Spring Forward

JT Barrett is a born and raised North Texas native who is best known for his illustrious career as the quarterback at Ohio State where he was a 3x First Team All-Big Ten selection, 2015 National Champion, and went 4-0 against the school's biggest rival. He’s at TSL2020 in San Antonio now where he's the starting QB for the 1-1 Alphas heading into their game on Tuesday, 11/10, against the Jousters. Watch the game at 8 ET on FS1.

Tyson Graham Jr's football journey has taken him from Miami to South Dakota; from the NFL to the AAF to the XFL to the Spring League. It's an unconventional route but the prototypical safety is athletic, can play multiple positions, and has the work ethic to make it to the top of the football mountaintop. He's hoping his second trip to The Spring League, where he's a member of the Conquerors, will be the last piece of the puzzle.

Darion Clark is the second former D1 basketball player to pass through the ranks of The Spring League in an effort to switch sports. Both of those players have been able to find NFL homes. In this episode, we'll focus on Darion's story which starts at the prestigious Oak Hill Academy to three stops at the highest levels of college basketball (Charlotte, USC, and Grand Canyon) to the highest level of professional football with the Chicago Bears. Darion joins us from Bears training camp in Chicago.

Since 2016, Dr. Paul S. Auerbach has been working to prove that eliminating down linemen would reduce brain injuries to those in the trenches. In 2018, TSL offered Auerbach of Stanford and a team of collaborators from Purdue the perfect testing grounds: The Spring League Showcase San Diego. Listen to this episode to hear about the test's results, how it was executed with the players, and what this information could mean for the game. Application: https://bit.ly/2nNvy1x Study: https://bit.ly/3d7L1yw

Happy Easter! One of The Spring League’s quarterbacks from The Spring League Showcase Atlanta 2019 and the the Japan in Dallas and Las Vegas this year, is working on the front lines of the Coronavirus pandemic in his hometown of New Orleans. Of course, we will mostly talk football with quarterback James Tabary but we wanted to make sure to especially highlight the brave work that he is doing on a daily basis while continuing to train and achieve his pro football dreams. Stay safe. Stay home.

From Dallas to Las Vegas, Zach Mettenberger is kicking off 2020 with The Spring League as its marquee player for the first camps of the year. The former LSU and Tennessee Titans starting signal caller, Mettenberger led The Spring League to a 36-16 victory over Japan, the first external opponent in The Spring League history. In this episode of Spring Forward, Mettenberger discusses his football journey - one that has seen him participate in The Spring League in 2018 and 2020.

The first game of the XFL season will showcase the Seattle Dragons visiting the DC Defenders so in this episode we talked with WR Dontez Byrd - a Louisville-native who played at his hometown school and Tennessee Tech before spending time with the Atlanta Falcons. Byrd was a stand out at TSL Showcase Orange County II in 2019 and signed with the Seattle Dragons in January 2020. Buy tickets for The Spring League vs. Japan in Frisco, TX on 3/1 here: http://bit.ly/31z28UT

The XFL kicks off its inaugural season the weekend after the Super Bowl so we called up one of the most successful specialists in Spring League history, Hunter Niswander, who now makes his living with the DC Defenders. Niswander, a Northwestern alum and Ohio-native, makes up a trio of specialists on the Defenders who all attended The Spring League. Hunter is the first punter to be featured on Spring Forward. Enjoy!

