Sometimes you don’t know what to expect until you see it and there are times you are pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoyed it because you had no expectations. There are also times both scenarios happen in conjunction with each other.
To set the scene, I have stayed actively involved in keeping my writing passion alive be it as a blogger or helping my former employer (Napa Valley Register) cover high school football games in the fall. I have said numerous times that I have no regrets changing careers to become a delivery driver for Alhambra Water to make a better life for my family but writing is too hard-wired in me to ever relinquish.
So about a week and a half ago, I was on route on an oppressively hot day in Contra Costa County and received a text message from Marty James, senior sports reporter of the Napa Valley Register who has been with the newspaper over three decades. Due to his collegueges being on vacation, the newspaper was in dire need of covering a Spring League Football game at Memorial Stadium. So they asked to dust yours truly off the shelf to cover the event. I agreed to the assignment and subsequently witnessed the Spring League East roster prevail 23-19 over California.
I had nary an idea that the league even existed until Marty’s text message so I did various online searches so I had a clue before setting foot in Memorial Stadium. The Spring League was established in early 2016 as an instructional league and developmental platform for professional football talent. The league features both a mixture of young players trying to make NFL rosters along with former NFL players trying to return to the league such as Greg Hardy, Ahmad Bradshaw, Anthony Dixon, Fred Jackson, and DiAndre Campbell to name a few. Neither Hardy nor Bradshaw, which are two household names, were in uniform.
I must admit seeing recognizable NFL names piqued my interest initially but my first thought was, “Is this a league that mainly contains players that for whatever reason washed out of the NFL?” While that element is there, it is definitely not the central demographic. The league is centered around having players say 22-23 years old that did not get drafted by an NFL team but are looking for a platform to put something tangible on tape for scouts to see.
History has a couple of examples of alternative leagues that fizzled like the USFL (1983-1985), XFL (1999-2001), and the World Football League (1973-1975) to name a few. However, there are examples of ones that have had staying power like the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League, founded in 1959 and 186 respectively. The former has dimensions of 150 yards long (20 for each end zone) and 65 yards wide. The latter has dimensions of 66 by 28 including the end zone.
The Spring League, however, is played based on NFL rules as far as four 15 minute quarters and a two minute warning stoppage of the clock at the end of each half. As I stood on the sideline with my friends Dan Boyett and Kyle Foster, when our conversations were not taking off-ramps, we found more than a few things very compelling.
It was refreshing to watch quarterbacks lining up under center with 21, 12 or 22 personnel. The first number denotes the number of running backs. The second number indicates the number of tight ends. You actually saw fullbacks carrying the ball a la Tom Rathman. Those sights are rare with an increasing number of teams lining up in the shotgun with as many as five receivers with fullbacks becoming more extinct and tights becoming oversized slot receivers as opposed to your Mark Bavaro types.
While I did not get an exact number, there were several scouts on hand from NFL teams. Having lived in Napa, CA, for most of my life, I can attest that Memorial Stadium, which can house about 10,000 people, is an ideal playing venue.
Conservatively, I’d say the crowd had about 200 or so fans plus or minus a few. That number may sound scant for those used to seeing a full stadium for Napa-Vintage football games but considering the league is in its infancy stage that is actually a decent sized crowd.
Without knowing the quality of football I would see, I came away pleasantly surprised. That approach, however, is a healthy one because if you go into it thinking you are watching the New England Patriots, you’ll be vastly disappointed.
The most enjoyable aspect of watching Saturday night’s game, the players were there because they genuinely enjoyed it. In a nutshell, you’re not watching jaded millionaires.
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