The XFL opened up their season Saturday and the Houston Roughnecks are still undefeated, even after a three year break. With both XFL owners Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (RedBird Capital) and the league president Russ Brandon in attendance the Roughnecks hit payzone with a 33-12 win over the Orlando Guardians at TDECU Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. (Photos by Eric Sauseda and Jack Gorman)
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The 2023 Roughnecks take the field during their season opener at TDECU Stadium -
Roughnecks coach, Wade Phillips -
Tailgating fans, ready for the game -
Max Borghi (22) -
One of the XFL owners, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was in attendance for the win -
Travell Harris (6) -
Fans heading to the stadium for the game -
Trent Harris (33) -
The Roughnecks celebrate a touchdown -
Newlywed tailgaters -
Travell Harris (6) with the incomplete pass -
John Daka (45) wraps it up with a Guardians player -
Roughnecks Game Host and former A&M Track Alumni, Kennedy Smith outruns some guy who thought he was the fastest in the stadium. Kennedy outran him and didn’t even break a sweat -
The Roughnecks celebrate a touchdown -
The XFL is back -
The Roughnecks are family friendly -
A.J. Hendry (29) upends an Orlando player -
Kennedy Smith & former Houston Oiler quarterback, Dan Pastorini -
Deontay Burnett (1) -
Orlando QB Quinten Dormaday (12) goes down -
Tailgating fans at TDECU Stadium -
Alexander Myers (24) -
Deontay Burnett (1) -
Dejoun Lee (20) gets some air -
Fans in the stands -
Travell Harris (6) lets one go -
Fans on the red carpet before the game -
Max Borghi (22) on the move -
Fans on their way to the stadium -
XFL owners, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia were in attendance and sat with the league president, Russ Brandon and others -
Max Borghi (22) with the stiff arm while on the run -
Tailgating before the game -
CB Jordan Mosley (18) -
…and the fans go wild -
Cody Latimer (11) with the pointy finger -
Roughneck Tailgaters -
Trent Harris (33) -
Travell Harris (6) -
The waiting on friends tailgaters, I don’t know if they ever showed up -
Brandon Silvers (12) -
Garrett Owens (21) -
This was a pretty common scene -
Getting ready for game time -
Will Likely (4) -
Players tangle up near the sideline -
The big catch -
Roughneck tailgaters -
QB Cole McDonald (14) -
These tailgaters brought the heat -
Wade Phillips on the sidelines -
RB Dejoun Lee (20) -
Roughneck fans -
ILB Emmanuel Ellerbee (52) -
Max Borghi (22) -
Park bench fans outside the stadium before gametime -
Travell Harris (6) points to where he was last sacked -
Dwayne Johnson salutes the crowd at TDECU Stadium during the Roughnecks season opener