New York/New Jersey Hitmen
{{for|the New York franchise from the current incarnation of the XFL|New York Guardians}}
{{Infobox American football team
| name = New York/New Jersey Hitmen
| logo = Ny nj hitmen.png
| logosize = 200
| founded = 1999
| folded = {{start date and age|2001}}
| league = XFL
| division = Eastern
| stadium = Giants Stadium
| location = East Rutherford, New Jersey
| colors = Royal blue, silver, black{{cite web|title=New York/New Jersey Hitmen Logo Sheet|url=http://ssur.org/research/XFLLogoSheets/images/NYNJHitmen_CL.jpg|website=SSUR.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128160743/http://ssur.org/research/XFLLogoSheets/images/NYNJHitmen_CL.jpg|archive-date=November 28, 2010|access-date=December 4, 2019}}
{{color box|#00338D}} {{color box|#A5ACAF}} {{color box|#000000}}
| owner = World Wrestling Federation
| manager = Drew Pearson
| coach = Rusty Tillman
| league_champs =
| div_champs =
}}
The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were an American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hitmen were the members of the Eastern Division of the XFL. The team played their home games in Giants Stadium of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
History
The team's general manager was former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, and New Jersey native, Drew Pearson.
The Hitmen were part of the Eastern Division with the Birmingham Thunderbolts, Orlando Rage and Chicago Enforcers. They finished in 3rd place with a 4-6 record. The head coach was former NFL assistant Rusty Tillman, who was not a fan of the league's gimmicks or personalities – specifically commentator Jesse Ventura, who called him "Gutless Rusty" on a regular basis, as he felt that Tillman's coaching style was too timid. Tillman, ever the professional, brushed off the jabs by Ventura and refused to respond. In the end, Ventura's attempts to goad him failed.
The Hitmen were one of the teams to play in the XFL's inaugural game. Tens of millions of viewers watched the Hitmen, who displayed a stunning lack of competence against the Las Vegas Outlaws in the contest (including a particularly ugly missed field goal and numerous miscues from starting quarterback and New York native Charles Puleri), lose 19–0. The Hitmen's poor performance in that game was a major factor in fan backlash against the league in the weeks that followed and a prime example of the league's failure to live up to expectations; the team benched Puleri in favor of Wally Richardson by Week 3 in hopes of salvaging the season.
The Hitmen's average attendance of roughly 28,000 fans per game was second-highest in the league, behind only the San Francisco Demons.
= Revival =
{{main|New York Guardians}}
In December 2018, a revival of the XFL announced its intent to return to East Rutherford. The new team was named the New York Guardians.
Season
{{Start NFL SBS}}
|-
|2001 || 4 || 6 || 0 || 3rd Eastern || Out of playoffs
|}
= Schedule =
== Regular season ==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Week
! style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Date ! style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Opponent ! style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Result ! style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Record ! style="{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|Venue |
|---|
| style="background:#fcc"
! 1 | {{dow tooltip|February 3, 2001}} | at Las Vegas Outlaws | L 0–19 | 0–1 |
| style="background:#fcc"
! 2 | February 11 | L 12–19 | 0–2 |
| style="background:#fcc"
! 3 | February 18 | L 12–18 | 0–3 | Giants Stadium |
| style="background:#cfc"
! 4 | {{dow tooltip|February 24, 2001}} | at Chicago Enforcers | W 13–0 | 1–3 |
| style="background:#fcc"
! 5 | {{dow tooltip|March 3, 2001}} | L 7–22 | 1–4 | Giants Stadium |
| style="background:#cfc"
! 6 | March 11 | at San Francisco Demons | W 20–12 | 2–4 |
| style="background:#cfc"
! 7 | {{dow tooltip|March 17, 2001}} | W 16–15 | 3–4 | Giants Stadium |
| style="background:#fcc"
! 8 | March 25 | at Orlando Rage | L 12–17 | 3–5 |
| style="background:#fcc"
! 9 | {{dow tooltip|March 31, 2001}} | Chicago Enforcers | L 18–23 | 3–6 | Giants Stadium |
| style="background:#cfc"
! 10 | April 8 | at Birmingham Thunderbolts | W 22–0 | 4–6 |
