This time of year my palms begin to sweat as much as the rest of me in the South Florida heat. Mid-July is when the warriors of the gridiron return to camp. Even after 14 years of retirement, my mind still drifts back to those hellish weeks of two-a-day pre-season practices.
The particular year that stands out the most in my memory is my rookie summer in the NFL. I went from playing small-time midwestern collegiate football to standing awestruck in front of legendary coach, Don Shula, and practicing along side of players like Dan Marino and Dwight Stephenson.
In 1986, camp was held at St. Thomas University which had facilities that made my high school look like the big time. The weight room had plastic walls, rusty weights and no AC. The pool was usually green and the dorm rooms we stayed in had broken beds that pitched downward, dripping window AC's and cockroaches the size of small birds (It was obvious there was no free agency, as these accommodations were not a selling point). I came in expecting the Taj Mahal, and got the Taj MaHELL!
Coach Shula was still working according to the formula NO WATER + HARD WORK = GREATNESS. It really equalled NO PICNIC for rookies! I had a hard time keeping weight on due to bad dorm food and trying to deal with the enormous amount of water loss from playing in the humidity in full pads. I would pour the sweat out of my shoes at the end of practice and usually lost about 10 lbs. a workout (I was only 220 lbs. to begin with!).
The first day was especially memorable as it led off with the dreaded 12-minute run. This is where they separated the in-shape from the out-of-shape and in-big-trouble-shape. It was excruciating with nowhere to hide. I never had a real issue finishing the race, but it was never easy on the big boys on the O & D lines.
In retrospect, all of this hellacious work prepared me for the heat on the grill! Like a two-a-day practice in the South Florida summer heat, the grill is no place for the weak and unprepared You've got to go for it, not shrink back and not give in to the heat. Get your grill on and you'll find that finishing off a 12-minute filet mignon is as easy as Shula's 12-min. run and infinitely more pleasurable to savor afterwards! As coach Shula used to say, "It's all in the preparation"! Oh, and by the way, when it comes to grilling, you are allowed and advised to drink water (or the adult beverage of your choice) in between flips! Coach Offerdahl says so. Let's Grill!