CAMP

After my meal with Daniel and Boro, I learned that we were off to camp the next day! To be perfectly honest, I could have used a day or two to get acclimated to the time change and surrounding environment but nope! I was going to be hitting again in a matter of hours. I still hadn't met my fellow American import teammates although I'd been in communication with them via email. Boro took me back to my apartment and just as we arrived, both Jimmy Robertson, our quarterback and Lab Hakamjin, our nose tackle, pulled up in their car coming from Munich airport. Jimmy was our returning stud QB from Yonkers, NY and was of Irish descent. He claims that he is 100% Irish, and by the looks of him, I believe it. The kid looks like he could be an extra in the film Michael Collins. He also led the German Football League(GFL) in touchdown passes last year. After graduation from Renssaelaer Polytechnic Institute where he set many records in football and was a four year starter, he decided to pursue his Masters degree while playing football overseas. Apparently a very tenacious young man. Lab Hakamjin, a tough talking bruiser from Brooklyn, NY, was in the same boat I was. After his career at Buffalo University, he pursued the NFL just like I did. We both had about the same amount of success in our NFL careers :). However, we had a another common bond in the fact that we had played against one another in college. Although Syracuse was victorious, I joked that if the game was a little bit longer, Buffalo would have most likely prevailed. After giving the NFL his best shot, Lab decided that he still wanted to play football. Playing for the Plattling Blackhawks, he thought was a perfect opportunity to just keep playing ball. He was also born in Albania making him not just an American import with American talent and experience, but also what the GFL calls a "Euro" player. This means that Lab does not have to be considered an American player and doesnt have to count as part of our four American player quota. Apparently, we still may try and recruit another American player later on in the season. Part of his reason for coming here, I later learned, was that he had not seen his grandparents, aunts and uncles since he left Albania 23 years ago. Living in Europe, it seemed, was a convenient way to rekindle with family.
The GFL has funny rules. Normally, most team owners only pay four American players. They call these guys "imports". I myself am obviously considered an import. We have our housing paid for, our health insurance is provided, we get a free gym pass (with wet and dry sauna!), a car, meals and of course a bi-weekly pay check. On the field of play, only two Americans can be on the field at one time. For the time being, I would count as the only Defensive import player while Jimmy and Andrew Blakely, a very talented wide receiver from Texas, counted as the two offensive American weapons. Andrew was a bit older than the three of us and was entering his fourth season in the GFL. He may be the most talented player out of the four of us-a Wes Welker type if you will. He also set all time NCAA records for most receptions per season at his alma mater Truman State, a Division II school in Missouri. He was also among NCAA career reception holders with 300 catches. When he graduated in 2002, his 300 catches trailed the great Jerry Rice's all time record by just one catch....ok now I'll get to preseason camp.
At first, I thought camp would be right around the corner at our own practice facilities. I was wrong about this though and we were to travel about 4 hours to Leipzeg, the largest city in the state of Saxony, Germany and one of the largest in all of Germany. Before we left, Lab and I were to rendezvous with my new German teammates to start a caravan headed to Leipzig. Because Jimmy and Andrew had gone ahead, it was Lab and I who got out of the car first to greet our new German teammates. There were about 30 of them and they were all huddled together, some even smoking cigarettes. Lab and I immediately burst out laughing at the sight of our new teammates smoking "boagies" (Lab's name for cigarettes). As the Germans made their way over to us, we could see that there were some who looked as if they were in pretty darn good shape. They were friendly and welcoming. One thing I must say about my team is that there has been really nobody who rubs me the wrong way. There were some guys I met that I couldn't wait to play with. A guy of Russian descent, Ice Bear they called him, was a put together defensive nose tackle who smoked cigarette after cigarette and claimed that his favorite job was to run down on kick off and break the wedge of the return team. This task takes someone who has disregard for their own self preservation. He speaks very broken English and apparently one of his favorite past times is to put vodka in his mouth and light it on fire. Don't worry, I won't be trying that.
