Pringle Gets a Surge Out of Football, No Matter What the League

Mike Pringle says he knows what you might be thinking, and he would like you to stop.

“It’s a competitive league,” he says with assurance, not irritation. “It’s professional football.”

Pringle, 24, who ran around or over most of the Big West Conference as a Cal State Fullerton senior in 1989, is playing in the World League for the Sacramento Surge, which plays London Sunday on a trip that surpasses even those far-flung destinations from his Titan days.

Pringle is the leading rusher for the Surge, and he set a club record for the two-year-old franchise with a 110-yard game against San Antonio this season.

No, it’s not the NFL. But neither is it Australian Rules or Arena football. Yes, there is the HelmetCam. But the World League, something of a joke in its first season last year, is trying to do away with its nickname as the “LAF” League by dropping the last two words--American Football--in a name that produced the acronym WLAF.

This year, the NFL has provided more money and players--about 100 NFL players were sent to the World League--thereby lending the league more credibility. Officials with NFL teams now see an improved level of play that impresses them and believe the league might provide the sort of triple-A level competition they think is needed.

Pringle, a sixth-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 1990, has had a look at the NFL, and the World League grades out all right with him.

“The players in the NFL, if any one or two came into this league, by no means would they be able to slack up and be able to dominate this league, or even do well,” Pringle said. “If any starting running back in the NFL were to come in here, he would have a very hard time if he were trying to take away the starting running back job on the Sacramento Surge.”

He would have to go through Pringle.

The World League might have its detractors, but Pringle says the people wearing the uniforms know best.

“Four players from each NFL team had to come to the World League,” he said. “They weren’t sent here being guaranteed playing time. Some tried to make the team and didn’t.”

Pringle, whose 357 yards rushing in a Fullerton game in 1989 briefly tied the NCAA record, appeared in three games for the Falcons in 1990. He made the roster that season by leading the team in kick returns during the exhibition season, rolling up 193 yards on eight returns.

But he hurt his ribs during the preseason and spent most of the year either on injured reserve or the practice squad.

He thought he had a good training camp last summer, too, but was released in August.

“It’s kind of hard to be in a situation like I was in, being on a team that predominantly uses one back,” he said. “It becomes a numbers game. I feel I did well enough to make the team, but no excuses. That’s the way the business works.”

Pringle spent the season working out at his home in the San Fernando Valley, where, he says, he “dabbles in real estate.”

“I just stayed in shape and waited for someone to contact me,” he said. “I worked out for Green Bay and the Raiders. It was a long off-season for me. I dealt with it.

“I knew my football career was by no means over. I just tried to keep my head up and do what I had to do.”

The Surge drafted him this season, and Pringle has made a place for himself in Sacramento.

The starting tailback is averaging 50.8 yards rushing a game and has four catches for 39 yards. His rushing average is fifth in the league. His four touchdowns also rank fifth in the league and make him the Surge’s leading scorer.

Pringle, 5 feet 8 and 186 pounds, says he has put on weight since college, and learned to be a better runner.

“I see things better on the field,” he said. “I have better field awareness of where the holes are.”

He’s pleased with his play, but not satisfied.

“I’ve had a couple of touchdowns on the goal line,” he said. “Nothing real spectacular. I haven’t had my 300-yard game. I’m still waiting.”

There is a wait, too, to see if he will get back to the NFL, but Pringle swears he doesn’t dwell on that.

“The players in this league are not in this league because they’re not good enough to play in the NFL,” he said. “We’re here because it’s a numbers game.

“I can’t speak for most people, but the people on this team are looking to win each game and go to World Bowl,” he said. “The NFL has nothing to do with any of us at this time.

“I’m not worried about the NFL. My employer is the Sacramento Surge. There’s no reason to think about that. It’s just like in college, you’re not playing your senior season thinking about going to another college. I’m in the pros now, I’m not thinking about moving over or stepping up a level. I’m gonna play the same no matter what league I’m in, as competitive as possible.

“Whether some Joe Blow off the street says, ‘Sacramento who?’ is not a big deal to me.”

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

“It was not a big deal at Fullerton when they said, ‘Cal State who?’ ” Pringle said. “I was happy where I was and pleased that I had the opportunity to accomplish what I wanted to at Cal State Fullerton. I have the same opportunity here.”

So what if the league is young? So is Pringle.

“Because it’s new, everything about the league is fairly new,” he said. “There are a lot of things that haven’t been done yet. I guess that’s good.”

Yes, playing in Sacramento has its advantages. And making all-league in this league has a very nice ring to it: All-World.