pettifogger
Footballguy
When I first saw the article over the weekend, I thought it was a joke. But, apparently the team has been forced by a union complaint to cancel a week of the voluntary camp because it was being run too intensely.
Could be a good sign for Raider fans, though, that Kiffin has started to light a fire under the team. I'm not a fan of coaches who beat their teams up in practice to the point that they have less at game time, that's not intelligent coaching, but these are offseason drills, and the Raiders definitely needed to add some intensity.
Now if they can get the player(s) who
to the NFLPA off the team, so much the better.
Too intense to continue
Raiders' offseason workouts cut short by a week
David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin often boasts about the high intensity level of offseason workouts. Turns out all that full-speed work cost his team one last week of pre-camp training.
The Raiders were forced to cancel the final week of voluntary workouts after the NFL Players Association complained about rules violations regarding offseason training, the team confirmed Friday.
The decision was more symbolic than anything else. The Raiders' third and final offseason minicamp ended Wednesday, their final offseason practice after more than three months of organized team activities.
What the Raiders lost is next week's scheduled weight training, which was voluntary and did not include action on the field.
"I was notified that the players' union believes our total commitment to improving our football team has resulted in some violations of rules regarding practice standards," Kiffin said in a team-issued statement Friday.
"The union has complained about the high level of intensity, player aggressiveness and fast pace of our practices and, as a result, has taken away the final week of our offseason program."
An NFLPA spokesman did not immediately return a phone message for comment.
Kiffin, 32, is in his first season as an NFL coach. When he was hired in January, he talked about how "the games will be easy because practice is so hard."
Indeed, offseason workouts were run at a fast pace. It was a noticeable contrast to last season, when players complained about too much downtime and standing around at practice.
During offseason workouts, players could not wear pads and tackling was not allowed per the union contract. Serious contact was inevitable as players -- especially on offense -- worked to earn a starting job.
The clearest physical contact was when the offensive and defensive lines went against each other. Kiffin once praised Robert Gallery for putting players on the ground as a sign of improvement.
Media outlets across the country have reported on contact and other rule violations at NFL minicamps in the past three months. No other team is known to have been penalized.
Kiffin apparently never saw it coming. At the end of minicamp Wednesday, he told reporters he was pleased with how his team worked through 14 weeks of organized team activities.
"I think we learned they're willing to compete and they're willing to practice the way we want to practice," Kiffin said Wednesday. "We ask a lot of them. We ask an extremely high tempo of them at practice and, no complaints, they just jump right in and do it."
The Raiders reconvene for training camp July 26 in Napa.
E-mail David White at dwhite@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG1VQGC6A1.DTL
Could be a good sign for Raider fans, though, that Kiffin has started to light a fire under the team. I'm not a fan of coaches who beat their teams up in practice to the point that they have less at game time, that's not intelligent coaching, but these are offseason drills, and the Raiders definitely needed to add some intensity.
Now if they can get the player(s) who
to the NFLPA off the team, so much the better.Too intense to continue
Raiders' offseason workouts cut short by a week
David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin often boasts about the high intensity level of offseason workouts. Turns out all that full-speed work cost his team one last week of pre-camp training.
The Raiders were forced to cancel the final week of voluntary workouts after the NFL Players Association complained about rules violations regarding offseason training, the team confirmed Friday.
The decision was more symbolic than anything else. The Raiders' third and final offseason minicamp ended Wednesday, their final offseason practice after more than three months of organized team activities.
What the Raiders lost is next week's scheduled weight training, which was voluntary and did not include action on the field.
"I was notified that the players' union believes our total commitment to improving our football team has resulted in some violations of rules regarding practice standards," Kiffin said in a team-issued statement Friday.
"The union has complained about the high level of intensity, player aggressiveness and fast pace of our practices and, as a result, has taken away the final week of our offseason program."
An NFLPA spokesman did not immediately return a phone message for comment.
Kiffin, 32, is in his first season as an NFL coach. When he was hired in January, he talked about how "the games will be easy because practice is so hard."
Indeed, offseason workouts were run at a fast pace. It was a noticeable contrast to last season, when players complained about too much downtime and standing around at practice.
During offseason workouts, players could not wear pads and tackling was not allowed per the union contract. Serious contact was inevitable as players -- especially on offense -- worked to earn a starting job.
The clearest physical contact was when the offensive and defensive lines went against each other. Kiffin once praised Robert Gallery for putting players on the ground as a sign of improvement.
Media outlets across the country have reported on contact and other rule violations at NFL minicamps in the past three months. No other team is known to have been penalized.
Kiffin apparently never saw it coming. At the end of minicamp Wednesday, he told reporters he was pleased with how his team worked through 14 weeks of organized team activities.
"I think we learned they're willing to compete and they're willing to practice the way we want to practice," Kiffin said Wednesday. "We ask a lot of them. We ask an extremely high tempo of them at practice and, no complaints, they just jump right in and do it."
The Raiders reconvene for training camp July 26 in Napa.
E-mail David White at dwhite@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG1VQGC6A1.DTL
