2017 The Spring League season

Last updated

2017 The Spring League season
The Spring League.jpg
League The Spring League
Sport American football
DurationApril 15 – 25
Number of games2 per team (planned)
Number of teams4
TV partner(s) Facebook/
FloSports (Showcase only)
Season championsOrange
Seasons
2018  

The 2017 The Spring League season was the first overall in league history, which was played in Sulphur Springs, West Virginia at The Greenbrier resort.

Contents

Business plan

CEO Woods founded The Spring League in early 2016. [1] On December 22, 2016, SiriusXM NFL Radio initially reported the league as being owned by the NFL, but retracted that by the end of the day. [2] The NFL informed its teams of the league's existence and its plans to operate from April 5 through April 26, 2017. The Spring League's 2017 season consisted of a four-team, three-week single round-robin tournament in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia at The Greenbrier resort in April, [3] and a two-team "Showcase" game in Napa, California in July. The teams in each tournament were only identified with vague geographic names such as North, South, East, West and California. A game streamed on Facebook received 60,000 views while a practice received 30,000 views. [3]

Players and Coaches

Coaches with long NFL or college experience included quarterback coach Terry Shea, Steve Fairchild, Donnie Henderson, Dennis Creehan and Art Valero (offensive line). [4] [3] [5]

For the April games, the league had four teams and 105 players. [6] [3] Its players included NFL veterans Fred Jackson, Anthony "Boobie" Dixon, [7] Ben Tate, Greg Hardy, Ricky Stanzi, McLeod Bethel-Thompson [3] and Ahmad Bradshaw. The players ranged from two to 10 years out from college. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Games

DateTeamscoreopponentscoreNotesRef
April 15East6West10 [12]
April 16North14South10 [13]
April 22South-East-Cancelled [14]
April 23North-West-Cancelled [15]
April 25Orange34Black7Championship Game [16]

Signees to professional leagues

The following players signed with NFL or CFL teams following their involvement with The Spring League in 2017:

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. [38] Flofootball.com's FloPRO subscription service streamed the game. [39] 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 23–19. [40] [41]

Notable players: [1] [42]

Reception

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. [3]

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 NFL training camp 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. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 James, Marty (July 8, 2017). "County Football Insider: Spring League Showcase July 15 at Napa Memorial Stadium". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  2. "Report: NFL Free Agent Spring League Starting in 2017". FOX Sports. December 22, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Is Spring League an NFL springboard? It's at least a shot". ESPN. May 6, 2017.
  4. "Donnie Henderson, Terry Shea among Spring League coaches". March 30, 2017.
  5. Digby, Matt (April 14, 2017). "Coaches Expect Players to Capitalize in Spring League". woay.tv. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  6. "The Spring League Announces Camp Roster". April 9, 2017.
  7. Filipowski, Nick (June 19, 2017). "Former Bills RB Fred Jackson to participate in Spring League". WKBW-TV. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  8. "2017 Spring League roster - NORTH". Facebook .
  9. "2017 Spring League roster - SOUTH". Facebook .
  10. "2017 Spring League - Training Camp Roster pt.1". Facebook .
  11. "2017 Spring League - Training Camp Roster pt.2". Facebook .
  12. "The Spring League: Game 1". Facebook .
  13. "The Spring League: Game 2". Facebook .
  14. "Today's game has been cancelled due to inclement weather". Facebook .
  15. "Sunday's game here at the Greenbrier has been cancelled". Facebook .
  16. "Play of the day nominee". Facebook .
  17. "Toronto Argonauts: Sorting through the final roster cuts". June 19, 2017.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Inabinett, Mark (April 9, 2017). "Spring League's roster shows variety of backgrounds for players trying to catch NFL's eye". al.com. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  19. "Change of Course: Argos stun Stamps to win Grey Cup". November 26, 2017.
  20. Walker, Richard (May 30, 2017). "Gastonia's Zeek Bigger signs 3-year contract with Carolina Panthers - Sports - Gaston Gazette - Gastonia, NC". Gaston Gazette. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  21. Richard, Walker. "Zeek Bigger released by Carolina Panthers". Gaston Gazette. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  22. Princiotti, Nora (May 16, 2017). "Nico Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, signs with Redskins". The Washington Times. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  23. "Redskins Sign Manasseh Garner To The Active Roster". www.redskins.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017.
  24. Galavizagalaviz, Anthony (August 22, 2017). "Tyquwan Glass signs with the Los Angeles Rams". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  25. Crow, Alfie (August 14, 2017). "Jaguars waive Josh Johnson, sign TE David Grinnage". Big Cat Country. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  26. Day, Ryan (September 4, 2017). "2017 Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad: Live tracker and updates". Big Cat Country. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  27. "Green Bay Packers sign DT Calvin Heurtelou". The Washington Post. AP. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  28. Baines, Tim (July 13, 2017). "Game Day: Redblacks at Eskimos". Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  29. "Daje Johnson".
  30. "Roughriders defeat Tiger-Cats for 1st win in new Mosaic Stadium - CBC Sports - Football - CFL". Cbc.ca. July 9, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  31. Hlas, Mike (June 22, 2017). "Ricky Stanzi is Calgary Stampeders' No. 3 QB". The Gazette. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  32. Patterson, Nick (May 15, 2017). "Archbishop Murphy grad getting a second shot at the NFL | HeraldNet.com". Everett Herald. Everett Herald and Sound Publishing, Inc. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  33. Choate, Dave (September 3, 2017). "Falcons reportedly sign 10 of their 11 practice squad players Sunday night". The Falcoholic. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  34. Zrebiec, Jeff (July 21, 2017). "Ravens sign Griff Whalen, place Michael Campanaro on PUP list amid flurry of roster moves". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  35. "Raiders Sign Wide Receiver Griff Whalen". Raiders.com. March 12, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  36. "Detroit Lions working out David Cobb, two other RBs on Tuesday". Freep.com. August 8, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  37. "Alouettes shake up roster with four additions, six releases". Montreal Gazette. Presse Canadienne. January 22, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  38. Florio, Mike (June 19, 2017). "Fred Jackson is getting his wish, sort of". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  39. Talbot, Ryan (July 15, 2017). "How to watch Spring League Showcase featuring former Buffalo Bills Fred Jackson and Boobie Dixon". NewYorkUpstate.com. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  40. 1 2 3 Travis (July 19, 2017). "Spring League Showcase Player Stats". FloFootball. FloSports. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  41. "Spring League Showcase Full Game Replay".
  42. "Spring League Showcase football game coming to Napa". Times-Herald. July 7, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  43. "Spring League California roster". Facebook .
  44. Florio, Mike (July 11, 2017). "Glen Coffee will participate in Spring League Showcase". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  45. "Spring League East roster". Facebook .