reuber1
10-23-2007, 09:59 PM
Don't know if any of you caught it in last weeks Friday post, but I made an attempt at Arena Football Tryouts for the Chicago Rush this past weekend. The thing was planned for a while; it was mainly just a way to see how well I stack up against former college athletes (who are still in solid shape) after being a very out of shape college student myself, and not having caught a pass in the game since high school. Several years of working out hard have gotten me back into great physical condition, and I felt I had what it takes to do this.
Overall, the thing went extremely well, at least until the last play I ran (morea's 'Break a leg, preferably not one of your own' quote being quite ironic in this situation) which I'll go into a bit further. I didn't do perfect overall, nor do I believe I convinced the coaches to sign me up, but all in all I showed I was able to hang with these guys and perform at their level, and possibly better with just a little more preparation. So ultimately I will give this another shot next year (or in a few months if I get called back for another workout, which I doubt).
After the doors opened at 9:30 and registered into our positions/groups (I was in with the receivers), we had about an hour to warm up on the practice fields (indoor soccer arena). 10:30 we were given a speech by the coaches about not everyone will make it, we will contact you, no pictures/videos/cameraphones from the specators, and how every move we made from there on out (to stretching, to listening to directions, to hustle between plays/drills) will be scrutinized and observed.
After that, we rushed into six lines to do warmups and other calisthenics. Immediately afterwards, we were then going into physical tests, with 2 attempts at each. The 40 yard dash was first for us receivers, and lucky for me, I was second up. I use lucky in the sarcastic sense, as we just finished the warmup, and the last two warmups were 50% sprint pace at 40 yards, and 75% sprint pace at 40 yards...not terribly winded, but not fully rested either, so hardly at maximum ability. My first attempt was at 4.96 seconds, the second at 4.84. I could have done better, but those were not bad. About average, slightly above, compared to the others...some of them just flew though, I think someone pulled off a 4.4 second one. Then was the 20 yard shuttle. I personally don't remember my times in it, but they were fairly decent, 4.4 I think, slightly slower the second time. I actually did decent compared to others on this one, because a lot of the guys suffered from being lazy and not touching the lines, which depending on how bad you missed, would cost you some time. Then was the standing broad jump, which at 5'10" I wasn't looking forward to. However, I managed to pull off consecutive 8 foot plus jumps, which is not too shabby, but again not the best (but again, above average there).
After that were passing drills, which reminded me of why I should have practice playing catch with someone to prepare. The first route was a 5 yard stop route, where you run downfield five yards and spin around quick (like a hook, but, not) and you get the ball. Well, it fell a little short. The second one was a goofy post route that I was the first to run, and I completely botched it by charging inside too far.
Then we went up against the defensive backs, our true time to shine. The first pass was the memorable one. Again, I was up second, and the guy who went first missed his pass. So I told my assigned QB (who were also tryouts) that I was going to do a Stopn'go route...basically 5/7 yards upfield, spin around, get a pumpfake from the QB, then immediately turn back around and streak upfield. It's a hard play to do, and you really have to sell the fake to get the d-back to bite as he's usually waiting where you'll get the catch, but if he does, you're home free. So here's me, a guy attempting a football tryout 8 years after playing the game, going up against a guy who played college level ball recently...sounds like fun! So, the ball is snapped, and I go full speed up field, with the d-back backing up in anticipation. I then put on the brakes HARD and spin around in one fluid motion. The guy BOUGHT it. I immediately turned around faster than I should have been able to and immediately streaked up field and torched the guy; all the onlookers are cheering and hooting and hollering, it was great. Of course, naturally I have to catch the ball, and the QB lead me perfectly. So what happened then? I dropped the thing, naturally. :rolleyes: I did get some great compliments though and lots of high fives on that route, one guy specifically telling me "You sold the shit out of that route, man", which even with the dropped pass, made me happy. Still, I wish I could have caught that sucker. 6 pts easy.
A few more successful routes later, complete with missed, short, or dropped passes, the d-backs went into press coverage. Basically, this means they start right in your face, and they get a few free 'pops' at you until you make it five yards downfield (where it's considered 'illegal contact'). My first route, the d-back and I collided at the pass, both falling, with his leg smacking down on my lower back. OUCH, but I was still good, and hustled back. My last route, however, was a different story. A 12 yard 'In' route, where I was able to get past my coverage guy, but with that type of route he was able to catch back up, and when the pass came my way, all I could feel was contact around my legs and I went down knees first, and my ankle decided to bend a different direction and make a POP noise. I was pretty much down, and had to be carted off the field. Only 3 other routes were run afterwards before they called it a day. I got a lot of high fives and words of encouragement from the other players, who through and through I was able to stick with them.
