Zach Mettenberger admits surprise the XFL hasn’t called about a job. In the meantime, the former Titans quarterback is keeping his dream alive in The Spring League.
The goal remains the same -- to get back to the NFL.
“You obviously want to be one of the guys who’s on highest level of competition, right?” Mettenberger said in a phone interview. “It kind of blows my mind that the XFL hasn’t reached out to me. Really, it’s just the opportunity to play football. I don’t care who it’s with. I’m not ready to get a real job. That’s really it.”
The Spring League, a professional football developmental league, will begin its fourth season on March 7 in Las Vegas. Unlike the XFL, which sees itself as a competitor to the NFL, the Spring League has emerged as a de facto D-league for the NFL.
More than 200 players from The Spring League have signed with the CFL or NFL.
“We have quite a few success stories to tell, and we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, because we feel we’re filling a very crucial void in professional football,” Brian Woods, CEO of The Spring League, said. “We also believe that three years from now we will be the only operator out there [in the spring]. We don’t necessarily think that these alternative pro football leagues that are coming and going, even the current one out there, have a business model that is sustainable. We think we are doing well.”
Johnny Manziel, Fred Jackson and Greg Hardy are the biggest names to have played in The Spring League. Most players, though, are under 26. Mettenburger is 28.
He last played in the NFL in 2015, starting four games for the Titans after starting six as a rookie.
Mettenberger was cut from the Chargers in 2016 and the Steelers in 2017 and said he has “twiddled my thumbs” ever since. He played in The Spring League in 2018 and the Alliance of American Football in 2019.
Since the AAF folded, Mettenberger has worked out in Nashville while considering his options if this football thing doesn’t work out as hoped.
“I’ve had interviews with medical sales, interviews with commercial real estate,” Mettenberger said. “I actually just got done talking to coaches at the high school right next door for me to get my foot into high school coaching. But I definitely don’t want to teach. I’m trying to make some money but also have football in my life.”
The four-team league spans the course of three weeks each March, utilizing a central location to allow NFL, CFL and XFL scouts to evaluate players in one setting. Mettenberger, like every other player in The Spring League, is hoping to catch a scout’s eye.
“I get sweaty talking about it,” Mettenberger said of the opportunity. “It’s hard. You work at something your whole life. You base your self-value on football and how you perform, and a lot of people only look at you as a football player. When you’re done, it’s a tough transition, and a lot of guys get depressed.
“It’s been tough, but now that I have an opportunity to play, it puts wind back in your sails. It’s an opportunity to go showcase that I can still play. It just takes one scout. That opportunity is all I could ask for.”