The Spring League, an independent developmental football league, concluded its inaugural season last week "amid measured interest from established pro leagues," according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. The Spring League CEO Brian Woods said that scouts "visited from 10 NFL teams" and two CFL teams. Another 20 teams "requested practice and game video." The league was "stocked with players who were at least two and as many as 10 years removed from college, prompting a mixed response from scouts." More than a dozen Spring League players "have been invited to NFL minicamps in the coming weeks." Woods: "We were pleased with the NFL turnout for sure." Woods took 105 players, "split into four teams, to The Greenbrier resort" in West Virginia. The structure "met with approval among a scouting community that will be vital to The Spring League's future." Scouts there "saw potential in the concept." Though the talent level "probably fell short of what NFL teams envision for an established developmental league," some teams were "intrigued with what they saw." Panthers Dir of Pro Scouting Mark Koncz: "This league is on the right path and Brian's got the right idea. It seems like there are lots of people that come in and have grand ideas of having lots of games in big stadiums and get television rights and all that. ... A lot of these guys got looks that otherwise would not have." Seifert wrote there is "little doubt that The Spring League has room to grow." One game streamed on Facebook "was viewed 60,000 times, and a practice received 30,000 views." There was enough economic viability that Woods said it is "100 percent, absolutely positively" locked in for '18. The league will "hold a late-July showcase event in California," either in L.A. or the Bay Area (ESPN.com, 5/6).