Standings
= Roster =
{{NFL final roster
|Year=2001
|TeamName=New York/New Jersey Hitmen
|active=37
|inactive=1
|PS=7
|Quarterbacks=
{{NFLplayer| 7|Charles Puleri}}
{{NFLplayer|14|Wally Richardson}}
|Running Backs=
{{NFLplayer|28|Mike Archie}}
{{NFLplayer|38|Joe Aska}}
{{NFLplayer|27|Michael Blair}}
{{NFLplayer|24|Dino Philyaw}}
|Wide Receivers=
{{NFLplayer|85|Kirby Dar Dar}}
{{NFLplayer|80|Zola Davis}}
{{NFLplayer|29|Anthony DiCosmo}}
|Tight Ends=
{{NFLplayer|88|Ryan Collins|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|87|Marcus Hinton}}
{{NFLplayer|86|Bob Rosenstiel|link=no}}
|Offensive Linemen=
{{NFLplayer|62|Ben Cavil|G|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|51|Eric Cole|C|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|--|Harvey Goins|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|--|Robert Hunt|d=American football coach|C}}
{{NFLplayer|77|Curtis McGee|T|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|61|Juan Porter|G|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|64|Troy Stark|G}}
|Defensive Linemen=
{{NFLplayer|92|James Cotton|d=gridiron football|DE}}
{{NFLplayer|78|Christian Maumalanga|DT|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|92|Israel Raybon|DE}}
{{NFLplayer|95|Dwayne Sabb|DE}}
{{NFLplayer|70|Henry Slay|DT}}
|Linebackers=
{{NFLplayer|99|Vernon Crawford}}
{{NFLplayer|52|Haven Fields|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|67|Ben Hanks|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|57|Ron Merkerson}}
{{NFLplayer|60|Bernard Russ|link=no}}
|Defensive Backs=
{{NFLplayer|31|Butler By'not'e}}
{{NFLplayer|21|Donnie Caldwell|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|26|Joey Eloms}}
{{NFLplayer|35|Tyree Talton}}
{{NFLplayer|34|Mark Tate|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|30|Brad Trout}}
{{NFLplayer|17|Damen Wheeler}}
|Special Teams=
{{NFLplayer| 2|Leo Araguz|K/P}}
|Reserve Lists=
{{NFLplayer|22|Keith Elias|FB}}
|Practice Squad=
{{NFLplayer|90|Tim Beauchamp|DE|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer| 1|Chris Brantley|WR}}
{{NFLplayer|81|Fred Brock|WR|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|91|Lamont Bryant|DE|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|50|David Camacho|OT|link=no}}
{{NFLplayer|11|Corte McGuffey|QB}}
{{NFLplayer|46|Tawambi Settles|DB}}
{{NFLplayer|66|Greg Vettorino |G/C|link=no}}
}}
Team leaders
| class="wikitable" |
| colspan="2"| Legend |
|---|
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league |
= Passing =
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||
| style="text-align:center;{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2|color=white}};"colspan="12"|Passing statistics{{efn|Archie and Davis threw one incompletion each}} | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg |
| Wally Richardson | 7 | 5 | 3–2 | 83 | 142 | 58.5 | 812 | 6 | 6 | 71.1 |
| Charles Puleri | 6 | 3 | 0–3 | 29 | 64 | 45.3 | 411 | 2 | 2 | 64.0 |
| Corte McGuffey | 3 | 2 | 1–1 | 25 | 48 | 52.1 | 329 | 0 | 2 | 56.7 |
| Zola Davis | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 74 | 1 | 0 | 158.3 |
| Dino Philyaw | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| colspan="1"| [https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/t-XFLNYN/y-2001 Totals] | 10 | 10 | 4–6 | 138 | 258 | 53.5 | 1,626 | 9 | 11 | 66.8 |
= Rushing =
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||
| style="text-align:center;{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2|color=white}};"colspan="8"| Rushing statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| Joe Aska | 82 | 329 | 4.0 | 42 | 3 |
| Keith Elias | 37 | 115 | 3.1 | 28 | 0 |
| Dino Philyaw | 32 | 69 | 2.2 | 14 | 0 |
| Wally Richardson | 26 | 148 | 5.7 | 24 | 0 |
| Mike Archie | 17 | 42 | 2.5 | 7 | 2 |
| Michael Blair | 16 | 61 | 3.8 | 19 | 0 |
| Corte McGuffey | 8 | 33 | 4.1 | 8 | 0 |
| Charles Puleri | 8 | -35 | -4.4 | 3 | 0 |
| Kirby Dar Dar | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 21 | 0 |
| Leo Araguz | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Fred Brock | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="1"| [https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/t-XFLNYN/y-2001 Totals] | 232 | 800 | 3.4 | 42 | 5 |
= Receiving =
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||
