Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Matt McGloin is not done playing football.
The Scranton native and former Penn Stater was announced as the starting quarterback of the New York Guardians of the XFL.
“I’m very excited to be able to compete again at an extremely high level,” McGloin told PennLive. “The opportunity to learn from Coach (Kevin) Gilbride and his staff is an incredible chance for me to become a better player and a better quarterback.”
McGloin was assigned to the Guardians before the league started its two-day draft Tuesday.
His NFL career, which began when he was signed as an undrafted spanned five seasons. He played in 13 games, all for the Oakland Raiders, completing 161 of 277 passes for 1,868 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
McGloin was with the Philadelphia Eagles through training camp in 2017 and briefly reunited with former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans later that season. He was in camp with the Kansas City Chiefs last fall.
He joined the Nittany Lions in 2008 as a walk-on after an all-star career at West Scranton High School. He split time as a starter with Rob Bolden in 2010 and 2011 before taking over full time toward the end of 2011 and all of 2012.
McGloin led a team hobbled by NCAA sanctions handed down in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal to an improbable 8-4 record. He finished the season 513-of-894 for 3,271 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
For his career at Penn State, McGloin threw for 6,390 yards and 46 touchdowns against 19 interceptions and broke multiple school records.
The eight-team XFL will begin a 10-game schedule on Feb. 8, 2020. Games will be played on Saturday and Sundays and be carried on ABC, ESPN and the Fox networks.
Other quarterback assignments were:
• Landry Jones, Dallas Renegades
• Cardale Jones, DC Defenders
• Philip Walker, Houston Roughnecks
• Luis Perez, Los Angeles Wildcats
• Jordan Ta’amu, St. Louis Battlehawks
• Brandon Silvers, Seattle Dragons
• Aaron Murray, Tampa Bay Vipers
McGloin wasn’t the only Penn Stater to end up with a job in the XFL on Tuesday. Wide Receiver DeAndre Thompkins was selected in the fourth round – 32nd overall – by the DC Defenders.
