Patience puts Luis Perez on the verge of XFL Championship
The 28-year-old quarterback for the Arlington Renegades has remained patient despite years of adversity chasing his football dreams.
After the Arlington Renegades lost in overtime to the DC Defenders in Week 9 of the XFL season, quarterback Luis Perez was asked in his post-game press conference about what the opportunity to compete in the league meant to him.
The 2023 iteration of the XFL is largely built and promoted around giving talented football players a new professional opportunity that has not often been afforded for one reason or another.
When Perez responds, he speaks with passion, even after what was a tough defeat during the Renegades’ playoff push.
“There’s a lot of guys on the street that just are dying for an opportunity to play and show that they can play the game,” Perez said. “Sometimes you get caught in practice squads and you don’t really get to shine when you’re on a practice squad. You’re a practice hero, right? But no one ever gets to see you.”
After, Perez is asked what his message is to a young player who is thinking of giving up.
“Giving up is never an option,” Perez said. “Your path might not be easy, but there’s no giving up. If you give up, that’s on you. No one makes you give up.”
And Perez has had more opportunities than most to give up on football. His path to becoming a professional quarterback is unique and his willingness to remain patient is even more so.
WORKING TOWARD A DREAM
Growing up in Chula Vista, California, Perez played quarterback in junior high. His dream was to be a quarterback in the NFL. But, his true skill seemed to be rooted in the sport of bowling.
Perez became one of the top amateur bowlers in the state — he threw 12 perfect games — and had scholarship opportunities to continue his bowling career in college.
His football career slowed down once Perez made it to high school after his coach at Otay Ranch asked him to play receiver rather than quarterback. He stopped playing football shortly after to focus on bowling and never took a snap under center on the varsity football team.
In his senior year of high school, he had a bit of an epiphany. While sitting in the stands at a football game, he looked around and realized that he didn’t feel he belonged there.
He needed to be on the field.
Perez took football back up, learning from YouTube videos and networking with quarterbacks in his area. Without a second of game film, Perez walked on at Southwestern College in Chula Vista as the ninth-choice quarterback out of nine.
By the fall of 2013 — his second year — Perez earned the second-string slot due to a combination of injuries, position switches and his constant hard work and drive to be different than anyone else.
Week 3 of the season, the starter went down with an injury. Given his first real opportunity. Perez led the Jaguars to a come-from-behind win, throwing two touchdowns.
Perez was patient and got his opportunity. But, he was tested again.
About halfway through the season, Perez injured his leg. It only slowed him down until the next season when he led Southwestern to a conference title and won all-conference honors.
Perez began attracting opportunities in bigger ponds. He had preferred walk-on offers from UC Davis and Oklahoma State. He elected to transfer to Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. He redshirted for a year before earning the starting job in 2016 and taking the Lions to their first playoff win since 1991.
The next year he was a national champion, winning the Harlon Hill Trophy — given to the most valuable player in Division II — throwing for 5,001 yards and 46 touchdowns.
Perez went undrafted in 2018, but had stints with three NFL teams, including playing a preseason game with the Los Angeles Rams. However, nothing stuck.
He bounced around between spring leagues like the Alliance of American Football, 2020 XFL, USFL and The Spring League. While he mostly had success, leagues rarely lasted an entire season. It’s never kept Perez out of football.
“You can say it's a mindset. It's just one of those things where you can't give up,” Perez told JR Sports TX. “When you believe in something so bad and you believe in your own ability, you're going to find a way to find the field and show everybody and all the people that believed in you, prove them right.”
On the verge of winning the XFL Championship, Perez gets another opportunity to prove his believers right.
MAKING THE MOST IN THE XFL
Perez competed in the 2020 XFL, first being assigned to the Los Angeles Wildcats before being traded to the New York Guardians before the season began. He would become the starting quarterback by Week 4, even leading the Guardians to a victory over the Dallas Renegades.
The league was suspended due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but his experience kept the XFL in his sights for when the 2023 season was announced.
“The XFL was at my heart from the first time in 2020,” Perez said. “It was one of those things where I fell in love with it. I love playing the game. The opportunity the XFL gave me last time, I was itching to come back and play in 2023.”
The Vegas Vipers drafted Perez and he started four games for them before yet another XFL trade. The Vipers were the first team out of playoff contention and found themselves engaging in a trade with the Renegades.
Arlington had switched between quarterbacks Drew Plitt and Kyle Sloter, but an injury to Plitt and Sloter’s release led to Perez becoming the Renegades’ starter in Week 8.
The offense improved dramatically under Perez. Even though Arlington finished the regular season with a 4-6 record, it was enough to get the Renegades to the playoffs.
“Luis has a calm presence about him and I think our offense responds to that pretty well,” Renegades’ running back De’Veon Smith said. “He knows how to take control of the offense.”
Perez began putting together nightly meetings with other members of the offense to try and help him get caught up. Before long, Perez was running the unit with precision and growing a bond with his teammates.
It all came to a head in the South Division Championship when he threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns to book Arlington’s trip to the XFL title game.
“He's a galvanizing guy,” Arlington coach Bob Stoops said. “He’s got an infectious personality that all the guys listen to and follow and enjoy. He's had a lot of success and he’s showing it with us.”
Perez will lead the Renegades against the DC Defenders on May 13, at 7 p.m. CT at the Alamodome in hopes of winning the 2023 XFL. Getting the chance to win a championship on national television will be a big opportunity for the 28-year-old.
Since the XFL regular season ended, 57 players have been invited to NFL camps. Perez is among the many players from DC and Arlington that will likely receive an opportunity.
STAYING PATIENT
The passion Perez has is evident when he plays and when he speaks about competing in the sport he loves.
Back in 2016 after Perez and A&M-Commerce were eliminated from the playoffs, he called his shot.
Perez said in an interview with Prep Pigskin Report that he knew he was going to be in the national championship game the next year, so he got in his car with his wife and drove nine hours from Commerce to Kansas City into a blizzard to watch Missouri State and North Alabama compete for the title he wanted.
Once again, Perez found himself in the stands, when he thought he belonged on the field.
The next season, he kept a photo he took of himself and his wife at the championship game as the wallpaper on his phone. And it stayed all the way through his Division II championship victory with the Lions one year later.
Perez waited a year to make good on that guarantee. But he’s been betting on himself for years, remaining persistent in his dream.
“I stay patient with faith,” Perez said. “They always say you pray like you're not in control, but you work like you're in control. So, that's how I live my life…My faith has kept me around.”