XFL goes XXX to broadcast naked player on ESPN

The XFL has been innovative in trying to garner attention during its second reboot attempt. But naked players might be taking it too far.

Following Sunday afternoon’s XFL week four matchup between the St. Louis Battlehawks and the Arlington Renegades, ESPN’s cameras went inside the locker room. But as they showed St. Louis quarterback A.J. McCarron celebrating their home opener victory with a few hugs, ESPN inadvertently broadcasted a naked teammate on national TV.

This camera gaffe was much more innocent than Vince McMahon promising to take the audience inside the cheerleaders’ locker room during the XFL’s first installment back in 2001, in what remains one of the most cringeworthy cries for attention. On Sunday, however, America didn’t see anything more than some pelvic bone and booty thanks to an appropriately placed towel. But ESPN and the XFL certainly displayed the dangers of bringing cameras into the locker room shortly after the game ended.

This wasn’t the first instance of a camera inadvertently catching some nudity by going into the locker room after a game. There was the time ESPN accidentally aired a UNC basketball player’s penis on live TV, or the NFL Network interview with Pacman Jones where several players stood naked in the background. And how about NBC Sports Philadelphia catching a naked man sunning himself as they panned the scene outside Toronto’s CN Tower in Toronto? Maybe the revolutionary XFL isn’t that innovative after all.

[Timothy Burke]