The Spring League
Most recent season or competition: XFL | |
Official website | TSL.com |
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The Spring League (TSL) was an
The Spring League was the second football property to be established by Woods, following the
According to the league records, as of May 2021, more than 100 former players have signed contracts with a National Football League (NFL) team.[4]
Background
The National Football League (NFL) has not had an official developmental league since 2007 with NFL Europe.[5] Several other developmental leagues unaffiliated with the NFL have arisen, such as the FXFL, Gridiron Developmental Football League, and the Rivals Professional Football League.[6]
On September 2, 2016, the FXFL, after two abbreviated seasons of operation, announced it had suspended operations in hopes of finding a more effective business model.[7]
A developmental league continued to be an internal NFL discussion as of December 2016 with a decision deadline of February 2017.[8]
Business plan
Like the FXFL, The Spring League is built upon the concept of serving as a second opportunity to allow players to advance to more established professional leagues,[9] yet The Spring League has some prominent differences from the FXFL. While The Spring League's core player is around 24 years old, it also took in experienced professionals, which the FXFL discouraged. All four teams are brought to one location, and at first not have distinctive identities or home cities/franchises (this began to change beginning in 2019). Rather, the games are more showcases for the NFL and Canadian Football League (CFL) scouts in the spring and summer months.[9]
Unlike the FXFL, which paid a per-game stipend for its players, The Spring League paid only for room and board. Woods said that the lack of payment is out of financial necessity.[6] To be eligible to participate in the league, a player may not be under contract with a pro league nor be eligible for the current year's draft. Players must also pay a $350 application fee.[10] By 2019, the application fee had jumped to $2000, as players now also had to cover room and board as part of the fee; players with professional experience are exempt from this fee.[11] Players must also cover their own health insurance.[12] The league also assists in developing NFL referees.[8]
The Spring League earns additional revenue from a subsidy that the state of Texas provides to hold its events there, as well as from organizations seeking to test equipment and rules changes. In 2019, the
History
2017 season
CEO Woods founded The Spring League in early 2016.
Coaches with long NFL or College experience included quarterback coach Terry Shea, Steve Fairchild, Donnie Henderson, Dennis Creehan and Art Valero (offensive line).[17][9][18] For the April games, the league had four teams and 105 players.[9] Its players included NFL veterans Fred Jackson, Anthony "Boobie" Dixon,[19] Ben Tate, Greg Hardy, Ricky Stanzi, McLeod Bethel-Thompson[9] and Ahmad Bradshaw.[6] The players ranged from two to 10 years out from college.[20][21][22][23]
The league indicated two CFL and 10 NFL teams had their scouts visit the league while another 20 made requests for video footage. Following the April games, roughly two dozen players were invited to NFL rookie mini-camps. The Carolina Panthers picked up six for their rookie mini-camp.[9]
After the first season, NFL scouts seemed to like the league structure but otherwise gave mixed responses. Value was perceived by scouts as they got updated information on forgotten players or saw a player with a conditioned arm, but otherwise the talent level was below what NFL teams expected for an established developmental league. Some scouts expected younger players that had been to a couple of NFL training camps but in the wrong system. Woods indicated that the older and big names brought attention to the league, which has a secondary purpose of providing a veteran annual showcase.[9]
Spring League Showcase
On July 15, 2017, the Spring League Showcase was held at Napa Memorial Stadium in California between Spring League California, coached by Terry Shea and Spring League East, coached by Donnie Henderson.[24] Flofootball.com's FloPRO subscription service streamed the game.[25] David Ash started the game for the California roster and lead several scoring drives. He had 96 passing yards and 9-of-13 passing, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Dixon with an interception and 3 runs for a total of 10 yards with his longest for 9 yards. For the East, two quarterbacks, Casey Pachall and Trenton Norvell, made touchdown passes. Pachall completed 4-of-6 passes for 84 yards and a 67-yard touchdown. The game's top rusher was Paul Harris of the East team, who rushed twice for 74 yards and a 6-yard touchdown. East defeated California 23โ19.[26][27]
2018 season
The league had try-outs in various cities in October and November 2017 and February 2018.
Spring League Showcases
Following the April games another "Summer Showcase" was announced for July 2018.[34][35]
The Spring League announced a "Fall Showcase" for
2019 season
For the 2019 season, The Spring League partnered with the
2019 season practice began March 31, 2019 with double headers on April 6 and 11, 2019. Each of the four teams played two games.[39] For the first time, one of the teams had a brand name; the Austin Generals (formerly South) was named after its host city of Austin, Texas, and used the logo and colors of the former New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League.[39][40] The remaining three teams retained their generic North, East and West brandings.