I then figured out who I would be riding with who up to Leipzig . I was chosen to ride with Christian, one of the captains and starting offensive guards. Alex, one of the veteran wide receivers, would also be riding. They asked me what kind of music I liked and I replied the typical "I listen to anything". With that, Alex put in a CD of Nirvana's greatest hits. I had to laugh because I could only think of my brother at this point. Our conversations went well as Christian sped along the Autobahn but let me tell you folks that I was in fear for my life. Christian drove an M3 BMW which made him feel empowered to drive at 150 MPH. Yes I said 150 MPH and yes I did the conversions from km per hour correctly!!!..it was insane and I did ask him to slow down..anyways.... Both Christian and Alex were very curious about American culture as I was of theirs. Christian worked as a fire fighter for BMW and seemed to have the most questions. He asked about racism in the US. He asked if it was true that in America housing values go down if their is a black family living on their block. I was very much taken aback by this and quickly skirted that being a reality. Maybe I'm wrong but I found that very offensive. We also talked about politics. "Here in Germany everyone has health insurance" he said. To that I replied, "Christian, do you know how many are uninsured in the US?" He guessed about 3 million. Needless to say, he was shocked when I told him the reality of the situation. As we approached the Bavarian-Saxony border, I was given a little bit of a history lesson (I also had to do a little of my own research lol). After the city Leipzig was bombed in 1945 by allied forces, American troops captured the city. It was then when Leipzeg was turned over to Soviet forces. The city would not have its independence from Russia until 1989. As we drove, Christian and Alex pointed out where the wall once stood. It was not long ago, they reminded me, that armed men with dogs stood as sentries keeping watch. The area was also populated by landmines. Today, the wall has since been removed and now in its place stands a restaurant that stretches across the highway! On another note, Leipzig was also the place where Napoleon was once turned back leading to his first exile into Elba. Also, Johannes Sebastian Bach, the great composer, had spent some time here....
I learned that our camp was being held at the training site for the men's German national soccer team. This place was pretty neato. It was sort of a training facility/slash hotel that had comfortable beds and a staff that attended to us as far as food and toiletries went. We were served breakfast, lunch and dinner but not the in between snacks that I was used to at Syracuse. As far as the football goes, it was the easiest preseason camp I'd ever been through. Although I found it very interesting to be learning a new defense, physically, it was not demanding. The meetings were very short and weren't filled with the coaching tirades that I was used to seeing in college. It took me a little time to get used to not getting my ass chewed during the meetings or practice when I did something wrong. Coach Herron, our defensive coach, would simply make the correction and move on. A lot of the times I would be coaching myself. Meeting were serious at times and guys certainly wanted to learn, but there was intermittent laughter throughout which took some getting used to. It was also not uncommon to see other players smoking cigarettes between practices and meetings...oh well..it's Europe. As for the native German players, there certainly was raw talent amongst them. We have one defensive end, Rob, who had a couple of NFL Europe tryouts. The kid is a beast. If it not were for a couple of injuries (dislocated elbows) at crucial times in his career, he may have been playing in the States somewhere at a very high level. We also have an outside LB, Danny, who without a doubt has the raw skills to play in the NFL. At 6'3 250, he runs a legitimate 4.6 and is just 21 years old. With coaching, he will no doubt be one of the best players in all of Europe and possibly even more. Both of these guys are great to be around. In fact, all the guys are good dudes. There are also players who have American Jr. high level skills. Many of them played soccer all their lives and simply wanted a change. Club football in Germany is also just a great way to make friends! There is really nothing like it in the United States.
And let me tell you...there are some characters on this team. Our hard hitting safety, Peter, is a 37 year old who has a nose for the ball. He is not blessed with a lot of talent, but really does LOVE TO HIT!!. He also led the GFL in interceptions last year. We have a good number of guys of Turkish descent and I must say it gets your attention when they start yelling at each other in German mixed with a Turkish accent. One in particular, Moorat, is a fired up 38 year old cornerback with a shaved head and handle bar mustache. He has been playing in the GFL since 1993 and lets just say he's someone you would want on your side during a bar fight..or on the football field. It is quite apparent how much these dudes love football at its core element. They don't do it for the fame or the fans and certainly not the money. In fact, most guys have to pay to be on the team. One player told me that it was his dream to go and be a high school coach in the States but he knew how hard this would be considering stringent immigration laws.
After a few days of camp it started to be apparent that could have a pretty good team on our hands. Our offensive is going to kick ass which leaves the defense to be the only question mark. We were last in the league in all categories of defense. I can tell that the guys are expecting big things out of me and I feel honored to look up at these grown men from all walks of life in the huddle. I will surely do my best...

On a side note, I must comment on my first day in Deggendorf (some of you may have heard this story). I did have some down time...and those that know me can surely acknowledge that I am typically not one for sitting around...So, I decided to take my little two door Ford around the streets of Deggendorf. Keep in my mind that I've had little to no experience driving stick shift. I didn't do half bad, in fact, I only stalled out 4 or 5 times lol...I'm sure you all would have chuckled to see me being sworn at in German. However, I was pretty proud of myself asking for directions in German!!