Nearly a year ago, the Alliance of American Football suspended operations.

When that happened, I wrote a piece lamenting the fact that the league, after a solid start, went belly up and didn't even stick around long enough to conduct a championship game.

I went on to mention that it seemed apparent that no start-up football league was ever going to work. Many have tried over the years, but those never had a lengthy amount of staying power.

But I did note that there was essentially one final chance for someone to prove that a start-up football league could actually make it. And it was from an unlikely source.

Through three weeks, the second incarnation of the XFL seems to be doing good business. Unlike the first go-round of the league nearly 20 years ago, you wouldn't know that Vince McMahon Jr. is the man that's been bankrolling things.

This time, McMahon's smart enough to stay out of the limelight in the new XFL, and is doing a good job to ensure the league is not in juxtaposition with his more well-known product, World Wrestling Entertainment. There have hardly been any wrestling references during XFL games, and the league is considerably much tamer and less raunchier than the infamous one-year wonder that was the original XFL.

Even the football fields look real conservative.

Plus, for the most part, the games have been pretty good, even with the peculiar new rules on things like kickoffs and extra points. Innovation is quite welcomed, as long as it isn't too gimmicky.

Now granted, you have to go in with the mindset that most of the players on XFL rosters aren't really NFL-caliber players, so you can't expect a duplicate of what you normally see in an NFL game. But in an XFL game, you see a bunch of players having fun and enjoying playing the game.

After all, there is a reason why the XFL's slogan is "For the Love of Football."

There have been a few success stories developing in the still-early stages of the league. Perhaps the biggest has come from St. Louis.

The BattleHawks' home opener last week was sold out, and fans gathered hours before kickoff to tailgate and converse with one another. The home team didn't disappoint, either, rolling past New York.

Now, there is one thing St. Louis has that the other XFL franchises don't, the fact it is the lone XFL city without an NFL franchise. You can also make a point that one big reason St. Louis fans have fallen in love with the BattleHawks is that thus far, they have filled the void left when the Rams moved back to Los Angeles following the 2015 season.

In hindsight, maybe if there was one thing the XFL should have done going into the season, it was putting a few more franchises in cities without an NFL squad. To be honest, I don't know if teams like Seattle and Tampa Bay needed XFL franchises, much less New York and Los Angeles.

Or maybe not having the games at NFL stadiums, another deterrent. For example, the Dallas Renegades are doing good by not playing their home games at JerryWorld, but rather the stadium right down the street formerly known as "The Ballpark In Arlington."

In the piece I wrote nearly a year ago, I noted I didn't think this XFL would make it two years. It should be halfway there this year, and there will be a champion crowned, unlike the AAF.

But I'm feeling optimistic this time that maybe the XFL can finally do what its non-NFL predecessors failed to do, as long as people continue to come out to the games, the TV ratings remain healthy and the league is on sturdy financial footing. Maybe the league can expand to a few more teams next year and maybe it can continue to become a training ground for those who still believe they have a shot at the NFL.

I do stress, though, that this has to be the last chance for a pro football league not named the NFL to truly gain a foothold in the American sporting consciousness. If the XFL folds, just forget about having another pro football alternative for a very long time.

Whatever happens in the XFL's future, though, it has proven to be a pleasant surprise thus far. If you haven't gotten the chance, you may want to check out an XFL game and see for yourself.

Just do it "for the love of football."