Mettenberger Won't Pass on Pro Football Opportunity
Whatever becomes of Zach Mettenberger’s professional football career, no one can say he did not try.
The former Tennessee Titans quarterback is one of the senior – at 28 years old – and most high-profile players scheduled to compete in The Spring League, a four-team developmental circuit that is set to begin its fourth season March 7.
It will be the second go-round in this particular league (he also played in 2018) for Mettenberger, who also competed in the short-lived Alliance of American Football last year. It has been nearly three years since he was on an NFL roster.
“I get sweaty talking about it,” Mettenberger told YahooSports. “It’s hard. You work at something your whole life. You base your self-value on football and how you perform, and a lot of people only look at you as a football player. When you’re done, it’s a tough transition, and a lot of guys get depressed.
“It’s been tough, but now that I have an opportunity to play, it puts wind back in your sails. It’s an opportunity to go showcase that I can still play. It just takes one scout. That opportunity is all I could ask for.”
Mettenberger spent time at three different colleges before he entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Titans in 2014. He started six games as a rookie and four more in 2015 (Tennessee lost all 10) and then was released after the franchise changed its head coach and general manager within a span of several months. He then spent one offseason/preseason with the then-San Diego Chargers and one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers but has not played in an NFL regular season game since he was with the Titans.
He currently lives and trains in Nashville as he continues his pursuit of an NFL job.
The primary reason he is back in The Spring League is because the XFL did not offer him a job.
“You obviously want to be one of the guys who’s on highest level of competition, right?” Mettenberger said. “It kind of blows my mind that the XFL hasn’t reached out to me. Really, it’s just the opportunity to play football. I don’t care who it’s with. I’m not ready to get a real job. That’s really it.”
