Orange County Otters training camp proved to be difficult for DE Will Stern. Stern of course showed up on time, being taken as a 3rd pick in the draft during the offseason he felt like he owed it to the team that took a chance on him. Although he showed up with high confidence and high expectations, he just wasn't as prepared as he thought he'd be in terms of his techniques and pass rushing skills. This made it rather disappointing to the staff, but on the bright side, Stern did put in a lot of work and really had a chance to see what the next level will be like. This had to be the hardest training camp Stern had ever attended by far. Stern unfortunately didn’t get to interact with as many teammates as he would have liked since he had to do a lot of 1 on 1 drills with the staff to improve his techniques. Ultimately, Stern learned a lot and the coaches feel like he worked as hard as possible to make an impression. Stern felt like he had a good future in Orange County being an Otter after all the tough work he put in.
Training camp for pepelegs was a difficult experience. Ya he has played ball before, clearly that had to be the case to be picked in the draft, but he was not use to the conditioning and amount of leg work that he would have to do on a daily basis in the league in order to not be run over on a daily basis by some of the big and strong linemen on the defensive side of the ball. That was the expirnce that he hated the most form camp. Outside of that he learned a lot about his teammates and other alumni from the team, mostly about the cat guy who use to play there and how he was constantly the butt end of the jokes from the squad. With this pepelegs feels like he has developed skills that will help him to be ready for day one of the season and make him into an elite brand of offensive linemen to take on the league. He should be ready for anyone and the line as a whole will be ready, with some big names being members of the Buccs line this season pepelegs is in good and helpful hands for the start of the DSFL season.
Dominos Pizzaman wakes up at 5am for his first ever DSFL training camp- he was always taught if you’re late if you are on-time. So he heads into the Bondi traing facility at around 7:30 to start lifting weights. Around 9 am the rest of the team arrives. He is excited to meet his two Captains, Cathack’rius Smith and Dexter Zaylren and start his training off on a good foot with some of the veterans of the team. They both seem like very nice gentlemen and he is happy that they are there to lead the team. The practices went well, but Dominos was amazed at how fast and quick everybody was going. Back at PJU he was the best on the defense- here he is back to the low man on the totem pole. There is no doubt in my mind that he will need to put in some extra reps on the bench, start conditioning more actively and start to build some more muscle to dominate on the field. After training camp Dominos was able to contact the former Buc great GOAT TANK, now a tantalizing running back for the Orange County Otters to see if he can advise Dominos on some drills, mental exercises, and rookie tips to stay with the pack. He happily obliged and hopefully this relationship will last for years to come!
Code: 228 words The Riddler New York Sliverbacks Dallas Birddongs Former Players Dominos Pizzaman S30-S40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training camp for season 29 is just around the corner and their is a buzz all around The Big Easy. Not was all hype, though. Fans were a bit remiss after watching a not so competitive Second Line team take the field last season. It's fair to say that New Orleans fans have seen their fair share of talented teams over the past decade, they were ready to move on to the prospect of a new season. Some familiar faces were front and center and practice. The former league MVP Ben Slothlisberger is always a fan favorite. Other key veterans such as Witten and Barker also draw a lot of attention from adoring fans. Newcomers also draw fans excitement, such as offensive lineman Cade Williams or future wide out star Quinton Crash. No matter what has happened in the past, there is always a sense of a new season bringing for new aspirations and dreams. Something that Mason Blaylock has always done for training camp is showing up a day before. It originally started his rookie year more by accident/nerves than anything else. Mason was so worried about getting lost in a big city that he made it his goal to show up a day before training camp was supposed to start. He wandered around the team facilities and got acquainted with everything in order to feel prepared for the hard work ahead. It paid dividends for Mason as he was able to solely focus on football and not worry about anything unrelated to the game. That was a decade ago now, but the idea is still there. Coming to camp a day early is sort of like him hitting the reset button in his mind. He is able to clear out all of the weight and troubles of last season and get ready to start clean. Not everything gets reset, though. One thing that carries with Mason is his former teammates. Whether they are retired, have moved on to a different team or even more tragically moved on from this world, they always stick with him internally. So many days of exhausting training and bonding with some of the best people he has ever known. That type of connection can't be replicated without being in the trenches with someone day in and day out for an extended period of time. Mason does find tears forming in his eyes for a moment before wiping them away. As he stares out at the practice field, it starts to sink it that this very well could be his final season. After letting himself get emotional for a few moments, he commits once again to hitting the reset button. There are a lot of things to he wants to accomplish this season yet and he'll need full focus. His body isn't what it used to be, but his mind is as sharp as it ever was.
In his third season with Chicago, Wasrabi Gleel knew his game better than ever before. He was a strong tackler with good instincts and a nose for the football. He’d been a solid contributor ever since he arrived, even getting a defensive rookie of the year nod a couple seasons ago. But as the new season training camp approached, Gleel found himself doubting whether or not he’d be able to take the next step as a player with his current style of play.
So he showed up early. Put in some time during OTAs with not only the linebacker coaches, but the running back coaches also. The one thing that had followed him around his entire football career, from pee-wee, through high school and college, through the DSFL and eventually now in the ISFL, has been his below average speed. It was a price to pay for being heavy and strong. His strength has always been his greatest ally, but as the season approached he knew he’d have to let it go to take the next step. The regular linebacker drills in training camp were no problem, but to get his body where it needed to be for the season, he turned to two of the team's best runners: Baby Yoda and Madison Hayes. The two running backs pushed him harder and harder through the simplified version of their running back drills in order to improve not only his speed, but his lateral quickness. It was grueling work, essentially participating in two training camps instead of one, and it wasn’t fun either--the team nutritionist did their part to help Gleel with his goal by forcing him to cut out all pizza rolls, McDonalds, and various other treats, and replaced them with healthy (albeit, boring) meals to bring his weight down. By the end of training camp, Gleel had shed 15 lbs of weight and dropped his body fat percentage by 10%. Leaner than he’d been in his entire life, his improved speed was noticeable to everyone on the Chicago squad. Training camp had been eventful, but now it was time to put his new build to the test. (I switched my arch this week lol) (358 words)
Training camp went terribly. It was incredibly hot outside, and coach was being super strict during our drills. I may have come to camp incredibly out of shape, but that's not my fault! I was scammed by this fake health guru. He claimed he found a new diet that would make me happy and healthy. The PBIC diet: pizza, beer, and ice cream diet. Now, the diet did make me happy, but it didn't make me healthy. Regardless I was sweating, breathing hard, and cursing out the coach to my friend Matt Cross. Now he was doing poorly on the drills as well, but he remained pretty mellow. "You just need to relax and feel the movement of the Earth under your feet. That's running my friend." I looked at him strangely, and he then asked "Ever tried LSD?" "No, just PBIC." "I've never heard of that, but it sounds dank. Here." He proceeded to give me what was like a piece of paper the size of a stamp, ordering me to swallow it and stay calm. I knew I shouldn't have tried another weird diet, but I trusted Matt and he was definitely in better shape then me. It wasn't long after that when a bunch of farm animals stormed our drills, and they chased me as I ran around cones and plowed through offensive lineman. There must have also been some strange weather coming through. It stayed hot, but the sky turned into a strange shade of green. It was a strange experience and a weird new diet, but I can't deny it made things a bit easier for me, even if it was because I was terrified of angering my 15 foot tall head coach.
Thank you to @enigmatic, @Kyamprac, @mithrandir, @Mooty99, and @Number 82 for some of the sigs in this rotator.
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