You may have been hearing the acronym “OTAs” quite a bit in
sports news and water cooler conversation recently. If you’ve been wondering what that means, I’m
here to ‘splain all.
Under the NFL’s rules, teams are allowed to hold up to ten
days of “organized team activity” during the offseason. They can also hold “minicamps” for rookies in
one of the two weekends following the NFL draft, and one mandatory minicamp for
veterans. If a team has a new head
coach, however, it may hold one additional voluntary minicamp for
veterans. Under no circumstances,
however, may any team hold any activities during the ten days prior to the
start of training camps—which usually start in mid-July.* So, what are these events? Read on…
ORGANIZED TEAM
ACTIVITIES
The rules governing offseason training and workouts are set
out in Article 21 of the collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) between the
NFLPA (the labor organization representing the players) and the league and team
owners. Among the many changes to the CBA
hammered out last summer are some of the rules by which OTAs are
conducted. The rules governing offseason
training are quite extensive, believe it or not, but I will do my best to
summarize those that apply to the OTAs and minicamps, which are basically preliminary
practice sessions for the teams. Under
the CBA:
&
OTAs are voluntary, and no one can indicate to a
player that failure to participate will result in adverse consequences, such as
not making the team;
& Activity is limited to a maximum of six hours a
day, with only two hours on the field;
&
There is no live contact, which means no one-on-one
offense vs. defense drills; and
& Players are allowed limited padding: only helmets and knee and elbow pads can be
worn, presumably to dissuade full contact activity.
To ensure compliance, and because (believe it or not) league
officials can’t be everywhere at once, the teams are required to film on-field
workouts during OTAs. Each team must
keep copies of these films until thirty days after the start of the regular
season, in the event the league receives a complaint about any violations of
the CBA’s rules.
Even before the OTAs start, however, the CBA provides for
two “phases” of offseason workouts. In
Phase One, teams can allow players to use team facilities to work out, but only
for strength and conditioning and any needed physical rehab. During this phase, only strength and
conditioning coaches (who can have no other coaching duties for the team) are
allowed to be present. No footballs can
be used during Phase One either, except for quarterbacks who want to practice
throwing to their wide receivers. During
Phase Two, all coaches are allowed to be present, but there is to be no contact
and players cannot wear helmets.
MINICAMPS
Article 22 of the CBA sets out the rules for “minicamps,”
the other type of offseason activity teams can run. As noted earlier, each team can hold only one
mandatory minicamp for veterans (the exception being that teams with a
new head coach can have one more voluntary minicamp). There is no limit on how many minicamps a
team can have for its rookies, provided that they are held within a seven-week “Rookie
Football Development Program,” which starts around May 16th.
The CBA’s rules about minicamps are very extensive,
specifying: the weekly schedule (i.e., physicals on Monday, with no practice or
workouts, and practices Tuesday through Thursday); the maximum time allowed for
on-the-field activity; the length of meal breaks; and exactly when in the
offseason the camps may be held (e.g., voluntary veteran minicamps must be held
before the draft).
PENALTIES
If a violation occurs in the last week of the team’s
offseason workouts (i.e., the last week before the break leading up to training
camp), the first week of the team’s OTAs for the next offseason will be
cancelled. It is interesting to note
that in such an event, the penalty will follow the head coach should he be
hired by a new team in the interim. For
example, let’s say that the Washington Redskins violate the OTA rules during
their last minicamp (June 12-14), and the NFL decides to cancel their first
week of OTAs in the 2013 offseason. If
Mike Shanahan is fired at the end of the 2012 season and is hired by the
Jacksonville Jaguars, the Redskins will be able to have their full 2013 OTA
schedule back, and the Jaguars will be staying home during what would have been
their first week of OTAs in May 2013.
MAKING THE CASE
FOR CAUTION
It may seem that such extensive regulations over when and
how to practice is an extreme form of babysitting—after all, these are grown
men who have attended at least three years of college and many of them have
already played at the professional level for many years. However, the basis for these limits lies in
the real risk to the health and safety of the players, which can often be
ignored by the athletes who are more concerned with making the teams.
Even though minicamps and OTAs are voluntary,
all players typically show up, unless they are injured or are in protracted contract
negotiations with the team (e.g., QB Drew Brees in New Orleans). Remember, the offseason is an extended job
interview for each player; just because he has been with the team for many
years, or he was just drafted in the first round, doesn’t mean that his spot on
the final roster is guaranteed. In fact,
many use offseason workouts to improve skills or parts of their game that
coaches may deem lacking.
The pressure to impress one’s coaches and teammates can lead
players to disregard their personal health and safety. One of the more memorable examples of the
toll that the offseason routine can take is Korey Stringer (right), who was an
offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings.
A 1995 draft pick, Stringer had an impressive career; in his six seasons
he played in 93 regular season games, starting 91 of them. Unfortunately, he died of complications from heat
stroke during the team’s preseason training camp in 2001, at the age of 27.
Korey Stringer’s death prompted the football community at
all levels to reexamine its practicing methods to determine how to prevent heat
stroke and other heat-related injuries. Discussions
over player weight also arose, as Stringer weighed 335 pounds (actually the
lowest in his pro career) at his death.
Since 2001, teams at all levels have taken protective measures against
heat injuries—e.g., wearing light colored uniforms for practices and having
water and shade accessible for players (and coaches) at all times.
Even though player-on-player contact is prohibited during practice
and workouts, there is still a significant risk of injury during OTAs and
minicamps, and such injuries can be costly to both the player and his team. Teams and players were reminded of this risk
when New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (left), who is one of quarterback Eli
Manning’s go-to receivers, broke a bone in his foot last week. Nicks was having a routine workout session
when he broke the foot; he had surgery to repair the break with an implanted
screw the next day.
Nicks should be able to
play in the Giants’ season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on September 5th,
but the injury certainly put a damper on the excitement that comes with the
start of offseason training. One
positive to come out of the situation for the Giants, however, is that other
receivers who are further down the depth chart on the roster will now have a
chance to play pitch-and-catch with Eli Manning during the OTAs and minicamps. It’s doubtful that anyone will have a chance
to oust Nicks from his starting position, but one more receiver who otherwise
wouldn’t have had a chance might stay on the final team roster.
*Click here to see the complete list of
OTA and minicamp schedules for all 32 NFL teams.
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