Remember Paxton Lynch? The former first-round NFL Draft pick recently made his debut for the Colorado Spartans of The National Arena League.
It was a classic stat line for a guy who simply refuses to give up on his dream of professional football.
Although Lynch has fallen a long way from the NFL, he does not seem to care about what people think of his tumultuous career. His love for the game should be celebrated.
Paxton Lynch is on his eight different team in five different leagues in 10 years.
NFL scouts fell in love with Paxton Lynch after he led the Memphis Tigers to a 10-3 record in 2014 and a 9-4 record in 2015, including an upset win over No. 13 Ole Miss that kept the Rebels out of the College Football Playoff. He completed 66.8% of his passes for 3,776 yards and 28 touchdowns with only four interceptions as a senior, and averaged 2.7 yards per attempt on the ground.
There were a lot of teams desperate for a franchise quarterback in a pass-driven league and Lynch was the perfect developmental prospect at 6-foot-7, 245 pounds. He had a strong arm, good mobility and was hard to bring down. However, he was streaky as a passer, inconsistent with his vision and needed to speed up his progressions.
The Denver Broncos ultimately decided to take a chance on Lynch with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. It was a project pick that never panned out.
Lynch started two games as a rookie and completed only 59% of his passes for two touchdowns with one interception. He went 0-2 as a starter in 2017 with three interceptions to two touchdowns.
That was it.
Lynch was cut by the Broncos at the beginning of year three. He spent time with the Seahawks and Steelers in 2019 but never played.
And then it was off to the alternate leagues. Lynch spent 2021 in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 2022 in the USFL with the Michigan Panthers and 2023 in the XFL with the Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas. He did not play anywhere in 2024 or 2025 but he did not give up!
Paxton Lynch signed with the Colorado Spartans of the National Arena League in November.
His first arena football game was a loss.
Paxton Lynch completed 20 of his 32 pass attempts for 220 yards with three touchdowns and an interception during his arena football debut. The Spartans lost 56-45.
He made a couple of solid throws, like this wide-open touchdown during the first quarter:
Another exciting play between Pueblo Punishers and the Colorado Spartans watch it live at the NAL Network. pic.twitter.com/clAHT4EjsP
— National Arena League (@NALFootball) March 8, 2026
This was a pretty tight window:
Here’s one of former Broncos first-round pick Paxton Lynch’s touchdown passes in his National Arena League debut for the Colorado Spartans tonight against the Pueblo Punishers. (Also, what in the wide world of sports is that touchdown celebration? 😂) pic.twitter.com/REygIohs44
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 8, 2026
Lynch also scrambled for 15 yards on the ground and ran one in for his fourth total touchdown.
All things considered, it was not a bad debut. But it wasn’t great.
He completed only 60% of his passes on a small field, threw an interception and lost. Meh.
With the good also came the bad. The first throw of Lynch’s arena football career was an absolute duck. Perhaps it was an omen for how this is going to go.
First @NALFootball throw by Paxton Lynch pic.twitter.com/ts5u328VB0
— ShadySportsNetwork (@ShadySportsNet) March 8, 2026
I am all for people who refuse to give up on their dream and I wish them the best. Lynch also made enough money in the NFL (and CFL, USFL, XFL) to live comfortably for the rest of his life if he invested properly so it’s not like this is a desperation move. He just wants to play ball until he can’t! I respect that!
But… it is quite the fall from grace.