XFL

Johnny Manziel NEVER really wanted to play in Canada ... and might've purposely violated the terms of his contract to force his way out of the CFL -- so says Warren Moon.

"Maybe he did that on purpose," the Hall of Fame QB tells TMZ Sports ... "Because now there's other options out there."

Of course, Johnny was banned from the CFL on Wednesday after the league announced he failed to live up to the terms of his contract -- which required, among other stipulations, mandatory doctor and therapist visits.

For his part, Manziel didn't deny the claims, saying, "I want to thank Coach Sherman, my teammates, and the CFL fans. My time there reestablished my love for the game of football and the work that goes into it."

Now ... Moon is suggesting it was all part of a bigger plan to get Johnny back playing ball in America for either the newly formed AAF or the upcoming XFL.

"There's more opportunities for him to play in the United States than play in Canada, so maybe that's part of the reason why he violated some of those restrictions in his contract."

Manziel reportedly had minor talks with the AAF ... but the San Antonio Commanders will get the first crack at signing the former Heisman Trophy winner when those talks progress.

Vince McMahon's XFL now has a boss ... and it's the same man who happened to raise one of the NFL's best quarterbacks -- Oliver Luck!!

Andrew Luck's daddy will be the new commissioner and CEO of the WWE honcho's rebooted league -- McMahon announced Tuesday.

It's not a gimmick ... Oliver's resume is legit. The 58-year-old's been president of NFL Europe, athletic director for West Virginia and recently served as one of the top execs in the NCAA.

In his first-ever statement as commish, Luck says he's going to "reimagine" the game of football as the boss of the XFL -- which will kick off in 2020 -- and give fans a "dynamic version" of the sport.

Remember, the XFL is doing away with all the shtick it used to have ... and is trying to be legit.

Tim Tebow, Dwayne Bowe and even a Gronkowski have expressed interest in playing in it.

Here's another episode of "Playing It Coy," starring Tim Tebow ... who says he really doesn't know whether he'd consider signing with the XFL.

Tebow was gentlemanly as ever when we got him at LAX on Tuesday -- but when the topic of Vince McMahon's XFL offer got brought up again, he gave us the ol' Heisman stiff-arm.

"I don't know -- that's a long way from now."

He does have a point. The XFL doesn't launch til 2020.

Timmy did give us a clear answer when our photog -- a Chicago guy -- asked about him potentially playing for the Cubs.

Vince McMahon's XFL just got its first big name athlete to commit, with former NFL Pro Bowler Dwayne Bowe telling TMZ Sports he's ready to make a comeback when the league relaunches in 2020.

Bowe is 33 and hasn't played in the NFL since the 2015 season -- but when we got him out at Bootsy Bellows in Hollywood, he said he could be ready for a comeback and the XFL is a real possibility.

"I'd definitely do the XFL ... if the money's right I'd definitely do it."

There's just one small problem with Bowe's XFL dream -- Vince McMahon stated he won't hire anyone with any sort of "criminality associated with them whatsoever."

Bowe was arrested for possession of marijuana back in 2013 when cops found 2 small containers of weed in his car during a traffic stop.

He later struck a deal with prosecutors in which he plead guilty to lesser charges of littering and defective equipment and paid $610 in fines and court costs. In exchange, the weed charge was thrown out.

So, would Vince REALLY pass up the opportunity to sign a big star like Bowe over some littering?!

Vince McMahon called him out by name ... so, when we saw Tim Tebow in L.A. over the weekend, we had to ask if he'd ever consider joining the brand new XFL.

Tim signed autographs and was his usual friendly self on the way out of Craig's in L.A. -- but when the topic came to the XFL, Tim shut down like the Vikings' offense in the NFC championship.

Seems Tim doesn't want to breathe life into the possibility he would leave his baseball career and go back to football. In fact, he talked to us about the Mets when we saw him last week in Bev Hills.

Sorry Vince ...

If Vince McMahon wants a big name in the XFL -- Chris Gronkowski says his little brother is down to lend his family crest to the league!

No, he ain't talking about Rob ... dude's kinda busy.

But Chris tells TMZ Sports his OTHER lil bro, Glenn, is totally game after getting waived by the Patriots during the regular season.

"He just got a Super Bowl ring last year, so sign him up!"

It's true ... Glenn (fullback) was a member of the New England Patriots practice squad last season.

Of course, we had to get Chris to update us on Rob's status for the upcoming Super Bowl ... and he had a similar take as Rob's BFF, Mojo Rawley.

The XFL is making a big mistake when it comes to requiring its players to stand for "The Star Spangled Banner" -- so says Jaguars star Marcedes Lewis.

We got Marcedes right after Vince McMahon announced he was resurrecting the league ... and the stud TE told us certain players (see: Colin Kaepernick) won't have anything to do with the XFL if that's their stance on free speech.

"They may not play ball ... that might affect who you're able to get in that league," Lewis told TMZ Sports.