Guts vs Glory (19 page)

Even though the training camp
officially began on Monday, Mike and I drove to camp on Sunday for the team’s mandatory
orientation meeting.  On the way there, Mike reminded me that he had gone
through the same process a year ago.  He also pointed out that he, as well as
the other guys I had met, would be going through the same things with me.  Even
though most teams had their rosters set prior to camp, everyone on the team had
to go through the same drills, meetings, and practices at the same intensity
level.  That meant I was faced with the challenge of standing out amongst an
elite group of football players, while trying to earn a spot on the team.  We
both agreed that, as a walk-on, I shouldn't be disappointed if my goal was only
to make the practice squad; even doing that would be an amazing honor.  After Mike
calmed me down a little bit, I spent the rest of the car ride introducing him
to the songs of Mike Mains and the Branches.

At the training field, I was
briefly introduced to the offensive line coach.  Mike told the coach about my
awards and hard work, both on and off the field.  The previous season was only Mike’s
first season on the team, but as the starting running back, all of the coaches
listened to what he had to say.  His words wouldn't get me a spot on the team,
but they would definitely put me in the spotlight.  With the added attention,
it was up to me not to let down my friend while showing the coaches that I
could be one of their best linemen.

The veterans on the team already
knew what was going on, but the coach still explained the schedule to the rest
of the group.  Our days would start out early with a team breakfast, followed
by an hour of lifting.  From there, we would have an hour long team meeting. 
That meeting would be followed by another hour of reviewing video of previous practices
in our positional groups. At 10AM, we would go through a two hour walk-through
practice in which we didn't use pads.  After lunch, we would take part in
another two hour practice, that time working on technique, going full-contact,
and competing for a spot on the team.  After that practice, we would have more
meetings, followed by a 10PM curfew.

With the schedule laid out, we were
given the rest of the day to get used to our new quarters.  The training camp
was held at a local college where we would be sleeping in dorm rooms.  Again,
Mike and I were roommates.  While in our room, I started telling Mike my plan for
training camp.  I told him that I wasn't worried about waking up early, or
learning new plays at the meetings.  I was great at memorizing plays and knew I
wouldn't have to memorize that much as a center.  My biggest target would be
the two hour practice after lunch.  While others would fear it, I would have to
look forward to it.  It would be my only chance to fight for a spot on the practice
squad.  During those two hours, I would have to block my strongest, hit my
hardest, and run my fastest just to keep up with the rest of the team.

By 7AM the next morning, we were
all in line waiting for a hearty cafeteria breakfast.  Then, after a lifting
session, we met as a team and talked about the basic game plans of the Michigan
Knights.  That meeting led into the next meeting just for offensive linemen. 
There, we talked about the offensive line from the previous season.  Those five
linemen stood up and introduced themselves.  The line coach said that they
would be the starters during the upcoming season, while the rest of us would
have to fight each other for backup roles.  With 10 of us left, we knew that
five of us would be sent home as there were only five backup positions left on
the roster.  Some were upset by that news because they thought that being
picked during Selection Showcase Week guaranteed them a spot on the roster. 

While the other guys went to the
locker room to get their helmets, I was held up by the offensive line coach. 
He told me that Mike was the only reason why I was given a shot to make the
team.  At this point, it would be up to me to make it to the end of training
camp on my own.  He acknowledged that I was one of the best linemen in college
football, but told me that the professional level was full of the
best
football players from some of the
best
football teams across the
country.  The guys in the room with me were no bigger than I was, but the coach
assured me that they had a lot more experience than I did.

Instead of breaking me down, the
coach ended up inspiring me.  He was right; I was on my own and I would only
have myself to blame if I went home.  I had the exact same chance to earn a
spot on the team as those picked during the Selection Showcase.  I took that
inspiration with me out to the practice field.  I didn't allow myself to be
overwhelmed by the fact that I was on the same field as football legends;
hanging out with Mike’s friends helped me get past that feeling.  Instead, I
paid attention to what the coaches were saying the entire time and succeeded in
not stopping practices so that the coaches could yell at me.

