Quarterback Justin Arth isn’t your typical signal-caller. His journey is different than most.
He didn’t get his start in playing football until seventh grade, after his father introduced him to the sport via a television screen in his first year of middle school. And it was his fan hood of the Minnesota Vikings and the signing of legendary quarterback Brett Favre that ultimately got Arth very interested.
“I was amazed by Brett Favre and from that point on, I knew I wanted to become a quarterback,” Arth said in an exclusive interview with RG. “I went to YouTube and essentially taught myself to throw and learn the quarterback position from all these YouTube tutorials I would find. That next year, I would really start supporting the University of Georgia football program and felt a similarity and connection to their freshman quarterback, Aaron Murray, and wanted to be exactly like him in everything he did.”
In 2010, Arth made his middle school football team and became a part of powering their way to three consecutive Henry County championships. That type of success gave him the confidence to carry on to the college level.
He built his versatility, learning multiple different offenses.
“In college, I was pushed by my coordinators, Calvin Powell (2017) and Kyle Cox (2018-2020), in many different ways,” Arth said. “Coach Powell expanded my capacity to learn with an NFL style 800-page playbook in the pro-style. Then Coach Cox, coming over from TCU, introduced me to the Air Raid offense.”
The Air Raid offense, founded by Hal Mumme and Mike Leach, is one that ultimately revolutionized football and brought about the spread offense. Its concepts can be found in literally every single offense in existence, in one way or another.
“In that offense, I'd truly learn how to go through full-field progressions with the 90's drop back game,” Arth explained.
“The offense is designed to make reads definitive for the quarterback by putting certain players in binds and conflicts, whether it was the quick game or drop back game.”
It is one of the most simple and predictable offenses in football when practiced in its purest form, reliant upon execution and quarterbacks getting the ball out quickly rather than trickery. When executed properly, it is quite actually mathematically impossible to stop.
“The quick-paced nature and simplicity of the offense really helped me get into a flow state and really start to understand what it was like to anticipate windows based on pre-snap numbers and leverage of defenders,” Arth said.
And when quarterbacks maintain accuracy and quick release times, they tend to put up video game-like numbers. Such was the case for Arth.
“I was able to put up some pretty good numbers with 2800 yards and 26 touchdowns in only 15 games started, and 21 total games played,” Arth said. “So it helped me show scouts I can perform and put up some decent numbers in so few games played in my career.”
Facing Adversity Before the College Level
But his college career did not come without some level of adversity. Arth had a hard time transitioning to the college level initially for no fault of his own, losing out on offers from Georgia State, UAB, Samford, Liberty, Houston Baptist (Christian), Jacksonville University, Stetson and others after he broke my left collarbone during his senior year of high school.
That led to him playing at a high school All-Star game (National Underclassmen Combine Texas vs. World Senior All-Star Game playing for Team World) in January 2016 at DeSoto High School in Texas that would yield interest from Texas Wesleyan (NAIA), Alderson Broaddus (D2) and other D3 schools.
He was ultimately picked up by Texas Wesleyan, where he ended out his four-and-a-half year career with 2,869 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also amassed, on the ground, 484 rushing yards and six touchdowns over 21 games.
He’s been something of a journeyman after he unfortunately missed out on the NFL Draft deadline after graduating from Texas Wesleyan in 2021.
Arth got his first professional football opportunity with the United Arena League’s Peach State Cats, where he instantly found a stronghold as he led the league in passing stats and was named Rookie of the Year in four games.
That propelled him to getting some NFL attention, landing a private workout and opportunity to participate in camp from the Atlanta Falcons. While that ultimately did not lead to anything long-term, Arth continued his journey with the Tuscon Sugar Skulls (Indoor Football League) and headed to the Canadian Football League shortly after he was released.
Since that time period, he has had a smorgasbord of opportunities between the XFL and the USFL, in addition to some continued attention from the NFL.
The teams between all of those leagues include the Edmonton Elks, Calgary Stampeders, DC Defenders, San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers, among others.