Spring League Showcases
The league held its two "Summer Showcases" in partnership with the XFL[41] - the first in June in Mission Viejo, California[42][43] and the second on July 30 in Long Beach, California, 2019 with 100 pay-to-play players in a four-day camp and a six quarter scrimmage.[44] XFL executives and coaches and ESPN and Fox staff were on hand to view rule tests and in-game technologies, with the broadcaster giving feedback on how it would effect broadcast coverage.[12]
A "Fall Showcase" was held in September in
2020 spring season
For 2020, TSL played a showcase game against the Japan national American football team at the Ford Center at The Star March 1,[50][51] and the main competition March 7 and 11 at Sam Boyd Stadium.[52] The designated home team (formerly West) was dubbed the Las Vegas Hughes, named after Howard Hughes, who spent much of the end of his life as a recluse in Las Vegas.[53] Mettenberger agreed to return as a quarterback.[54] The registration fee for The Spring League's March 2020 season in Las Vegas was $2,100.[55]
The league was able to get most of its abbreviated 2020 season completed just before social distancing mandates tied to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States took effect, shutting down effectively all in-person sports in the United States.
Summer Showcase
The league held its annual Summer Showcase in July in Glendale, Colorado with a total of 85 players[56] and another 25 staff members and medical personnel participated. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic all players had to go through 14-day self-quarantine before camp and all meetings were conducted in a video conference.[57]
2020 fall season
In October 2020 FS1 reached a multi-year agreement to televise The Spring League along with the option to acquire a minority stake in the league, with initial agreement to play a 6-team fall-season in late October and November 2020.[58] The league began its fall season on Oct. 27 with six teams competing in what was intended to be a 12-game format over four weeks in a bubble environment,[59] based out of the San Antonio Alamodome. Fox Sports 1 aired games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The league stated that this time the players did not pay to attend,[60] but Woods later explained that some players did pay, while select others did not.[61]
All six teams had brands and names, including the returning Generals[62][63] (originally from Austin), Aviators[64][65] (re-branded from Las Vegas Hughes), and four new teams: the Blues[66][67] (modified from the FXFL Blacktips), Alphas[68][69] (a wolf motif), Conquerors[70][71] and Jousters.[72][73][74]
In November 2020, amid the then-resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, TSL announced that the league would be cancelling the final week of the season. The top two teams met in the final on December 15, at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Generals finished as the first TSL champions, after beating the Aviators 37โ14 in the final.[75][76][77]
2021 season
In March 2021, TSL announced that they reached a partnership agreement with
The Linemen beat the Jousters 26โ23 in the first and only Mega Bowl, and won the TSL championship.[84][85] Linemen QB Ryan Willis won both final[86] and regular season MVP awards.[87]
Aftermath
On June 3, 2021, Woods announced that he had acquired the remaining extant trademarks of the
On February 18, 2022, Woods stated that TSL was "no longer operational",[91] but later reports indicate that it will continues as a business although the football operations are suspended.[92]
Prep Super League
In June 2023 it was announced that Woods is planning to launch a 11-on-11 spring football league for high school players called the Prep Super League.[93][94] Games will be played from April 19 through May 24 with teams located in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, New Jersey, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Tampa.[95][96] Players will pay a player development fee and provide their own insurance to participate.[97] Isos Capital Management is one of the league's investors.[98]
Teams
Teams active at the last league season.
Division | Team | Colors | Original location | First year | Head coach |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North | Alphas | N/A | 2020 | Peter Vaas | |
Aviators | Las Vegas | 2020 | Terry Shea | ||
Conquerors | N/A | 2020 | Jerry Glanville | ||
Linemen | N/A | 2021 | Hal Mumme | ||
South | Blues | N/A | 2020 | Ted Cottrell | |
Generals | Austin | 2019 | Bart Andrus | ||
Jousters | N/A | 2020 | Kevin Gilbride | ||
Sea Lions | N/A | 2021 | Larry Kirksey |
Champions
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|
2017* | Orange | Black | 34-7 |
2018* | West | ||
2019* | Austin Generals | ||
2020 (spring)* | Las Vegas Hughes | ||
2020 (fall) | Generals | Aviators | 37-14 |
2021 | Linemen | Jousters | 26-23 |
* Before the 2020 Fall season, no official champion were named by the league.
References
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- KVUE.
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