He Hate Me's jersey is probably the most interesting story the
XFL has at this point. When you get down to it, it's
AA-grade football (I'd rate
NFL Europe as
AAA, and
arena football as
AA or
A Advanced -- arena-ball is difficult to quantify, just because it's a different game).
Smart's jersey does tend to inspire people -- in Las Vegas's game against the Los Angeles Xtreme, two defensive linemen for the Xtreme changed their jersey names to "I Hate He" and "I Hate He Too," and in the stands for the San Francisco Demons' game against LA, fans held up signs proclaiming "We Hate He." I'd be fine with it if the announcers would just quit referring to him by the nickname and call him Rod Smart for once.