While assigning quarterbacks to the eight XFL teams, Commissioner Oliver Luck had someone in his ear about P.J. Walker.
Walker spent two seasons on the Colts’ practice squad when Luck’s son, Andrew Luck, was the team’s starting quarterback.
“Andrew had been pushing him to me,” Oliver said, via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “He said, ‘Dad, I’m telling you, this guy can play. He’s a good kid and a hard worker, and he’s hungry to play.’”
Luck assigned Walker to Houston, where Andrew played his high school ball, and with the team that hosts the XFL championship game. The Roughnecks look like one of the best teams in the league because Walker is one of the best quarterbacks.
He has passed for 442 yards and seven touchdowns in Houston’s two wins.
“[Coach] June [Jones] had the list of quarterbacks,” Oliver Luck said. “He and [personnel director] Randy [Mueller] had scouted him. I was delighted they wanted P.J. Ultimately, that’s the kind of guy that’s perfect for our league and perfect for June because he fits June’s system so well and has a chance to play and prove himself.”
Walker, 24, played for Matt Rhule at Temple. So it stands to reason, with Rhule now in Carolina, that Walker might parlay a good season in the XFL into a second chance in the NFL playing for Rhule a second time.
“Now that’s something that’s going to be very interesting to watch,” Jones said.
First, though, Walker and the Roughnecks will attempt to win a title. With the Roughnecks playing host, the best scenario for the XFL -- at least for attendance purposes -- would come with Houston playing in the championship game.