Just Waiting

Maybe if I could cut some rug like these guys then Lovie might have second thoughts.

Much time has past and I am currently in Atlanta living with my agent Terry Bolar. I didn't make the team with the Bears or their 8-man practice squad. So after a weekend of deciding what to do next I headed back to Atlanta to setup a home base for a couple weeks.

Right now its the waiting game for me. I'm waiting to see if any roster spots open up on any teams out there in the NFL. I continue to train with John Hefner who worked with me pre-draft. I know the harsh reality of this game, league, business but I am not going to be discouraged. When I started this I intended to go at it and pursue it for a while. 2-3 years. Then I will consider moving on. I may have to seek other jobs to keep myself afloat, but that's just what I may have to do.

This to me is more than a dream. Its part of the plan God had written a long time ago. So I press on. Many would say I'm just wasting my time, but I'll know when to check out. That time has not come yet.

I'm back to days of solitude where getting out is usually for either training or eating. Not much else.

Nothing to be sad about. I still keep my spirits high. Big things are to come and not just in football, but other things. I let you know more about that once it happens.

Beauty From Outside to Within

I didn't want to give anybody the impression that Ashley looks like the picture from the last blog entry all the time. The fisrt one is us at the Getty, and the other two are camera phone pics from her friend's and her dads wedding. I think she'll appreciate these pics more:

Deep Dish Pizza & Tasty Wraps

It's been a while since I last put something in. I've been busy with preparation for training camp which started last Wednesday on the 23rd. I had gone back to San Diego for our 4 week break to train at school and spend time with my lady and friends.

I ventured up to the Bay Area briefly for a weekend to see the family who are doing very well. Martin is enjoying his new job with Covidien (http://www.covidien.com/), playing with surgical toys. Mother is settling at a good pace into her new apartment.

Chaz came out with us one night since he's playing for the Raiders and was in town. My mother, Chaz, my lady and I had a fun time trying to find a restaurant that was still open at 10pm. There are plenty in San Francisco, but you have to know where they are.

I then went back to San Diego for my last week there and spent a lot of time with my girlfriend Ashley, since we will be living apart for a while. Surprisingly, the picture above is the only picture I took during my entire stay in San Diego as the batteries died on my uncharged camera. So I wasn't able to take a more decent pic, but that was all I had. Sorry babe. We were in Balboa Park enjoying the scenery.

Below is a video of old clips from last June. It depicts some fun the rookies and I had together during OTA's. Enjoy

Brown, White, Sayers, Taylor...Just to name a few

Last friday me and the rookies flew to Canton, Ohio to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the NFL's rookie orientation program. They flew us out there to learn of the history, create awareness of the ups and downs, and to have a good foundation to start our careers with.

Gale Sayers, Chicago Bear Hall of Famer from the late 60's, tagged along with us. Currently owner of a large computer manufacturing business, he has made impacts in and outside of the game. He's a man of few words, but to just be with him was an honor in itself.

It was long day, but it was well worth out time. Check it out:

Update

Currently we just finished mini camp. The veterans are here and you don't get as many opportunities now since the focus is on them. So I have to take advantage of every opportunity I get. We have training this week. So we'll spending more time "pumping-it-up".

On Friday we will be flying to Canton, Ohio to check out the Hall of Fame. Gale Sayers will tag along with us. So it should be quite an experience.

More Slide shows. Coming Soon

OTA's

Stands for Offseason Training Activity.

Right now I am residing in a hotel in Lake Forest, Illnois which in North of downtown Chicago. It's a suburb region far from the city.

We just started practice yesterday with all the veterans out there minus Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. Probably contract negociations. The veterans are cool. Nothing too crazy has happened to me. Or yet. I'm back to being a rookie again so I have to start from the bottom just like I did in high school and college.

We probably have the most relaxed camp out of anybody's since Coach Smith likes to keep our practices to a minimum to keep his guys healthy. That's one of the most important things at this level since you can potentially play 24 games in one season. Preseason (4), Season (16), Playoffs (4).

I've already falling in love with this city especially in the downtown area. It's amazing. Next time I will post pictures of our trip to a Cubs game and our tour of the city.

Soon I will be in San Diego to celebrate graduating from college and it will be wonderful to see family, friends and my beaitful lady.

See Yall later.

A certain city that starts with a "C" and ends with an "O" with "HICAG" in the middle

If you don't know already I was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the "Da Bears" so I will be making Chicago my new home for a while. Hopefully a long while.

I am back at home now. I woke not to long ago at about 1pm. Decided to sleep in a bit. I was bit tired from the weekend.

Everything in my opinion went well. It was overwhelmed at first and I had a some nervousness when I first got there. I believe all of us (Draftpicks, free agents, and tryout guys) had some butterflies about the whole thing. On the first day they told us to slow down and stop going so hard when we went against each other. They didn't want us hurting one another and also just wanted us to focus on what we were doing less then how hard we would do it.

I like the D line coach. He's a real country fellow from Mississippi. It was given hard time at first for being so quite the first couple of days. I was just trying to feel everything and get comfortable with how everything works. No it was because I was mumbling.

The weather up there was off and on. The first day of practice was inside there the indoor facility (http://www.kalwall.com/chicago.htm) because of the heavy rain, but warm temperatures. The next day was about 40 degrees, cold, wet, and raining. But it was still football kind of weather. So I fought through cramps and stiffness to get through practice. Lots of Gatorade and extra electrolyte packets.

On the first and second day they did a thorough physical with a chest X-ray, an eye examination, breathing test, a standard Dr.'s physical, EKG, dental, orthopedists exam, hearing test (like the one you do when your 6), and then they take your blood and urine and test that for anything on top of looking at your medical history. After that they take our weight and body fat in the Bod Pod (http://www.wheaton.edu/ahs/Facilities/BodPod.png). It's really hard to do the Bod Pod right the first time so it took me like 5 times to get it right. So they don't miss a beat.

The food was great. Much like cafeteria style but nonetheless great stuff.

Even in these first four days they were cramming a lot of information into our heads about everything from how to talk to media to the proper way to conduct ourselves in different places to how to club and rip on a pop up bag.

Yesterday we had chapel with Ray McElroy, the team chaplain. He's real passionate man who has used his platform as an NFL player to reach out many youth across the states (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGlVqHCrw5o).

Overall it was a very intense weekend and they didn't waist one minute of our time with practice and all the different meetings we had. But I look foward to continue training next week on the 16th when the whole team reports for training. So there will be more to come.