BillsFever
06-30-2003, 11:41 PM
A National Football League rule prohibit teams from opening their training camps more than 14 days before their respective preseason openers, a regulation that keeps some coaches from firing things up in, oh, May.
That rule explains why the first practices of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp will be on Saturday, July 19, exactly one fortnight before the team's American Bowl game in Tokyo. Buccaneer players will actually report to the Celebration Hotel on July 18, making the Bucs the first of the league's 32 teams to get their whole crew into camp. The Green Bay Packers will bring their rookies in on the 18th but not require their veterans to report until the 20th. The New York Jets, Tampa Bay's opponent in Tokyo, will wait until the 21st to come together.
By practicing at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex again this year, the Buccaneers are putting themselves in a fairly unique position. Of the 32 NFL teams, only three will train in a location other than a university or their own stadium or practice facilities. The Oakland Raiders will hole up at the Napa Valley Marriott while the Dallas Cowboys will travel to San Antonio and work in the Alamodome and at the Riverwalk Marriott.
Heading to a nearby – or in some cases, not-so-nearby – college campus remains the most popular manner of holding camp. Twenty of the 32 teams will train amid the hallowed halls of higher learning. An earlier NFL trend of going out of town for better weather has somewhat reversed; the New Orleans Saints, for instance, used to be part of the so-called 'Cheese League,' training in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, but they've now opted to brave the heat at their own complex in Metairie.
Only five teams will go out of state for their camp this year, and four of those – Cincinnati, Atlanta, Carolina and St. Louis – are taking short hops into neighboring states. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have been training in River Falls, Wisconsin, since 1991 will once again seek out that cooler clime in July.
Nine teams, including the Tampa Bay's state neighbors in Jacksonville, will hold camp at their own stadium or training facility. The Bucs preferred that method in the early days of the franchise, practicing at One Buccaneer Place and bunking at a small hotel next door, a lodging that no longer exists. They switched to the University of Tampa in the mid-1980s and to Disney last summer. There is, of course, a convenience factor to staying in town to train, but Bucs Head Coach Jon Gruden appreciates the opportunity to sequester his team at a remote site and work on team unity.
http://www.buccaneers.com/bucsnet/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3104
That rule explains why the first practices of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp will be on Saturday, July 19, exactly one fortnight before the team's American Bowl game in Tokyo. Buccaneer players will actually report to the Celebration Hotel on July 18, making the Bucs the first of the league's 32 teams to get their whole crew into camp. The Green Bay Packers will bring their rookies in on the 18th but not require their veterans to report until the 20th. The New York Jets, Tampa Bay's opponent in Tokyo, will wait until the 21st to come together.
By practicing at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex again this year, the Buccaneers are putting themselves in a fairly unique position. Of the 32 NFL teams, only three will train in a location other than a university or their own stadium or practice facilities. The Oakland Raiders will hole up at the Napa Valley Marriott while the Dallas Cowboys will travel to San Antonio and work in the Alamodome and at the Riverwalk Marriott.
Heading to a nearby – or in some cases, not-so-nearby – college campus remains the most popular manner of holding camp. Twenty of the 32 teams will train amid the hallowed halls of higher learning. An earlier NFL trend of going out of town for better weather has somewhat reversed; the New Orleans Saints, for instance, used to be part of the so-called 'Cheese League,' training in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, but they've now opted to brave the heat at their own complex in Metairie.
Only five teams will go out of state for their camp this year, and four of those – Cincinnati, Atlanta, Carolina and St. Louis – are taking short hops into neighboring states. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have been training in River Falls, Wisconsin, since 1991 will once again seek out that cooler clime in July.
Nine teams, including the Tampa Bay's state neighbors in Jacksonville, will hold camp at their own stadium or training facility. The Bucs preferred that method in the early days of the franchise, practicing at One Buccaneer Place and bunking at a small hotel next door, a lodging that no longer exists. They switched to the University of Tampa in the mid-1980s and to Disney last summer. There is, of course, a convenience factor to staying in town to train, but Bucs Head Coach Jon Gruden appreciates the opportunity to sequester his team at a remote site and work on team unity.
http://www.buccaneers.com/bucsnet/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3104