The XFL, an upcoming professional football league that will feature “faster” football with “more plays, less stall, fewer interruptions and no gimmicks,” according to its website, has started revealing players entering the XFL player draft, which is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16.

Group 1 was revealed Monday, and former WKU linebacker Andrew Jackson — who was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft — will be one of approximately 1,000 professional football players eligible for selection by XFL teams next week.

{{tncms-inline account=”XFL” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XFL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#XFL</a> announces first group of players to enter <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XFLDraft?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#XFLDraft</a> poolMORE ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/npaVEtSV2T">https://t.co/npaVEtSV2T</a> <a href="https://t.co/sT8kQjDUD1">pic.twitter.com/sT8kQjDUD1</a></p>— XFL (@xfl2020) <a href="https://twitter.com/xfl2020/status/1181283279514660864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2019</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/xfl2020/status/1181283279514660864″ type=”twitter”}}

Jackson played in 13 games with the Colts during the 2014 NFL season, making eight solo tackles and tallying one sack. He was waived by Indianapolis on Feb. 11, 2015, and later played for the Spokane Empire of the Indoor Football League.

The 6-foot-1 inch, 254-pounder joined the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football last spring and quickly made a name for himself in the upstart league.

Jackson was named AAF Defensive Player of the Week on March 4 after he collected 14 tackles, a sack and an interception in 26–23 win for the Express against the San Diego Fleet in the fourth game of the 2019 AAF season. Just under a month later, the league ceased operations on April 2.

Prior to his professional football career, the Lakeland, Florida, native appeared in 37 games and started 34 over his four-year career with the Hilltoppers.

During his three seasons as a starter at WKU, Jackson amassed 326 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. Over that same span, the Hilltoppers won 22 games and appeared in their first bowl game since moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2008.

Jackson was a 2012 and 2011 All-Sun Belt First Team performer and an All-SBC Second Teamer in 2013. He tallied 100 or more tackles in his sophomore and junior seasons, leading the Hilltoppers in consecutive seasons.

His 55 solo tackles in 2013 tied for the second most among WKU players, while his 40 assisted tackles led the Hilltoppers. A team captain as a senior, Jackson pushed WKU’s defensive unit to rank as the SBC’s best in 2012 and 2013.

Jackson also became a meme during his time on the Hill — while sitting on the sidelines during a 14-3 loss to Power 5 Kentucky on Sept. 2, 2011, Jackson uttered a quote on camera that went viral.

“SEC — they supposed to be SEC,” Jackson said before shaking his head in disgust at the Wildcats.

Players in the XFL draft pool, all of whom accepted a Commissioner’s Invitation and passed the league’s standard background check, will be announced regularly leading up to the draft.

The entire XFL draft field will be revealed by Oct. 11 at this link.

Each XFL team will populate a 71-man roster by selecting players from a set of positional groupings during the two-day event, which feature a five-phased draft slated to employ a “snake” format.

Player selections will be announced on XFL.com, @xfl2020 on Twitter, @xfl on Instagram, and through the social media channels of the eight XFL teams, according to a release.

The XFL is scheduled to begin play in 2020.

Sports Editor Drake Kizer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Drake on Twitter at @drakekizer_.