another crime boss who can't cut it in football, a free agent now. It hurts whiffing on both OL picks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Gigante



Pick 5.32WR Jesse Pinkman I went to the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul universe for the next 3 picks. Pinkman didn't have much speed but if he boomed he would have been useful. He didn't and he wasn't and now he's likely a free agent for life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Pinkman



Pick 6.32K Gustavo Fring I didn't need a kicker but I also didn't like what was left at this point of the draft, so I drafted him anyway. Glad I did as he boomed into 100 kick strength and 100 kick accuracy. Kicking with the precision he ran his chicken/meth empire, gotta love it.

https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Gustavo_Fring



Pick 7.32FB Huell Babineaux Decided to take a chance on the volatile big fella, but he busted, and is now a free agent like most of this draft class for the Gangsters.

Huell Babineaux was Saul Goodman's bodyguard if you don't already know.

https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Huell_Babineaux

2023 Rookie Free Agent

After our draft, the Washington Warriors released their 3rd round pick whom we signed.

QB Michael Corleone Named for the character in The Godfather, he was signed for QB depth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Corleone

2024 Gangsters Draft Class

The 2024 draft was much better for Gem City than 2023, as all but 1 of this class is still on the team.

For this class of names, I went with fictional gangsters only.

Pick 1.23WR Heisenberg I love Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so I named this guy Heisenberg. He looks like a solid WR for years to come.

https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Walter_White



Pick 1.31LT Fat Tony D'Amico Fat Tony is Springfield's mob boss in The Simpsons and our starting LT.

https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Fat_Tony



Pick 1.32TE Clay Morrow Bringing the Sons of Anarchy to the Gem City, Clay Morrow is our starting TE now, his hand is magically better.

https://sonsofanarchy.fandom.com/wiki/Clay_Morrow



Pick 2.23CB Jax Teller Teller lost 10 points in camp, but we still kept him around. Glad we did as his stats are good so far, allowing just 35.4% completions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jax_Teller



Pick 3.23SS Tuco Salamanca Not surprisingly Tuco is good at punishing receivers since he was good at punishing drug dealers who did him wrong. Not so good at defending the pass though.

https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Tuco_Salamanca



Pick 4.23RB Victor Newman The biggest challenge was picking his position as I couldn't decide between making him a TE or RB. I've had success before turning TE's into RB's, so I went that way.

I'm not much of a soap opera watcher, but growing up, I'd see some episodes at grandma's house. I don't know why Victor Newman stood out to me but he did, kind of a subtle bad *** if you will.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Newman



Pick 5.23RB Bodie Broadus Going to The Wire for this guy's name. I felt I needed to upgrade my RB crew, so I picked another one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie_Broadus



Pick 6.23CB Antwan Mitchell I don't know how many of you ever watched The Shield, but that's where this name comes from. He busted in camp and was cut, the only draftee who didn't make the team.

https://theshield.fandom.com/wiki/Antwon_Mitchell



Pick 7.23CB Steven Koren Admittedly I am reaching far to call this kid a gangster, but wth, he IS part of The Van Buren Boys. Steven Koren is the kid George Costanza gave a scholarship to because he wanted to pretend to be an architect, then took it away from him. That's when little Steven Koren joined The Van Buren Boys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Koren