Has anyone here tried out for an nfl team?

[Oinko]

I think it is beyond comprehension how difficult an NFL camp/tryout must be. The few D1 caliber athletes I have known were absolute freaks their whole lives, and the NFL is the freakiest of the freaks.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think it is beyond comprehension how difficult an NFL camp/tryout must be. The few D1 caliber athletes I have known were absolute freaks their whole lives, and the NFL is the freakiest of the freaks.

Same here. I tried out for a small school in Pennsylvania after I left high school and that was difficult enough. The absolute freaks that were on my high school team went to big name schools (one played with Flacco at Delaware and the other went to Kansas State) and they never made it. The one that went to Delaware plays in the Arena Football League now while the one that played at Kansas State, last I heard, is back home living in the 'hood again.

 

[BlueThunder]

Park ball was fun. Full tackle no pads. Luckily I was fast back then and the big dudes never got much meat on me. One of the bigger guys, a TE type, got tackled by 2 or three guys and dislocated his kneecap. Painful and weird seeing his kneecap off to the side like that. An ambulance ride and surgery resulted.

He recovered and later became a Mass State Trooper.

The kids nowadays are all winners and their mothers would be shocked at the dirty dungarees and tees !

 

[Nikolai]

In 2006, I hallucinated that I was coaching the Patriots offense.

 

[fgssand]

This is a long, but true story, a little off topic, but it's a boring Friday night.............way back in 1970, Harvard Stadium season opener. I was at this game and with a guy that claimed to have been sitting with "Harpo" Bob Gladieux, when they called his name. Now, the story indicates he had been drinking a little pre-game, not true, he was actually smoking a little something.


"Nothing so historic happened on the day of the Patriots’ 1970 season opener at Harvard, but it has a permanent place in the team’s colorful lore. The former Notre Dame running back Bob Gladieux had been cut from the Patriots a few days earlier but decided to attend the season opener anyway with a friend.

Seated in the old concrete Harvard horseshoe before the start of the game, the two had already had a couple of beers when Gladieux’s friend agreed to get another round. Just after he left, the public address cackled: “Bob Gladieux, please report to the Patriots’ dressing room.”

Gladieux went downstairs and was told to suit up. Last-minute contract disputes had left the Patriots short. Gladieux, nicknamed Harpo for his flock of frizzy blond hair, hurriedly donned his pads and was soon running down the field on the opening kickoff against the Miami Dolphins.

Back in the stands, his friend wondered why he was alone. He looked up to see the Dolphins’ kick returner go down in the arms of No. 24 for the Patriots.

“Tackle by Bob Gladieux,” the public address announcer said.

Said St. Jean: “When we saw Harpo’s buddy later, he said: ‘I knew I was drinking, but not enough to be hearing things.’ ” The Patriots won the game, one of just two victories in another last-place season.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/s...l-traveling-sideshow.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

You just can't make this stuff up.

 

[Mark Morse]

One of my co-workers, an AF officer was a 2011 graduate of the USAF Academy where he was football all -american DB. His measurables were as good as any DB in the draft with two exceptions. He stand closer to 5'7" than 5' 9" but he has a 46" vertical leap. The second problem was his 4 year committment to the USAF. He got a tryout with the Bears in their rookie camp this year. He told me it was a joke. He played well and was obviously better than the other DBs they had in the free agent group. He never really got a fair shake. He is done ... stopped his intense workouts and his dream of playing in the NFL is shattered.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I can only imagine how hard it must be but i'm curious if anyone of you had or had dreams and trained for that opportunity.

Just semi-pro tryouts

Alas, I wasn't even good enough to make the squad of The Fighting Amish

 

[SacPete1]

went through a couple of training camps in the CFL in the late 80's. Got cut late and had a few in season tryouts but never stuck. Americans were tough to compete against.

 

[Ring 6]

This is a long, but true story, a little off topic, but it's a boring Friday night.............way back in 1970, Harvard Stadium season opener. I was at this game and with a guy that claimed to have been sitting with "Harpo" Bob Gladieux, when they called his name. Now, the story indicates he had been drinking a little pre-game, not true, he was actually smoking a little something.


"Nothing so historic happened on the day of the Patriots’ 1970 season opener at Harvard, but it has a permanent place in the team’s colorful lore. The former Notre Dame running back Bob Gladieux had been cut from the Patriots a few days earlier but decided to attend the season opener anyway with a friend.

Seated in the old concrete Harvard horseshoe before the start of the game, the two had already had a couple of beers when Gladieux’s friend agreed to get another round. Just after he left, the public address cackled: “Bob Gladieux, please report to the Patriots’ dressing room.”