2023 saw Arth sign with the Gillette Mustangs (Champions Indoor League) before he joined the West Texas Warbirds (National Arena League) in the same season. 2024 held more new adventures as Arth remained in the National Arena League, signing with the Carolina Cobras. He was also the Georgia Force (Arena Football League) quarterback during 2024.
Life of a Quarterback in a Start-up Football League
In the current year of 2025, Arth received an invite from the International Football Alliance to join the draft pool. With so much moving around, Arth has seen more changes in his career than most quarterbacks have.
That begs the question of what the lifestyle is like, and what it is like to transition from place to place, league to league and offense to offense. Arth compares it to something of a “gamble with your career.” Especially when contracts are one year long and the pay is between $150 and $1000 per game.
“Every situation is going to be different, but you have to learn how to be flexible. You have to do this for the love of the game and the hope that the film you get here will get you back up into the higher levels of pro football,” Arth said.
It isn’t the most glamorous opportunity, but it consistently provides him with the chance to get noticed in hopes of moving up the ladder.
In some ways, it is all a little bit unorthodox.
“In the past, I've joined the staff of the team in player personnel, season ticket sales or aided in the corporate sponsorship departments to get a little extra money from the organization and to help grow the team to make it the best experience for myself and others on the team,” he said.
As with all things, there have been highs and lows. And learning to roll with the punches and to expect the unexpected is the nature of a day in the life of quarterbacks like Arth who frequently take their chances in these start-up leagues. One of the biggest concerns with start-ups is folding, which has happened to more of them than has not.
The opportunity provided little pay, but that ultimately did not prove to be the biggest issue with it. Arth and the other players on the team were told they would receive $1000 per game in salary, and that non-local players would be housed in a hotel.
The arena deal stated the team would play home games at the Georgia State University Convocation Center, but that fell through, and they became a travel team playing only road games.
The conditions were not great either, as Arth recalls.
“The hotel the non-local players stayed in was not the best, comparing it to my previous experiences with established arena and spring league teams,” Arth said. “Luckily for me, I was able to live at home and work my typical day job before heading to practice.”
Bad became worse as, two games into the season, Arth and his teammates had still not received a single paycheck. The team, shortly after, ceased all operations that left “about half of the team stranded.”
Arth himself took action to support those teammates who were left in such a poor situation.
“I started a GoFundMe to help pay for return home flights for those players, and we got some great support to get everyone home,” Arth said. “During this time, I had also been trying to get out of the arena/indoor pro football and get back outdoors.”
On the Horizon for Arth
Moving forward, Arth has happened into what he is hoping will be less of a nightmare of a situation, and it is one that holds promise. He recently signed with the Texas Pioneros (IFA) who relocated from Dallas to Austin (Georgetown).
The season is set to start on May 31st at the Chihuahua Rebellion.
Going into this opportunity, Arth is confident in what he brings to the table. And in addition to this, he will continue his side career of coaching quarterbacks and content creation, something he’s engaged in off of the field for a decent amount of time.
“From a tangibles perspective, I have shown a pretty good ability to get the ball out of my hands quickly, throw people open with anticipation and be accurate in all areas on the field with ball placement,” Arth said. “I have a pretty solid arm and throw a firm ball within 30-40 yards, and can place the deep ball with pretty good touch as well.”
But it goes beyond just the tangibles. Mental processing ability and the ability to pick things up quickly may be more important to the quarterback position than anything else.
“The intangibles I bring to the table are most certainly my abilities in my Football IQ,” Arth said. “I am someone who leads in the four main ways — vocally, emotionally, work ethic and as a servant. I love the process of getting better, and I love serving my teammates.”
Crissy Froyd is a sports reporter of over 10 years who specializes in quarterback analysis at the high school, college and NFL level. She was mentored by Mike Leach and learned the Air Raid offense and quarterback evaluation largely under the legendary head coach. Froyd has appeared in and worked with multiple publications, including USA TODAY SMG, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and Saturday Down South. She also covers canine journalism for Showsight Magazine and resides in Wisconsin with her three dogs -- two German Shepherds named Faxon and Bo Nix, and one Siberian Husky named Stetson "Balto" Bennett.
