First Practice

By Uncle Hans

I have been thinking for 35 years about what I would feel like when I walked off the practice field for the first time. Today it happened and what a feeling!

     The day started with meetings and lectures but rather quickly moved to the weight room. I could squat and bench press 195# two or three times, which is far below the average. One safety man one wide receiver and the punter were at about the level I am.

      We proceeded outside for about 2 hours. We ran a bunch of agility and speed drills, some of which were timed. I did okay, finishing ahead of several linemen. The end of the session was something the coach calls the 700 Club. It's 14 25 yard dashs with 180 degree direction change between each one. 2 minutes of rest. And do the whole thing again. Against the clock. I got a minute and 51 seconds for the first half. That time put me ahead of a couple lineman again.

     Then we broke for lunch......

........ the afternoon was more teaching, particularly offensive formations and their names. I will be playing defense and don't have a clue about football so they were lecturing in Greek. Then we went back outside for another 2 hours but it was much easier. They worked on offensive formations and ran some plays. They stuck me in the middle linebacker position. There was no hitting or minimal hitting. This drill operates without a defensive secondary. The team is very small only 26 of us. Therefore many players will be playing both offense and defense. We then switch to running these plays without a defense so those players could switch in. At this point I found myself just watching.

     At dinner last night I found myself sitting next to the punter. After telling him about working with Jake when he was a punter in high school, he invited me to come and work with him. Rather than stand around and watch at this point, I went over and basically shagged balls and kicked them back to him.  Like I did many years ago with Jake in the front yard on Spooner Lake.

...... basically the day went a little better then I had hoped. I heard guys complaining at dinner about sore muscles and joints. Right now I feel about the same as after a really high level night of volleyball in Cumberland. I'm generally sore all over but have no hot spots. Let's see if I can get out of bed in the morning. This afternoon was with helmets. Full gear comes probably next week.

     I am off and running. Stay tuned......

Uncle Hans

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