| | 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.
Thursday, July 27
THIBODAUX, La. -- Today someone asked me about our curfew. Each night we are at camp, our curfew is 11 p.m. However, when we have a night practice (which ends about 10 p.m.), coach Jim Haslett asks a player what time curfew should be. So far, every player has suggested midnight. Coach Haslett gives us an extended curfew because he wants the players to hang out and bond as a team. During this extra hour, guys play ping pong, get a beer, play video games, or watch a movie. Coach Haslett doesn't care so much what we do, rather that we are doing something off the field together.
| |  | |
| Brien |
When bed check takes place, either at 11 p.m. or midnight, a coach enters each room and shines a flashlight on the bed to make sure a body is in it. Each coach will be assigned bed check a few times throughout camp. We can do anything we want after curfew, as long as it is in our own room. If we are late for curfew, there is a $610 fine. Missing curfew altogether results in a $3,051 fine. Individual teams do not decide upon these fines; they are detailed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed upon by both the owners and the players.
|
“ |
During this extra hour, guys play ping pong, get a beer, play video games, or watch a movie. Coach Haslett doesn't care so much what we do, rather that we are doing something off the field together. ” |
|
|
|
I once had a run-in with the curfew when I was a rookie with the 49ers. That summer my girlfriend (now my wife) was interning in Washington D.C. When she finally returned in August, I was in training camp in Rocklin, Calif. Obviously, I had to see her. After a lot of careful thought and consideration, I decided it was worth the fine to spend some time with her. Still, I concocted a plan to try to escape the fine. I talked one of our managers (for a fee, of course) into sneaking into my room prior to bed check. When the coach came around to check my room, he was to curl up under my covers and act asleep. The coach would shine a flashlight on him, see a body and move on. Believe it or not, it actually worked. I couldn't have been happier; I had a nice time with my girlfriend and didn't get fined.
I should note here that I really hope there is a short statute of limitations on fines in the NFL. And if any of the coaches who perform bed check for us now happen to run across this entry, just know that I was young and stupid when I last pulled that stunt. I would never consider doing that again with the Saints.
Material from kicking.com.
Visit Doug Brien's web site at http://www.kicking.com
| |
ALSO SEE
Doug's diary: Table tennis anyone?
New Orleans Saints
|