After a light lunch, I was ready to
block.  Even though it was only the first day of practice, nobody held back. 
We only had 10 days to show what we were made of, and nobody was going to waste
that time.  I continued working with the offensive linemen in our blocking and
running drills.  Halfway into that practice, we got our first chance at live
contact.  Similar to my first practice in college football, the first hit was
the hardest.  As I stared up into the sky, the only thing I could think of was
that I had just been run over by a semi-truck driven by one of my favorite
defensive linemen.  While some people paid to get his autograph, I was one of
the lucky ones who had his cleat tattooed on my stomach.

Practice continued to be painful. 
Even though I continued to get run over, I bounced back up every time.  I knew
that I wasn't quite ready to play at the professional level, but I sure wasn't
going to let people think I was a quitter.  The team’s doctor even made me feel
at ease.  He told me that he normally saw about 20 players after the first day
of training camp. 
Most
of those made it back the second day.

Finally, after dinner, I could say
that I survived my first day of professional football training camp.  I was
bruised, tired, bloody, and couldn't raise my hands over my head, but I was
excited that I would have a chance to do it all over again the following day. 
Back in the room, Mike wanted to make sure I wasn't too discouraged.  He knew
that I had been working my tail off in the off-season, and didn't want me to
get discouraged because I was literally being walked all over.  He told me that
even the strongest players looked like they had just finished 10 rounds with
the champ after their first day of practice.  The injuries and soreness I was
experiencing had nothing to do with how in shape I was; it was all due to
competing at an elite level that my body just wasn't used to yet.

I made it back down to breakfast
the next morning.  After a lighter breakfast, I was ready for our full-contact
practice.  I wasn't as sore as I was the night before, but I was still plenty
sore.  I made sure that my aches didn't impact my playing performance, though. 
As the day went on, I was eventually able to block a defender once or twice. 
Other linemen during practice were able to block the defender nearly every
time, but I wasn't worried about what they could do; I was only worried about
my personal progression.

As the week went on, I was getting
more comfortable with practicing at this new level.  My ability to block
defenders continued to improve and I was able to stop the defenders on a more
regular basis.  Although I still wasn't quite at the backup level, I certainly had
backup potential.  Rather than being concerned with the nearly 40 players who
were going to be cut at the end of the pre-season, I chose to focus on the five
offensive linemen that would be sent home; that would decrease my competition
by nearly 90%.  I didn't get much time to play during our practices, but I felt
that I was at least able to show how quickly I could progress in the short
amount of time given.

By the second week of training
camp, only five players had left the team voluntarily; all during the first
day.  Of those five, none of them came from the offensive line.  I still had
another week to be in the top half of the 10 of us eyeing a backup role on the
offensive line.  Not only was I improving in skills at practice, but my ability
to heal was improving as well.  I was no longer going to bed in pain, my
bruises healed, and my wounds closed faster.  After a sore first week, I was
able to practice the entire second week without any lingering injuries.  My improved
recovery time allowed me to practice at my full potential, which allowed me to
progress exponentially at the professional level.

Finally, training camp was over. 
The veterans were happy because they were ready to start the season and felt
training camp was a waste of time.  The younger guys were glad it was over
because they were tired of being flopped around like rag dolls.  I, personally,
was a little disappointed that it was over.  I only had two weeks to show my
skills and I wanted more opportunity.  But training camp would only be the
beginning of a long summer.

Our pre-season was only one third
of the way complete at the end of camp.  We still had four more weeks to
display our talents before the coaches made their final cuts.  We worked in our
small groups during the first two days of practice, and in our large group
during the second two.  We would use Thursday as a full team scrimmage, and as
a way for the coaches to set their depth chart.  After two days off, we would
be able to play in a full game.  The practice schedule was nothing new to me,
but the game at the end of the week would be a new experience.

Going into my first exhibition
game, I was slated as the third-string center.  At the college level, I
wouldn't have seen any time as a third-stringer.  During the exhibition games,
however, I would be able to see more playing time.  The exhibition games were
similar to non-conference games.  They were used as tune-up games to see which
plays were successful, and what players would contribute the most.  The
exhibition games didn't count towards the season records, so coaches rarely
played their starters once they determined who their starters would be.  For
fear of injury, the starters would only play a fraction of the game, while the
rest of the game was used to see who would be allowed to stay with the team.

Getting to the game was an
experience of its own.  The team actually flew us to those games, where we had
a flock of supporters waiting for us at the airport.  Before the season had
even started, we were treated like celebrities by loyal fans.  From the
airport, we were shuttled to the hotel where the entire team was housed.  The
next morning, we were shuttled to the game on luxury busses and escorted into
the locker room.  The only time I had ever been treated like that was during
the Major College Football Championship Game.  The exhibition games were not championship
games, though.  They were simply scrimmages against another teams.

