EMQB - NFL Blogcast

Summer Vacation is Over for NFL Players

by David Kindervater on July 15th, 2008

Image details: Green Bay Packers Training Camp served by picapp.com

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Summer vacation is over. At least in the National Football League it is. The hard reality of training camp begins this week as four teams start on-field preparations for Kickoff 2008. The N.Y. Jets will be the first in camp tomorrow when their rookies report. They will be followed later this weekend by the Washington Redskins (July 19), Houston Texans (July 20) and San Diego Chargers (July 20). By July 27, every NFL team will be in camp.

The recent trend in the NFL is to train at home. Almost half the teams do (14 of 32) compared to just 4 of 30 teams ten years ago. Two teams — the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams — will camp at new training sites this year. And while some clubs have changed their training bases in the past decade, others return to familiar venues where they have spent their summer months for years. The NFL training camp longevity king? The Green Bay Packers, who return on July 27 for their 51st consecutive summer at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin. The New York Jets will be spending their 40th — and last — training camp at Hofstra University this summer. Next year they will train at their new headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Click here for the complete 2008 NFL training camp schedule.

Summer football is my favorite time of year. For me, it’s the best of both worlds. I can enjoy the great weather of summertime along with my favorite sport. I actually enjoy training camps and watching teams build their rosters. And then there are the games. The NFL’s preseason schedule begins with the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Washington Redskins on Sunday, August 3 (NBC, 8 PM ET) in the first of 13 nationally televised preseason games. NFL Network will televise 54 preseason contests, including two nationally televised games. It doesn’t get any better than this.

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