azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Many on their own for 1st time
Odeen Domingo
The Arizona Republic
May. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
Eric Green slept in his window seat as he flew to Phoenix from his home state of Florida. He dreamed of being fearless on the NFL gridiron, his heart beating faster and his hopes rising higher than the airliner on takeoff.
Then he woke up, and all of a sudden he had something to fear.
"When I woke up, the pilot said, 'It's a nice day in Phoenix. It's 100 degrees.' Just that right there scared me a little bit," said Green, one of the Cardinals' third-round draft picks. "Then you get out here and everybody is saying, 'Oh, you haven't seen nothing yet.' And then that really scares you."
Welcome to the Valley.
Seventh-round pick LeRon McCoy called the Valley heat "mind-blowing." In his native Harrisburg, Pa., this week will top out at 78 degrees.
But for all the Cardinals rookies, the concerns go well beyond the heat. They've just entered the real world of professional football.
Put your tray table up and buckle your seat belts.
Like anyone heading into the workforce straight out of college, the rookies have to deal with the real-world burden of handling more responsibility - auditioning for a job, managing a tight budget, prioritizing time, finding a place to live, figuring out what to eat besides ramen noodles.
"(The hardest part for rookies) is just the idea that they're on their own," Cardinals coach Dennis Green said. "In college, there were a lot of different things, some guys were living in dorms, and now it's their first time on their own."
The rookies are not yet under contract, so they're getting $400 a week from the team for participating in a 14-week off-season program. The team provides meals and a hotel room during rookie camp, but after that, they're pretty much on their own.
"I think I'll still be at that college budget, maybe a little bit above that. If I had a budget like Antrel Rolle's (the Cardinals first-round pick), I don't think I'd have to worry about that," Eric Green said, laughing.
Roommates Green and Rolle have been eating out for dinner. Green knows how to cook but doesn't like to. And Rolle just can't.
"I think I might have somebody cook something for me, because the only thing I can make is breakfast," Rolle said. "And the breakfast I make is not healthy at all - pancakes, syrup, biscuits, everything fattening. I like it."
He might consider hanging out more often with rookie linebacker Lance Mitchell.
"Oh, I'm a great cook," said Mitchell, a fifth-round draft pick out of Oklahoma. "I could put anything together. It doesn't take much for me. Go to the store with five dollars and I'll come up with a meal for a family."
Asked what is his favorite dish to cook, Mitchell said, "Oooh!"
His eyes squinted and his mouth started salivating before answering, "Grilled salmon and steamed broccoli."
The biggest challenge for linebacker Darryl Blackstock, another third-round pick, is being away from loved ones back home in Virginia, including his girlfriend and a 21-month-old son.
"(The hardest part is) probably just going home . . . but it ain't home, you know what I'm saying?" Blackstock said.
After practice, Blackstock said he goes home and talks on the phone with his brother and his girlfriend and tries to decipher what his son is trying to say.
"Yeah, he's just 'bah, bah, bah, bah, bah!' " said Blackstock, laughing as if his son was in his arms. "He's talking, but he's trying to get the words together. It's tough, but you know."
Mitchell said his biggest challenge is being a responsible adult in the real world.
"It hit me when I was applying for an apartment, I didn't have a job title," Mitchell said. "Writing 'pro football player' was still out of the question.
"You can't put that," he said, "because I'm not under contract or anything."
Note
The Cardinals signed free-agent receiver Charles Lee to a one-year contract after a tryout Tuesday. Lee, 6-foot-3, 227 pounds, is a six-year veteran and played the past three seasons for Tampa Bay.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0525cardsrooks0525.html
Odeen Domingo
The Arizona Republic
May. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
Eric Green slept in his window seat as he flew to Phoenix from his home state of Florida. He dreamed of being fearless on the NFL gridiron, his heart beating faster and his hopes rising higher than the airliner on takeoff.
Then he woke up, and all of a sudden he had something to fear.
"When I woke up, the pilot said, 'It's a nice day in Phoenix. It's 100 degrees.' Just that right there scared me a little bit," said Green, one of the Cardinals' third-round draft picks. "Then you get out here and everybody is saying, 'Oh, you haven't seen nothing yet.' And then that really scares you."
Welcome to the Valley.
Seventh-round pick LeRon McCoy called the Valley heat "mind-blowing." In his native Harrisburg, Pa., this week will top out at 78 degrees.
But for all the Cardinals rookies, the concerns go well beyond the heat. They've just entered the real world of professional football.
Put your tray table up and buckle your seat belts.
Like anyone heading into the workforce straight out of college, the rookies have to deal with the real-world burden of handling more responsibility - auditioning for a job, managing a tight budget, prioritizing time, finding a place to live, figuring out what to eat besides ramen noodles.
"(The hardest part for rookies) is just the idea that they're on their own," Cardinals coach Dennis Green said. "In college, there were a lot of different things, some guys were living in dorms, and now it's their first time on their own."
The rookies are not yet under contract, so they're getting $400 a week from the team for participating in a 14-week off-season program. The team provides meals and a hotel room during rookie camp, but after that, they're pretty much on their own.
"I think I'll still be at that college budget, maybe a little bit above that. If I had a budget like Antrel Rolle's (the Cardinals first-round pick), I don't think I'd have to worry about that," Eric Green said, laughing.
Roommates Green and Rolle have been eating out for dinner. Green knows how to cook but doesn't like to. And Rolle just can't.
"I think I might have somebody cook something for me, because the only thing I can make is breakfast," Rolle said. "And the breakfast I make is not healthy at all - pancakes, syrup, biscuits, everything fattening. I like it."
He might consider hanging out more often with rookie linebacker Lance Mitchell.
"Oh, I'm a great cook," said Mitchell, a fifth-round draft pick out of Oklahoma. "I could put anything together. It doesn't take much for me. Go to the store with five dollars and I'll come up with a meal for a family."
Asked what is his favorite dish to cook, Mitchell said, "Oooh!"
His eyes squinted and his mouth started salivating before answering, "Grilled salmon and steamed broccoli."
The biggest challenge for linebacker Darryl Blackstock, another third-round pick, is being away from loved ones back home in Virginia, including his girlfriend and a 21-month-old son.
"(The hardest part is) probably just going home . . . but it ain't home, you know what I'm saying?" Blackstock said.
After practice, Blackstock said he goes home and talks on the phone with his brother and his girlfriend and tries to decipher what his son is trying to say.
"Yeah, he's just 'bah, bah, bah, bah, bah!' " said Blackstock, laughing as if his son was in his arms. "He's talking, but he's trying to get the words together. It's tough, but you know."
Mitchell said his biggest challenge is being a responsible adult in the real world.
"It hit me when I was applying for an apartment, I didn't have a job title," Mitchell said. "Writing 'pro football player' was still out of the question.
"You can't put that," he said, "because I'm not under contract or anything."
Note
The Cardinals signed free-agent receiver Charles Lee to a one-year contract after a tryout Tuesday. Lee, 6-foot-3, 227 pounds, is a six-year veteran and played the past three seasons for Tampa Bay.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0525cardsrooks0525.html
