Former Broncos 1st-Round Pick Wanted to Be Like Tom Brady, Suffers Torn LCL Playing Arena Football

Former NFL quarterback Paxton Lynch's comeback attempt in arena football has disappointingly been cut short.

Lynch, who was the 26th overall pick by the Denver Broncos in the 2016 NFL draft, suffered a season-ending torn LCL while playing for the Colorado Spartans in the National Arena League.

"I was pissed off," Lynch told Luca Evans of The Denver Post after the injury. "And it sucks. I didn't want it to be like this."

Lynch played a total of five games during his NFL career, which ended in 2019. His run in arena football was even shorter than that, as he played in just two and a half games and suffered the injury before getting the chance to play in the Spartans' home debut on April 11.

Before going down, the 32-year-old had lofty expectations for his attempted comeback.

"I'm gonna play 'till I'm 45," Lynch once told a Spartans teammate. "Like I'm Tom Brady."

Despite the disappointing end, Lynch added that he felt his brief foray into arena football was a success on a personal level.

"I was like, 'OK, if I play this year in arena football,'" Lynch said, "'I'm going to play as Paxton Lynch. I'm going to have full confidence in myself. I don't really care.' And that's what I did. It felt good to do that again."

Paxton Lynch career stats

Level / League	Team(s)	Games Played	Starts	Comp	Att	Comp%	Pass Yds	Pass TD	INT	Rush Att	Rush Yds	Rush TD
College (NCAA)	Memphis Tigers (2013–2015)	38	38	758	1,205	62.9	8,863	59	23	288	687	17
NFL	Denver Broncos (2016–2017)	5	4	79	128	61.7	792	4	4	16	55	0
USFL	Michigan Panthers (2022)	6	3	54	83	65.1	550	5	4	20	74	2
XFL	Orlando Guardians (2023)	5	5	65	109	59.6