Gladieux went downstairs and was told to suit up. Last-minute contract disputes had left the Patriots short. Gladieux, nicknamed Harpo for his flock of frizzy blond hair, hurriedly donned his pads and was soon running down the field on the opening kickoff against the Miami Dolphins.

Back in the stands, his friend wondered why he was alone. He looked up to see the Dolphins’ kick returner go down in the arms of No. 24 for the Patriots.

“Tackle by Bob Gladieux,” the public address announcer said.

Said St. Jean: “When we saw Harpo’s buddy later, he said: ‘I knew I was drinking, but not enough to be hearing things.’ ” The Patriots won the game, one of just two victories in another last-place season.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/s...l-traveling-sideshow.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

You just can't make this stuff up.

Bob was one of my college coaches.

 

[Tunescribe]

In my journalistic travels I've met/interviewed a number of NFL players and coaches, including: Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Mike Singletary, Matt Blair, Doug Sutherland, Jerry Burns (Vikings coach), plus several Denver Broncos in the late '70s. I also met the great George Halas in his private stadium box before a Bears game shortly before he died and had him autograph his autobiography.

 

[Gwedd]

Played corner in High School, but nothing in college. I knew I wasn't tall enough, though back then I could run like the wind. I was also a pool rat and was swimming almost every day, which paid off later when I joined the Navy.

The only thing past the HS was college, and later Navy intramurals which were pretty much tackle with no pads. Fortunately, I never got hurt more than some ice, Motrin and time in the hot tub could fix. BUT, the good thing (?) about the Navy intramural games were that there were also a handful of Corpsman and a couple ambulances stationed there. They came in handy whenever we played a Marine team.

 

[Fencer]

I drove Patriot defensive back Tim Fox from Laguardia Airport to a hotel in Manhattan back in 1979-80.

My only conversation with him didn't go as well -- but it was at a party, the kind of party where a cup of beer was in my hand before the front door closed.

And he was younger then (college).

 

[Fencer]

The NFL player I have pleasant experiences of meeting was Phil McConkey, punt returner for the Giants in the 1980s. More precisely, I liked looking at his beautiful girlfriend. We all lived in the same building, and shared some elevator rides.

 

[patfanken]

My only conversation with him didn't go as well -- but it was at a party, the kind of party where a cup of beer was in my hand before the front door closed.

And he was younger then (college).

I too met Tim Fox after he retired. He was an exec at a printing company. I met him (along with ML Carr and Randy Vataha playing for the Celtics FO tag football team. Like Randy, he was one of the 40 something "ringers" Jan Volk brought in to play on Sunday mornings back in the 80's

We played a bunch of "younger teams" who were were often bigger and more athletic, but surprisingly we held our own. Speaking of Vataha, it always pissed me offf that these teams we played would always have "ringers" who played in College a few years before, while our "ringer" was 44, 5' 8' and bald. (but boy even at that age you could see the crazy athleticism he had. He had great body control.)

Once played against Doug Flutie who occasionally played on his brother's team. Ben Bradly (the younger) had a good team at the Globe. We once even played at the old Sullivan Stadium against the Pats FO in the Sullivan years. What a dump. Dressed in the ref's lockerroom. No wonder the Pats never got a call back then.

BTW- Tim Fox was a great guy. Smart articulate, funny., and BOY could he hit. Once on a blitz he hit a guy who tried to block him so hard we had to stop the game and make it illegal for Tim to hit anyone. Tim didn't even break stride when he literally went through the guy


As Fencer mentioned I was in 2 camps back in the early 70's. And without trying to sound too much like a grumpy old guy, compared to today's TC's things were much tougher.

The camps were much longer as in those days players rarely trained all year round (most had off season jobs). 2 a days were the rule rather than the exception, and you wore full pads most of the time. I have to laugh when these current players complain about how hard TC is. Ridiculous The players of my era were smaller and slower, but they were much better fundamentally than players are today.

What passes as "tackling" kills me to this day. I didn't put up with all that head down crap as a HS coach, let alone at the NFL level. Its not only bad football, it's dangerous But I understand the problems coaches have.

What has really changed is the physics of the game. Bigger, stronger, faster, professionally trained full time players simply create more explosive collisions and cause more injuries. That along with the big paychecks the players get these days make it hard to do the contact work necessary to develop those good fundamentals. The multimillion dollar investments the teams have in these players make in hard to risk injuries. When I played, I was a couple of players away from getting a 15,000 dollar contract....and that was HUGE money back then ($7200 as a first year teacher) Now days the same end of the roster guy starts at close to a half a million, and PS guys get close to 90K

Oh oh, I'm ranting. Sorry about that.

 

[zydecochris]

This was short and matter-of-fact, but really interesting. Can you provide any more details? What did you learn from being around these players? Any particularly interesting stories? I would be especially interested in your impressions on George Halas.

