August 3, 2009
I know I haven’t been blogging a lot recently, but for me it’s never about what you say, it’s all about what you do, and all I was doing the last 5 weeks was training and keeping myself physically and mentally prepared for training camp. It was my time to take care of business and I used that time to the best of my ability to get ready for the weeks that lie ahead.
We start training camp today in Albany. We know it will be tough, that pretty soon every day will start to feel like Groundhog Day and we’ll be going through the heat and tough two-a-day practices.
In New Jersey and Chicago we’ve had plenty of rain this summer, but when we get to training camp it never seems to rain. We joke that Coach Coughlin made a deal with The Man upstairs that it will only rain when we’re done practicing for the day. In the six years I’ve gone to training camp I think we’ve had maybe two rainouts. And it just seems to get hotter and hotter every day after we show up for camp.
Every once in a while a guy will do a rain dance, but that never works out. Even when it does rain it seems to stop the minute we start practicing, then we have to practice in the muggy heat, which is even worse.
But the truth is this is a fun time for everyone, too, as hard as it is. It’s great being around your teammates all the time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tough being away from your family, but it allows you to focus on football. As hard as training camp is it’s also some of the most fun you have all season because of the camaraderie. Everybody comes back and shares stories about how their summer was, the funny things that happened.
That’s what football is all about.
When people step away from the game that’s what they miss most. The sweat, the blood you all share, these are the guys you do it with day after day. Guys miss that common thread when they retire.
Also, there’s always the rookie hazing at camp. Every rookie has to stand on a chair in the lunchroom, say their name, school and signing bonus, and sing a song other than their school fight song. It’s always a lot of comedy that breaks up the monotony of being in training camp. It’s a ritual, I had to do it, that’s the way it is and it’s a lot of fun. I sang Eazy-E, “Eazy-Duz-It.” If a guy’s not good, they make him sing another one. I only had to sing once, though.
One thing I don’t look forward to about training camp, though, is dorm life, and waking up at 6:30 every morning. You’re only there to sleep, really, but after a while the room starts to get a musty smell to it, with a bunch of nasty football players living in the dorm. You’re living out of your suitcase so your clothes choice is limited, and after a while you have to wear some of the same clothes if you don’t get a chance to do laundry. And the cafeteria food starts out good but gets old real fast. It starts to get repetitive, especially for the guys who really like food.
Training camp is a great time and a bad time. It’s bittersweet. It’s the toughest three weeks physically, and regardless of how you feel, how sore you are, you have to block out the temperature, block out injuries, block out everything that’s happened and go out there and perform. When everyone does that together it can make the difference between winning and losing during the season, pushing through everything and getting the job done.
This is where a team’s identity is formed. Here, we all go through it together.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter as davediehl66.