Well, the first week back is over and I have survived. Actually I faired quite well physically, and while some technique needed a bit refreshing, all and all I felt pretty good about where I’m at right now.
As far as the team, it looks pretty interesting. The lineman types seemed to have doubled in numbers, which is very good to see, as we need to find some serious upgrades and add some depth. I’ve only seen a couple of possible LB prospects so far and honestly am not even remotely worried about losing my spot anymore. Someone may surprise me in the next couple of weeks, but right now, just hoping we can find some decent backups. As far as overall numbers go, I’m not feeling to overly optimistic about the size of our team. While Sundays practice had a really good showing (somewhere around the 60 mark), Monday and Wednesday we were down around the 40-45 numbers. This is before the splitting of offense and defense, before the pads and the hitting, before the serious play crunching with antsy coaches getting into your face. I think we will once again be short of the 53-man roster limit, and the issue of being cut is going to become a mute point.
Of course the real disappointing news was the loss of one of our Defensive ends to the facts of life. My Buddy Armstrong is moving away because of her job and had to quit the team. She was a funny character, and one you would NEVER expect on a football field. Not an athletic type, never played sports, she came out for football looking for something I think even she wasn’t very sure of. But she had charisma that just could not be denied. You had to love her. For everything she lacked physically and mentally she made with heart and character. She made practice fun, even after she became the Defense coaches’ whipping boy. You could hear them yelling her name all across the field at least every 10 mins in practice and yet she always had a smile and she always did it better the next time around. She also ended up being my riding buddy to the games last year... and made the trips feel very short and enjoyable instead of a bundle of nerves. She will be missed and I wish her all the best! Of course, the Defense coordinator has decided he may have to use me as his new whipping boy... So I may actually miss her more then I know!
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