The National Football League is about to begin the grueling process of winding the roster down from 90-something man roster to the final 53 man roster. The way they do so is through training camp. The teams go off to somewhere different from their normal practice field and locker room. They stay at these camps for weeks at a time working out once or twice a day. They finally get to actually play the game that they love again.

The NFL has rules on when they are actually able to being full-on tackle football again. The teams have already gone through OTA’s (organized team activities) , optional workouts and weight training and then finally a 3-day mini camp. However, all of these are non-tackle. They get to have their pads on but they are not allowed to tackle each other just yet. That time has now come to an end.

Competition begins to heat up in more ways than one. It gets to heat up between the players on the same team and the players on opposite teams with the preseason games. Each team has four separate opponents in the preseason games. The starters (that are set in stone) will get the fewest amount of minutes in the first couple games because the teams know that they will be on the team. The borderline roster players should be getting the most amount of minutes in these preseason games to see if they have what it takes to make the team.

Training camp is good for a team to see how the players they picked up in the draft and during free agency are going to mesh with the team. Even though some of the free agents may have been in the league a long time it does not mean they will mesh well with the team who picked them up. All teams have different playing styles that coincide with the different coaching styles. It’s a give and take system, but if the player and the team work hard enough together then they should be able to mesh well and create a good work environment.

Yes players are new to the team but for some teams so are the head coaches. In training camp the players and other assistant coaches really get to delve into the brain of the head coach and see how he wants this season to go.

At the end of the day all 32 teams are fighting for the same end goal, that super bowl ring and the Lombardi trophy. But only one team will get it. Each team has a different journey to get to that Super Bowl game, 30 teams will not even make it there. It is a long season but it all begins with how they are preparing in the off-season aka training camp.

Best of luck to all of the 32 teams. I hope that each of you find exactly what you are looking for in training camp and that it will help you get to that desired game.