Paxton Lynch returned to pro football Saturday night.
Nearly 10 years after the Denver Broncos made him their first-round pick, Lynch was slinging passes inside the Southwest Motors Events Center, an arena at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo, making his indoor-football debut for the Denver-based Colorado Spartans of the National Arena League against the Pueblo Punishers.
The Spartans fell, 56-45, but Paxton Lynch made a solid acquittal of himself in his debut on the smaller field, going 20-of-32 for 220 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception. He also picked up 15 yards on the ground and ran for another score.
The NAL is the fifth league for Lynch, whose path has wound through the NFL, CFL, USFL and XFL before reaching his current stop. The Spartans are his eighth team and his first since 2023, when he closed out that year’s XFL season with the San Antonio Brahmas after opening that season with the Orlando Guardians.
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
MORE ABOUT PAXTON LYNCH’S NEW LEAGUE
The National Arena League is one of a handful of indoor-football leagues that play on hockey-rink sized fields. They are all in some way descendants of the Arena Football League, which had two franchises in Denver, the Denver Dynamite (1987-91) and the Colorado Crush (2003-08), the latter of which was co-owned by John Elway, Pat Bowlen and Stan Kroenke and played at what is now known as Ball Arena.
The NAL began play in 2017. At that time, most of its teams were concentrated in the East and Southeast. Now, its antenna points toward the central part of the nation.
The Spartans joined the NAL in 2024. Only one club in the league is older: the Amarillo Warbirds, which joined the NAL in 2023.
No one plays in the NAL for the money. Most of the league’s players earn $200 or $225 a week, with a $50 bonus for a win.
The league currently has nine teams. In addition to the two Colorado-based clubs, it has members in Amarillo, Texas, Dallas, Bossier City, La., Omaha, Salina, Kan., Sioux City, Iowa and Dodge City, Kan.
Paxton Lynch’s Spartans won’t make their home debut at the Denver Coliseum until April 11 against Amarillo. Ticket information can be accessed through the Spartans’ website.
For some, the NAL and the Spartans are a last chance. For others, it’s a place to keep playing the game they love for just a little while longer.
And it’s a circuit that now includes Paxton Lynch, a former first-round pick who was once on the cover of Sports Illustrated, back when that still meant something.