"There's a great sports legacy in that town with the baseball Cardinals, with the Blues."

Not to mention 49 seasons of NFL football with the Cardinals and Rams.

"I can remember playing the old Cardinals, you know, in old Busch Stadium way back in the day," Luck said. "Jim Hart dropping back throwing passes."

Luck played for the Houston Oilers from 1982-86, so he knows all about the Big Red. And he knows what it's like for a city to lose its NFL team.

"I witnessed this as well a little bit in Houston when the Oilers left (for Tennessee) — a team that I played for," Luck said.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988 after 28 seasons here and the Rams left for Los Angeles in 2016 after 21 seasons in the Gateway City.

"When the Rams did in fact leave (St. Louis) — and I don't want to harp on it because it's in the past — it was hard for the city," Luck said. "It was hard for the community. It was hard for football fans."

The XFL obviously won't replace the NFL in St. Louis, but it will provide an opportunity to watch pro football from February through April in what is now called the Dome at America's Center.