The Calgary Stampeders are fresh off of a playoff clinching win with a defense that features 3 former Spring League players: DBs DaShaun Amos & Raheem Wilson, and LB Nate Holley. All 3 players were in attendance at The Spring League 2018. The Stampeders have two more regular season games left before the playoffs begin. Amos, Wilson, and Holley highlight the first ever mutli-guest episode of Spring Forward! Apply for The Spring League Showcase in Miami here: http://bit.ly/2nNvy1x

QB Bryan Scott was the surprise success story of The Spring League Austin in 2018. The former Occidental College signal caller set a Spring League record with three NFL invites in a single offseason. Scott returns to The Spring League at TSL Showcase Orange County in his own backyard and he looks to remain sharp and prove he's much more than a small school quarterback but one with a long professional career ahead of him. Apply for The Spring League Showcase in San Diego here: http://bit.ly/2VyBxGZ

Marcus Peterson is a 3x Spring League attendee. His road to pro football player has been longer than most. From untraditional high school football at a small school in LA to a D2 college career in Western PA, Peterson beat the odds to get his first NFL contract in the 2018 preseason with the Chargers. His daily improvement has TSL front office excited about his potential. Marcus strives to be an inspiration on & off the field - a lifestyle backed up by his MBA, modeling career, & motivational clothing line.

Lorenzo Mauldin is a graduate of Louisville and is a 2015 third round NFL Draft pick of the New York Jets. He's got 6.5 NFL sacks to his name but his career in New York was derailed by injuries in his third season and he’s now at The Spring League to show teams he’s back to full health and ready to rejoin the ranks of the NFL. Mauldin will be the center piece of the Austin Generals - one of four teams at The Spring League. Tickets to doubleheaders on 4/6 and 4/11are on sale now: http://bit.ly/2ukEM5

Blake Jackson is a former D1 recruit at Mizzou turned D1 preferred walk-on at Southeastern Missouri State turned D3 National Championship Winning Quarterback turned pro slot receiver is now entering his second season with the Cleveland Browns. Jackson used TSL Showcase San Diego in 2018 to continue to hone his craft as a receiver after going through training camp with the Calgary Stampeders. After San Diego he was signed by the Browns and made his NFL debut in Week 17!

The Spring League 2019 will be the first of its kind to have an official partnership with a professional football league, The XFL. The XFL represents another opportunity for TSL players to achieve their dreams of playing professional football. SVP of Football Operations and former Buffalo Bills GM, Doug Whaley, joins the podcast to kickoff Season 2 to discuss his football past, his new league, and the XFL x Spring League partnership.

In late November, The Spring League will be integrated into its first ever video game when "practice mode" of Maximum Football 2018 is rebranded. In today's Spring Forward podcast we talk to the creator of that game, David Winter. Winter is a game developer but also a huge football fan - especially of the Canadian game - where many Spring League players find a home to continue their professional careers.

Griff Whalen isn't your typical NFL prospect who participates in The Spring League. By the time he took part in the 2017 Showcase in Napa, Griff had five NFL seasons under his belt and he was looking to replicate the OTA experience he would have had if he were signed to a team in the middle of the summer. Staying fresh paid off as he signed with Baltimore less than a week after the Showcase game in 2017. Now, he's in camp with the Oakland Raiders!

The Alliance of American Football will begin its first season in February 2019 and presents a new opportunity for elite football players to continue their professional football careers. On this episode of Spring Forward, the GM for the Salt Lake City franchise of the AAF, joins the podcast to talk about the new league, his team, and his three decades in NFL front offices which includes the 2000 Executive of the Year Award while he was the GM of the New Orleans Saints.

The Spring League just wrapped up The Spring League Showcase in San Diego and the first player to featured on the Spring Forward podcast from there is QB Austin Appleby. Austin has taken snaps for two major college football programs in Purdue and Florida and is trying to continue living his dream of playing professional football. The signal caller is an amazingly prepared quarterback and he shows that on the newest episode of Spring Forward.

On today’s episode we’re featuring our first guest who is not a player or front office employee of the Spring League. Dr Sam Browd is a ridiculously accomplished neurosurgeon and neurologic researcher. He’s also the co-founder of VICIS - the company that makes the official helmet of The Spring League. Dr. Browd explains complicated medical matters in very easy terms and he's a huge football fan on top of it!

Episode 17 of the Spring Forward podcast features The Spring CEO, Brian Woods, talking about the League's upcoming Showcase in San Diego and an interview with Hamilton TigerCats DL Lynden Trail.