Training camp time is here. It's 5:00 in the evening and you can smell that fresh-cut grass and you know football season is just around the corner. Everyone is excited, expectations are high, you envision your team and yourself having a great year, all of the hard work that you put in during the off-season about to be tested. You walk into the locker room and see the equipment and the helmets. It brings a different energy to the locker room when you see everything coming together. There is a general excitement and then once that settles in, you start playing football it becomes getting ready for the upcoming season.
With a lot of young players and highly touted rookies on the Titans roster, I started thinking back to my rookie year and going to camp.
Coming in as a rookie, the transition is a bit intimidating in terms of the unexpected. You are going to question yourself, if you really can play on this level. You hear so many different stories about how the game is faster, how complex the terminology is, and the players you used to watch play on Sundays - it can be intimidating. The reality of it is, that it is still football and once you start getting into things, everything starts to slow down.
My mentality when I entered the league in '96 was to use the momentum that I had from college to propel me, because I had a great deal of confidence. The more I learned the plays and the more I got into the flow of everything my instincts would take over. I didn't come in with the goal of being Rookie of the Year or go to my first Pro Bowl. I wanted to learn, take everything in stride and be the best that I could on every single rep. My goal was to work harder than anyone else on the field and that I wanted to be the best player on the field - offense or defense.
As I recall, I had to earn the starting role in that first training camp. Rodney (Thomas) was the starter and I had to unseat him. Rodney was a heck of a talent and it was a battle. When I came to the team, I didn't think I would start until the middle of the year because I thought Rodney was a very good back, but Jeff made the decision to go with me on opening day and I was excited about that. It was a great deal of hard work and it all started in training camp.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this current group comes together and who distinguishes themselves in this year's training camp.
