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2010-2011 Preseason: Training Camp Trials
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- August 22,
2010
At 11:00 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
Cowboys’ fans everywhere had romanticized about seeing America’s
Team trouncing the Cincinnati Bengals in a nationally televised
celebration of Emmitt Smith’s ultimate Hall of Fame accomplishment.
Jerry Jones had framed the Hall of Fame Game in several interviews
as just such an opportunity.
Seasoned fans, however, have come to expect pre-seasoned execution
during training camp – no matter the event – and the 2010 pre-season
games have been no different.
The Cowboys – like their counterparts – are under no such obligation
to deliver anything more inspired than pre-season vanilla formations
and heated competition among bench players for always precious
roster spots.
NFL Pre-season games – and the enormous training camp effort that
links them together – must be managed with extreme care, or your
risk the rewards you expect to reap in the regular season.
Players enter Organized Team Activities (OTAs) in all sorts of
shapes and sizes – with some players showing up in great condition
and others in desperate need of a daily exercise routine.
Players move onto position-specific minicamps where both mental and
physical expectations are ramped up. The strength-and-conditioning
staff members work hard to develop and implement training programs
for each and every player.
The coaching staff has handed out the all-important playbooks well
in advance of any urgent focus on physical conditioning. Some
players are simply wired to immediately grasp the diagrams that
define the X’s and O’s of professional sports – and other players
need as much time to wrap their minds around their playbooks as
possible.
The coaching staff – from a player education standpoint – has no
choice but to make every effort to meet players halfway towards
easier and quicker memorization of plays while not jeopardizing
playbook maximization.
The organization finally reaches its first of four possible
pre-season games hoping to get in some good productive reps for
every available back-up – in order to build and re-build vital depth
and experience.
Everyone wants to accomplish these goals with only a handful of
nicks and bruises – resulting in a mentally and physically hardened
team of professional athletes who are ready to charge into the
regular season battle and, hopefully, well beyond.
Pre-season desire and reality clash every year – ruining even the
best laid plans – but it is no excuse to stop such preparations. It
is no excuse to not continue attempting to get ahead of the
competitive curve. It is no excuse to give up on finding new and
better ways to avoid the injury bug – something the Cowboys are
beginning to struggle with halfway through training camp.
Those fans who cannot wait for the current format of four pre-season
games to be reduced to two games will most likely see an 18 game
regular season next year . . . as part of a new collective
bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL owners and the NFL
Players Association.
This will place even more of a premium on getting the most out of
your off-season and pre-season efforts as possible. If players think
their off-season is too short, guess again. It may get shorter to
make up for a potential loss in training camp time – among many
other conditioning elements required to keep an NFL organization in
top readiness.
Most fans know all about the preparation NFL organizations go
through to get ready for the regular season, but most of us – and
even some players – take it for granted.
No one should ever forget the importance of pre-season practice and
games – and the immense teamwork, communication, trust, and rhythm
that is developed and set into motion.
The Dallas Cowboys are one of just a handful of NFL teams with a
very realistic opportunity to play in the 2010-2011 Super Bowl to be
held at Cowboys Stadium.
The Cowboys’ players can either participate in hosting professional
football’s Holy Grail game, or they can actually play in it with a
chance to win it.
Most but not all Cowboys players have an appreciation and
understanding of what is at stake for the Cowboys this year. Players
are only human – to the shock and amazement of fans everywhere – but
a player has to be pretty dense (like Martellus “The Clown” Bennett)
to not be absolutely energized, dedicated, and focused towards what
possibilities may lie ahead for 2010.
The remainder of the Cowboy’s pre-season represents an incredible
opportunity – for every single player on the Cowboys’ roster to step
and show their readiness to play in what could be a truly magical
season.
Which players understand that is it not enough to simply win a
back-up job on an NFL football team? Which players comprehend that
they may actually be asked to step in for a starter and perform?
Which players are completely aware of exactly how important their
level of preparation will be to the coming season?
We shall see. We always do.
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