Paxton Lynch was calling plays on the sideline when a chance to run them again came out of nowhere.
Lynch was the coaching brains behind the high-powered offense for the Park Hill Pirates youth football team, where his son is a star quarterback. Tony Thompson, owner of the Colorado Spartans arena league team, was helping out as a line coach when his eyes stopped at a familiar face.
Was that Lynch, the Broncos’ 2016 first-round quarterback?
“It was crazy. He was on my list of 20 quarterbacks I was looking at for the upcoming season. I circled his name, but I had not been able to get a hold of him,” Thompson said. “Of course, I went over and asked if he had a minute to talk.”
Lynch dismissed the idea of playing initially, but agreed to meet Thompson at a Los Dos Potrillos for dinner. Two hours later, the Spartans had an agreement with the biggest name in the league.
“Once he said I would love to play arena football, I knew we had our guy. It had to be the right fit, and he didn’t want to take time away from being a dad, which I understand, since I have five kids,” Thompson said. “I said I know it didn’t work out well with the Broncos. But this gives him a chance to write his comeback story.”
Lynch is playing for the love of the game.
He will receive the maximum $600 per game salary, though the team is permitted to supplement that with money outside of football. Lynch received a guaranteed $7.8 million when he signed with the Broncos.
The Spartans are viewed as a contender with Lynch, a former University of Memphis standout, providing the boost to unseat the champion Omaha Beef.
“I have pushed all of my chips to the center of the table for Paxton. I signed him without a workout. But I saw him that day at Park Hill, the way he moved. And he can still spin it. He still has it,” Thompson said. “I am excited for us. And I am really excited for him. He is already studying opponents and plans to get together with the receivers.”
The Spartans begin training camp in mid-February and open the season March 7 at the Pueblo Punishers. With the Denver Coliseum occupied for the high school basketball state tournament, the Spartans make their home debut on April 11 against the Amarillo (Texas) Warriors.
The Broncos drafted Lynch with the 26th overall pick in 2016. He was viewed as Brock Osweiler’s replacement after the veteran signed with Houston following Super Bowl 50.
Lynch, however, was ill-fit for coach Gary Kubiak’s under-center offense, and fell to third string on the depth chart behind Trevor Siemian and Mark Sanchez. Siemian won the job, but Lynch showed promise, posting a 2-1 record as a starter with 497 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
In 2017, he went 0-2, struggled with injuries and was criticized for his lack of commitment. He was cut in training camp in 2018 in favor of Chad Kelly. Lynch never played another NFL snap, despite cups of coffee with the Steelers and Seahawks. He spent time in the Canadian Football League and USFL. His last game action came as a Week 1 starter for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL on Jan. 30, 2023.
Lynch failed with the Broncos, something he acknowledged to Thompson. But it did not extinguish his passion for the game. And he has a chance in Colorado, on a much smaller stage, to go out on his own terms,
“I expect us to come out scoring 60 points a game. He has a cannon arm with a quick release. I don’t know of any other arena league team that has had a former first-round quarterback,” Thompson said. “We could have stayed with our quarterback and maybe won a championship. But I believe with Paxton we will win a championship.”
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