In my journalistic travels I've met/interviewed a number of NFL players and coaches, including: Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Mike Singletary, Matt Blair, Doug Sutherland, Jerry Burns (Vikings coach), plus several Denver Broncos in the late '70s. I also met the great George Halas in his private stadium box before a Bears game shortly before he died and had him autograph his autobiography.

 

[zydecochris]

Ken, as usual with your posts, this is fascinating. I've never seen the connection between the lack of tackling fundamentals and the fear of injuries for big investment players. It makes complete sense, even if it is counter intuitive to me (as it seems to me that many injuries are due to poor tackling). However, one always has to "follow the money", and it makes sense that coaches might limit contact drills to avoid injuries to big investment players. And of course, on the pro level it is now part of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.

....By the way, this is probably the best thread I've seen in months, it is really interesting to find out who who on PatsFan.com has actually played or coached football and in what context.

I too met Tim Fox after he retired. He was an exec at a printing company. I met him (along with ML Carr and Randy Vataha playing for the Celtics FO tag football team. Like Randy, he was one of the 40 something "ringers" Jan Volk brought in to play on Sunday mornings back in the 80's

We played a bunch of "younger teams" who were were often bigger and more athletic, but surprisingly we held our own. Speaking of Vataha, it always pissed me offf that these teams we played would always have "ringers" who played in College a few years before, while our "ringer" was 44, 5' 8' and bald. (but boy even at that age you could see the crazy athleticism he had. He had great body control.)

Once played against Doug Flutie who occasionally played on his brother's team. Ben Bradly (the younger) had a good team at the Globe. We once even played at the old Sullivan Stadium against the Pats FO in the Sullivan years. What a dump. Dressed in the ref's lockerroom. No wonder the Pats never got a call back then.

BTW- Tim Fox was a great guy. Smart articulate, funny., and BOY could he hit. Once on a blitz he hit a guy who tried to block him so hard we had to stop the game and make it illegal for Tim to hit anyone. Tim didn't even break stride when he literally went through the guy


As Fencer mentioned I was in 2 camps back in the early 70's. And without trying to sound too much like a grumpy old guy, compared to today's TC's things were much tougher.

The camps were much longer as in those days players rarely trained all year round (most had off season jobs). 2 a days were the rule rather than the exception, and you wore full pads most of the time. I have to laugh when these current players complain about how hard TC is. Ridiculous The players of my era were smaller and slower, but they were much better fundamentally than players are today.

What passes as "tackling" kills me to this day. I didn't put up with all that head down crap as a HS coach, let alone at the NFL level. Its not only bad football, it's dangerous But I understand the problems coaches have.

What has really changed is the physics of the game. Bigger, stronger, faster, professionally trained full time players simply create more explosive collisions and cause more injuries. That along with the big paychecks the players get these days make it hard to do the contact work necessary to develop those good fundamentals. The multimillion dollar investments the teams have in these players make in hard to risk injuries. When I played, I was a couple of players away from getting a 15,000 dollar contract....and that was HUGE money back then ($7200 as a first year teacher) Now days the same end of the roster guy starts at close to a half a million, and PS guys get close to 90K

Oh oh, I'm ranting. Sorry about that.

 

[fgssand]

In my journalistic travels I've met/interviewed a number of NFL players and coaches, including: Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Mike Singletary, Matt Blair, Doug Sutherland, Jerry Burns (Vikings coach), plus several Denver Broncos in the late '70s. I also met the great George Halas in his private stadium box before a Bears game shortly before he died and had him autograph his autobiography.

Could you reprint some of your stories or maybe start a thread and talk about some of the players and experiences you worked on / enjoyed?

 

[zydecochris]

Hear, Hear!

Could you reprint some of your stories or maybe start a thread and talk about some of the players and experiences you worked on / enjoyed?

In my journalistic travels I've met/interviewed a number of NFL players and coaches, including: Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Mike Singletary, Matt Blair, Doug Sutherland, Jerry Burns (Vikings coach), plus several Denver Broncos in the late '70s. I also met the great George Halas in his private stadium box before a Bears game shortly before he died and had him autograph his autobiography.

 

[LuRkeR1978]

I know a guy who knows a guy who's brother's cousin's friend's friend's uncle tried out for an NFL team.

Soooo...what does that make us?

 

[BlueThunder]

Navy intramurals which were pretty much tackle with no pads. Fortunately, I never got hurt more than some ice, Motrin and time in the hot tub could fix. BUT, the good thing (?) about the Navy intramural games were that there were also a handful of Corpsman and a couple ambulances stationed there. They came in handy whenever we played a Marine team.

I remember those Navy intramural games. Never signed up because most of the guys were crazy !!