Houston’s newest team? The Roughnecks

When the XFL kicks off in February, the Houston team will be known as the Houston Roughnecks.

The XFL unveiled team names and logos for all eight teams in the league Wednesday.

The Houston Roughnecks logo is a bit reminiscent of the old Houston Oilers with an oil derrick featured prominently. The team opted to go away from the Oilers’ Columbia blue and went with a more Texans-like red and blue.

In a video presentation to unveil the Houston team name, a gritty-sounding narrator said: “Resolute. Rippling with heat. Railing against fatigue. Unceasing and often unseen, they labor deep in the trenches. Mercenaries in the muck. Brawlers in blackened dirt. Not just for three hours. Not just when the lights are bright. These are the scratching, grinding, neverbending few. The Houston Roughnecks. Going to work for you. February 2020.”

The Roughnecks, who will play at the University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium, will be coached by June Jones, who was an NFL head coach with the Falcons and Chargers as well as an assistant for the Houston Oilers and Houston Gamblers.

There already has been a short-lived Roughnecks football franchise in Texas. The West Texas Roughnecks played in various indoor football leagues from 2004-2012. There also is Tulsa Roughnecks FC, which is a professional soccer team in the USL Championship.

The other teams in the XFL are the D.C. Defenders, Dallas Renegades, L.A. Wildcats, New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks, Seattle Dragons and Tampa Bay Vipers.