| style="text-align:center;{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2|color=white}};"colspan="9| Receiving statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| Zola Davis | 29 | 378 | 13.0 | 26 | 4 |
| Anthony DiCosmo | 26 | 268 | 10.4 | 30 | 0 |
| Kirby Dar Dar | 23 | 405 | 18.4 | 77t | 2 |
| Fred Brock | 15 | 155 | 10.3 | 30 | 0 |
| Mike Archie | 12 | 125 | 10.4 | 33t | 2 |
| Michael Blair | 10 | 73 | 7.3 | 14 | 0 |
| Marcus Hinton | 6 | 116 | 19.3 | 54 | 1 |
| Joe Aska | 6 | 24 | 4.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Dino Philyaw | 4 | 33 | 8.2 | 16 | 0 |
| Keith Elias | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Ryan Collins | 3 | 38 | 12.7 | 23 | 0 |
| Bob Rosenstiel | 1 | 1 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 |
| colspan="1"| [https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/t-XFLNYN/y-2001 Totals] | 138 | 1,626 | 11.8 | 77 | 9 |
= Scoring =
7-17 (42.3)% on extra point conversion attempts{{cite web | url=https://www.all-xfl.com/nynjhitmen/team/teamstats/week10.htm | title= 2001 Hitmen Final Regular Season Stats}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||
| style="text-align:center;{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2|color=white}};"colspan="9| Total Scoring | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | Rush | Rec | Return | XPM | FGM | PTS |
| Zola Davis | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 |
| Mike Archie | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Leo Araguz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Joe Aska | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
| Kirby Dar Dar | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Marcus Hinton | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Donnie Caldwell | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Joey Eloms | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Ron Merkerson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Ryan Collins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Dino Philyaw | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| colspan="1"| [https://www.all-xfl.com/birminghambolts/team/teamstats/week10.html Totals] | 5 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 132 |
= Scamble =
The Hitmen won 8 of 10 scrambles. Donnie Caldwell had a 5–2 record. Chris Brantley went 3–0.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL166B34333CF754EE | title= 2001 XFL Season}}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhLjQ_2YaR5fGnQ-DENRsBAYxtlDe26Mg | title= Project XFL}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="text-align:center;" | ||||
| style="text-align:center;{{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2|color=white}};"colspan="9| Scramble | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Hitmen | Opponent | NAME | Result |
| 1 | Donnie Caldwell (0–1) | @ LV | Jamel Williams (1–0) | L |
| 2 | Chris Brantley (1–0) | BIR | Tony McCall (0–1) | W |
| 3 | Chris Brantley (2–0) | ORL | Scott Cloman (1–1) | W |
| 4 | Chris Brantley (3–0) | @ CHI | Troy Saunders (1–2) | W |
| 5 | Donnie Caldwell (1–1) | LA | Donnell Day (1–1) | W |
| 6 | Donnie Caldwell (2–1) | @ SF | Lee Cole (unknown) | W |
| 7 | Donnie Caldwell (3–1) | MEM | Kevin Cobb (unknown) | W |
| 8 | Donnie Caldwell (3–2) | @ ORL | Scott Cloman (5–2) | L |
| 9 | Donnie Caldwell (4–2) | CHI | Tony McCall (2–3) | W |
| 10 | Donnie Caldwell (5–2) | BIR | Toya Jones (unknown) | W |
Staff
| class="toccolours" style="font-size:95%" |
| colspan="7" style="text-align: center; {{Gridiron primary style|New York/New Jersey Hitmen|border=2}};"|2001 New York/New Jersey Hitmen staff |
|---|
| colspan="7" align="right" | |
| valign="top"|
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|width="35"| |valign="top"| | style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Defensive coaches
Special teams
|
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{XFL}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:New York New Jersey Hitmen}}
Category:Defunct American football teams in New Jersey
Category:American football teams in the New York metropolitan area
Category:Sports in East Rutherford, New Jersey
Category:2001 establishments in New Jersey
Category:2001 disestablishments in New Jersey