Marcedes Lewis Says XFL Will Regret Anthem, Arrest Rules

Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis isn't keen on the XFL's rebooted policies.

Speaking to TMZ on Thursday, Lewis said he thinks the league is making a mistake by not accepting players with criminal records and forcing participants to stand for the national anthem. 

"They may not play ball...that might affect who you're able to get in that league," he said.

Lewis added: "I think you should have a choice. Criminal records...I mean that's open to interpretation. What if you do get in trouble. And people get second chances in the NFL, so why not?"  

On Thursday, WWE founder Vince McMahon announced plans to reboot the XFL—which had a short-lived trial run in 2001. 

However, he stated the new iteration of the league would different drastically from the initial version that prized entertainment and gimmicks over the quality of play. 

"I wanted to do this since the day we stopped the other one," McMahon told ESPN.com's Darren Rovell. "A chance to do it with no partners, strictly funded by me, which would allow me to look in the mirror and say, 'You were the one who screwed this up,' or 'You made this thing a success.'"

McMahon also told Rovell he didn't want social issues to be part of the game. Rather, he wants the focus to be strictly on football. 

"People don't want social and political issues coming into play when they are trying to be entertained," he said. "We want someone who wants to take a knee to do their version of that on their personal time."

McMahon is aiming for the relaunched product to kick off in 2020.