XFL Next Step In Ankrah's Football Journey

“Back playing at JMU,” Ankrah, the former James Madison football standout, said, “I didn’t know what an Apollo or a BattleHawk was, but it’s awesome to be part of something new in life.”

This weekend, the XFL officially reboots with eight new franchises across the country. Ankrah will be part of the launch when the St. Louis BattleHawks travel to face the Dallas Renegades on Sunday at Globe Life Park, the former home of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers.

It won’t be the first time Ankrah takes part in kickoff for a professional football league vying and hoping to be the perfect spring complement to the NFL.

Last year at this time the ex-member of the Dukes - who was the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and helped JMU win its second national title the season before - played for the Orlando Apollos in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football.

“As much as people want to argue it crashed,” Ankrah said, “I had fun and it gave me the opportunity to get film out there and have the Washington Redskins gain interest in me.”

After Ankrah racked up 14 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, six quarterback hurries and a forced fumble for Orlando in a season that didn’t last longer than eight games, the Redskins quickly signed the defensive end/outside linebacker.

So he had a stint in Washington through minicamp and training camp before being cut ahead of the regular season. Ankrah played in four preseason games with the Redskins and tallied five tackles.

“I looked at the Apollos as a great opportunity,” he said. “And when I heard about the XFL, I had the same mindset going into it. It’s a great opportunity to get my name out there and another opportunity to get back in the NFL.”

Ankrah said reaching the NFL again is his long-term goal, but that he plans to enjoy his stay in St. Louis as much as he enjoyed his time in Orlando and hopes to help the BattleHawks succeed in the XFL like he did the Apollos in the AAF.

The BattleHawks will play the first pro football game in St. Louis since the former St. Louis Rams of the NFL left for Los Angeles following the 2015 season. The BattleHawks of St. Louis will host the New York Guardians on Feb. 23.

Home games for Ankrah and the BattleHawks will be played at The Dome at America’s Center, where the Rams used to play when it was called the Edwards Jones Dome.

“Everywhere I go, the people are so happy to have a professional football team back here,” Ankrah said. “I went to get a massage the other day and the people in the massage place were happy and excited. I went to get a pair of glasses and the doctor who carved my lenses was very excited.

“Everyone knows the departure of the Rams, and a lot of people are informed with what’s going on here, which is very cool, so I feel like we’re going to have one of the biggest fan bases in the XFL if we don’t already.”

For St. Louis and coach Jonathan Hayes, Ankrah will play defensive end and linebacker. He said he’ll be used in a variety of ways like he was throughout his Dukes career when he finished with 177 tackles, 36 tackles for loss, 26 sacks and eight forced fumbles.

Ankrah’s first challenge, this Sunday at 5 p.m. against Dallas, will pit him against former JMU coach Mickey Matthews, the Renegades’ outside linebackers and defensive quality control coach. Matthews recruited Ankrah to JMU.

The last former member of the Dukes in the XFL is running back Khalid Abdullah, who is with the DC Defenders. Abdullah is listed third on the depth chart at his position for DC - home today at 2 p.m. against the Seattle Dragons.

“Excited to go up against those guys this year, have fun competing with them and beating them,” Ankrah said with a laugh.

The other three franchises in the XFL are the Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, and Tampa Bay Vipers. DC will play its home games at Audi Field, the current home of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. The coach of Seattle is Jim Zorn - who held same post with Redskins from 2008-09.