In the locker room, I expected the
usual pre-game speech.  Before that game, however, there was no speech. 
Apparently at the professional level, coaches never gave speeches because
players were expected to be fired up on their own.  Instead, Mike and I talked
about our high school goal of playing professional football together.  We had
decided that even though we were technically playing in a professional
exhibition game together, the game was merely a scrimmage and we still hadn’t
really achieved our goal yet of playing together in a pro game.  We walked onto
the field with the team.  The field reminded me of the national championship
game except that the arena wasn’t nearly as full.

During the first half, I finally
got called in to play in my first professional game.  The play was simple, so I
only had to worry about the defender across from me.  Thanks in large part to
the defender in practice, I was prepared for the guy who towered over me.  As I
snapped the ball, I stood up without fear and braced myself for a hard hit.  That
hit, however, never came from him; it came from me.  The team we were playing
against also had their third-stringers in, so the guy I was playing against was
closer to my experience level.  I was able to own him for the entire second
half.

I went into the next practice with
more confidence after having played in my first game.  The offensive line coach
still had me as a third-stringer, but treated all of us as if we were
starters.  He made it clear that even though his starters had been set, the
rest of us would have to play at the same level of intensity as the other five
positions were still open.  That meant that I would have to play in the rest of
the exhibition games as hard as I played in the first game.  I would also have
to use the following three weeks in practice to continue my progression as an
elite player.

The second exhibition game was a
home game.  For that game, we were allowed to enjoy the previous night to
ourselves, and only had to meet up with the team on game day.  As we walked out
of our home locker room on game day, I was hit with a mix of emotions.  I was
back on the same field where we had won a state championship for East Whitaker
four years ago.  It was exciting to be back, but this time, I was wearing the
silver and gold of the Michigan Knights.  The stadium wasn’t as full, and the
atmosphere wasn’t as charged as our championship game, but I was still fired up
because I would be playing on the field that I wanted to make my home for the
next several years.

During that game, I received even
less playing time than I had the week before because the starters were given
the entire first half to play.  The coaches wanted to make sure they had the
right athletes as starters, and wanted to see their progress from the previous
game.  That gave the backups only two quarters to play.  With the shorter time,
I was only called in for the 4th quarter.  For the second game in a row, I was
able to successfully protect my quarterback.

After being impressed with my play
in the first two games, the offensive line coach wanted to see how I did
playing against defensive starters during the third game.  He watched as I held
up the defender every time in our previous exhibition games, but wanted to see
if that was due to my personal strength, or just the weakness of my opponents. 
After a few plays, he realized that it was a mixture of both.  I was able to
stop the starting defender a few times, but not nearly as much as I was able to
stop the third-stringers.  The starter was a lot stronger than the third-stringers
I was used to playing against during the previous games, but no stronger than
my opponent in practice.  Even in practice, though, I still wasn't at the point
where I was stopping him every time.

The fourth game was much like the
first two.  I was able to stop the defender every time after being placed back
onto the third-string team and was again able to play an entire half.  Finally,
after four weeks of practices, games, and celebrity status, it was time to see
if I made the cut.  Once again, I wasn't worried about the others getting cut
on the team; only the ones in our offensive line group.  Since the team would
only need to cut 15 total players in the first round, our offensive line coach
only had to cut one of us.  It was obvious who his choice would be; he was the
only one who couldn't adjust to the life of a professional football player.

We were presented with our second
round of cuts a few days later.  Because they were cutting another 22 players,
our offensive line coach had to cut four of us.  That time, I didn't survive
the cut.  I was disappointed, but I had also expected the news.  Anyway, my
goal wasn't to make it to the regular team; my goal was to make it to the
practice squad.  After getting cut, I joined the 21 other players who got cut
that day in a separate conference room.  None of us knew who would be getting a
second chance to make the team, or who’s dreams would soon be crushed.  After a
few minutes of waiting patiently in a room full of upset, anxious, scared, and
nervous football players, the head coach walked into the room.  He explained that
only eight of us would be able to come back the next day, while everyone else
would have to wait another year to try again.  As hoped for, I made it to the practice
squad.