| | By Doug Brien
Special to ESPN.com
Editor's note: What is life in an NFL training camp like? Kicker Doug Brien takes you inside the camp of the New Orleans Saints with his weekday diary for ESPN.com.
Friday, July 21
THIBODAUX, La. -- With at least a thousand fans in attendance per
practice we (the Saints) want to show our
appreciation for the fans by signing as many
autographs as possible. After every practice, Coach
Haslett reads the names of the five players who will
sign autographs for the fans under the tent. I think
the reason for this is that in this heat, players often
need to get out of the sun immediately after
practice. | |  | |
| Brien |
Although many guys do sign autographs, on
certain hot days you will see a lot of players head
directly for the locker room after practice. For those
of you who have attended some of the practices,
please don't take it personally if a player passes you
by after practice. I am sure they would love to sign
an autograph, but they are probably very dehydrated
and exhausted. Remember that there are always at
least five players under the tent to sign autographs
for you.
Today, in our two-minute drill at the end of practice
the defense intercepted both of the offense's drives.
This type of thing is normal early on in camp because
it usually takes a little more time for the offense to
develop the timing needed to complete passes
consistently. I don't think the coaches are too
concerned yet, but if the trend continues they might
be in a few weeks.
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Normally, in the first week of training camp
a couple of fights break out every day. I have heard
of a few pushing-type scuffles, but I have not seen
one all-out brawl this year. ” |
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Another thing I've noticed is the lack of fights so far
in camp. Normally, in the first week of training camp
a couple of fights break out every day. I have heard
of a few pushing-type scuffles, but I have not seen
one all-out brawl this year. Last year I bet 10 to 15
had occured by this point. Some of the lineman (they
usually instigate most fights) say the heat has
dissuaded a lot of guys from fighting. Jerod Tomich
told me that he and tight end Cuncho Brown started
shoving each other after an intense play. He said
after they pushed each other a few times they just
looked at each other and mutually decided to forget
it; it was too hot to waste their energy fighting.
This afternoon we have a walk-through and then our
Black vs. Gold scrimmage tomorrow at 11 a.m. The
players are looking forward to the scrimmage and
spending some time at home this weekend with
family. I'll report on the scrimmage in Monday's diary
entry.
Material from kicking.com.
Visit Doug Brien's web site at http://www.kicking.com
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ALSO SEE
Doug's diary: Quirky campers
NFL Training Camp 2000
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