So, despite the sprained ankle I got, which I've been nursing the past few days, I think it was worth it. Sometime soon we will be sent results of our drills, and a written evaluation by the coaches based on our performance.
Overall, the thing went extremely well, at least until the last play I ran (morea's 'Break a leg, preferably not one of your own' quote being quite ironic in this situation) which I'll go into a bit further. I didn't do perfect overall, nor do I believe I convinced the coaches to sign me up, but all in all I showed I was able to hang with these guys and perform at their level, and possibly better with just a little more preparation. So ultimately I will give this another shot next year (or in a few months if I get called back for another workout, which I doubt).
After the doors opened at 9:30 and registered into our positions/groups (I was in with the receivers), we had about an hour to warm up on the practice fields (indoor soccer arena). 10:30 we were given a speech by the coaches about not everyone will make it, we will contact you, no pictures/videos/cameraphones from the specators, and how every move we made from there on out (to stretching, to listening to directions, to hustle between plays/drills) will be scrutinized and observed.
After that, we rushed into six lines to do warmups and other calisthenics. Immediately afterwards, we were then going into physical tests, with 2 attempts at each. The 40 yard dash was first for us receivers, and lucky for me, I was second up. I use lucky in the sarcastic sense, as we just finished the warmup, and the last two warmups were 50% sprint pace at 40 yards, and 75% sprint pace at 40 yards...not terribly winded, but not fully rested either, so hardly at maximum ability. My first attempt was at 4.96 seconds, the second at 4.84. I could have done better, but those were not bad. About average, slightly above, compared to the others...some of them just flew though, I think someone pulled off a 4.4 second one. Then was the 20 yard shuttle. I personally don't remember my times in it, but they were fairly decent, 4.4 I think, slightly slower the second time. I actually did decent compared to others on this one, because a lot of the guys suffered from being lazy and not touching the lines, which depending on how bad you missed, would cost you some time. Then was the standing broad jump, which at 5'10" I wasn't looking forward to. However, I managed to pull off consecutive 8 foot plus jumps, which is not too shabby, but again not the best (but again, above average there).
After that were passing drills, which reminded me of why I should have practice playing catch with someone to prepare. The first route was a 5 yard stop route, where you run downfield five yards and spin around quick (like a hook, but, not) and you get the ball. Well, it fell a little short. The second one was a goofy post route that I was the first to run, and I completely botched it by charging inside too far.
Then we went up against the defensive backs, our true time to shine. The first pass was the memorable one. Again, I was up second, and the guy who went first missed his pass. So I told my assigned QB (who were also tryouts) that I was going to do a Stopn'go route...basically 5/7 yards upfield, spin around, get a pumpfake from the QB, then immediately turn back around and streak upfield. It's a hard play to do, and you really have to sell the fake to get the d-back to bite as he's usually waiting where you'll get the catch, but if he does, you're home free. So here's me, a guy attempting a football tryout 8 years after playing the game, going up against a guy who played college level ball recently...sounds like fun! So, the ball is snapped, and I go full speed up field, with the d-back backing up in anticipation. I then put on the brakes HARD and spin around in one fluid motion. The guy BOUGHT it. I immediately turned around faster than I should have been able to and immediately streaked up field and torched the guy; all the onlookers are cheering and hooting and hollering, it was great. Of course, naturally I have to catch the ball, and the QB lead me perfectly. So what happened then? I dropped the thing, naturally. :rolleyes: I did get some great compliments though and lots of high fives on that route, one guy specifically telling me "You sold the shit out of that route, man", which even with the dropped pass, made me happy. Still, I wish I could have caught that sucker. 6 pts easy.
A few more successful routes later, complete with missed, short, or dropped passes, the d-backs went into press coverage. Basically, this means they start right in your face, and they get a few free 'pops' at you until you make it five yards downfield (where it's considered 'illegal contact'). My first route, the d-back and I collided at the pass, both falling, with his leg smacking down on my lower back. OUCH, but I was still good, and hustled back. My last route, however, was a different story. A 12 yard 'In' route, where I was able to get past my coverage guy, but with that type of route he was able to catch back up, and when the pass came my way, all I could feel was contact around my legs and I went down knees first, and my ankle decided to bend a different direction and make a POP noise. I was pretty much down, and had to be carted off the field. Only 3 other routes were run afterwards before they called it a day. I got a lot of high fives and words of encouragement from the other players, who through and through I was able to stick with them.
So, despite the sprained ankle I got, which I've been nursing the past few days, I think it was worth it. Sometime soon we will be sent results of our drills, and a written evaluation by the coaches based on our performance.