Just Another Day at Training Camp
Jeff Foley
Saturday June 10, 2000
"House, house me up," yells 298-pound lineman Kyle Moore-Brown, demanding that the offensive players form a huddle around his massive frame. When he`s on offense, protecting the quarterback, Kyle beckons his teammates into a huddle after each play.
Quarterback Jeff Loots, meanwhile, confers with offensive coordinator Ed Hodgkiss, who calls for a deep pass play. Loots takes the call into the huddle and the players clap once before breaking for the line of scrimmage. Loots glances at "Touchdown" Eddie Brown and says "Go," setting him in motion. Brown jogs back eight yards and then sprints forward. Loots, bent over Kyle, watches the offensive specialist out of the corner of his eye. As Brown approaches the line, Loots calls out, "Hut, hut," and Kyle snaps the ball. Jeff takes a five-step drop and lets the football fly.
"Ball, ball, ball," shout the defensive linemen, trying to alert the defensive backs to the fact that the football is airborne. It`s too late. Brown has a step on his defender and the ball floats into his hands as he glides into the end zone.
"House, house me up."
Defensive specialist Derek Stingley watches from the sideline. His eyes grow wide as Loots puts Brown in motion again. "Switch it up, switch it up!" he yells to a rookie defensive back. Stingley points the rookie toward the other side of field. Derek is also on the field now, five yards past the sideline and drifting closer to the play with each breath. "You`re supposed to be over there!" Stingley yells. The rookie shifts as fullback/linebacker Tim Brown takes a handoff. "Run, run, run!" screams Stingley. Several players, including the out-of-position rookie, force the fullback out of bounds. "Good job," says Derek, breathing hard.
"Here we go," Coach Dailey says. His voice is hoarse from directing the first five days of camp. "Twos to offense, threes to defense. Let`s go."
Players are broken into three groups during training camp, according to their status on the depth chart. Ones are starters, twos and threes are backups. And players sometimes fill in for one another.
Now, as a group of players lumbers off the field, their steps heavy and slow, another group moves from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side, also looking worn out. A third group, who have been waiting on the sideline, hustle in to play offense, looking full of energy.
Quarterback Raymond Philyaw hands the ball off on his first play. Wide receiver/linebacker Carl Sacco meets the runner in the backfield and puts him on the turf before he has a chance to reach the line of scrimmage. The pop is loud, and the hit sends a wave of excitement across the field. It`s like a pack of sharks smelling blood; everybody looks alive.
"That`s the way to do it, Sacco," Eddie Brown says. "Yeah, Sacco."
Coach Dailey laughs. "Sacco, did you just read that play?"
What the coach really wants to know is whether or not Sacco overheard the call. Sacco nods, indicating that he guessed correctly and stormed into the backfield because he recognized the formation. There was no cheating going on.
"Wow," Coach Dailey says, still laughing as the fullback picks himself up. "That`s impressive."
Mike Waldron, a tough fullback/linebacker also known as Chains, is on the sideline, shaking his head. "Sacco`s a madman. He hit me yesterday and I got up looking around to see who it was. Man, my damn chin still hurts. I was ready to throw down."
"I call him Saccopath," Sean Tremblay says. "He plays the game the way you`re supposed to."
The action gets even more intense with the next drill, called the momentum drill.
"I just call it the headache drill," Chains says.
It makes me think of a playground fight, with kids gathered around the combatants. For the momentum drill, three men stand on a patch of turf about five yards wide and 20 yards long. Everyone else surrounds the area. One player is given a football, another is assigned to protect him. And the third is ordered to charge as hard as he can in an effort to take down the ball carrier. He has to sprint 10 yards and blast into the blocker, who is also sprinting. The ball carrier attempts to scoot by, unscathed.
The first rep pits Stingley against fellow defensive specialist Chris Lawson. The two are good friends, but they are also both highly competitive, and the anticipation builds as Coach Dailey holds a whistle to his lips. Rookie wide receiver/defensive back Damien Morris stands behind Stingley, clutching a football. The whistle sounds and Lawson bolts toward Morris. Stingley drills Lawson, knocking him to the ground.
Fullback/linebacker Leroy Thompson explodes on the sideline. "Come on C-Law," he says, urging Lawson to hit harder. "He ain`t your friend right now. We`re hitting now. He ain`t your friend."
Lawson picks himself up and heads back to his spot, a snarl on his face. When the whistle blows again, Lawson`s arms and legs pump just as hard as Stingley`s. The two meet like rams butting heads. Morris runs around them, but the ball carrier doesn`t matter now. Only the collision matters. Both players hold their ground, drawing cheers of approval from their teammates. Coach Dailey blows the whistle, ending the rep, and Stingley and Lawson walk off the strip of turf, each with an arm around the other`s shoulders. They smile, allowed to be friends again.
Chains and Tim Brown are called into the hitting area. Morris is still the ball carrier.
"OK, let`s go hard now," Coach Dailey says.
Chains rumbles toward Brown, who has been assigned the blocking duties. The two fullback/linebackers meet head-on, and the collision sounds like a train wreck. The hit looks vicious - on the sideline, players are excited and cheering - but Coach Dailey is not pleased with the effort.
"We need to do this hard," he yells, his face turning a bright shade of red that`s becoming more familiar with each passing day. "I don`t know why some guys are holding back, but if you don`t wanna hit, I`ll send your ass home. I might not do it this week, but I will get someone in here who wants to play."
Jeff Foley was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
