First week of UFL rated ‘P’: paperwork, playbook, practice

Editor's note: Former UNLV wide receiver Casey Flair will write a weekly journal for the Las Vegas Review-Journal from training camp with the Locomotives of the United Football League. His journal will appear on Wednesdays:

My first week of professional football camp with the Locomotives started with what every athlete dreads: paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.

The team had to report to Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sept. 9, with a team meeting at coach Jim Fassel's house. It was actually more like a pizza party, so that was pretty cool. The next three days consisted of completing all the paperwork needed just to step onto the field. We went through equipment sizing, head shots, physicals and received our football bible, "The Playbook."

On Sept. 12, the team reported to its new home for the next three months: Casa Grande's very own Holiday Inn. We had meetings the next morning at the new training center, which was built just for us. The facility was literally just completed; construction workers were finishing and taking out their supplies as we walked in.

By walking onto this property, where the meetings and the training sessions would be held, everybody knew that camp had officially started, and every person was more than ready to step onto the field and get going. And it began that Sunday night with a walk-through, where we went over plays we had installed in meetings earlier that day, so that when we ran them the next day at practice it would end up turning into a full-fledged practice.

People were running full speed. We ended up running 60 plays in 40 minutes, more than we run in a normal practice in that same amount of time. This only expressed what the coaches already knew, that a staff and team of hungry Locomotives were eager to get onto the field and prepare for our home opener Oct. 8 in my old stomping grounds, Sam Boyd Stadium.

Sept. 14 was the start of what I have worked my whole life for: pro football's first day of practice. The day started bright and early, with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and practice at 8.

We walked onto the freshly laid grass fields, some players straight from the NFL or Canadian Football League, others after a hiatus from football, and a handful directly out of college. All were showing the same enthusiasm to be able to strap on the pads for another season on the gridiron. Coach Fassel wasted little time in bringing us back to reality with a few pointed words, telling us we were here to work and prepare to win a UFL championship.

As a rookie wide receiver, camp can be a little more difficult because you have to earn the respect of so many of your fellow receivers, coaches and, most important, your quarterback -- all while memorizing a 3-inch binder full of plays. I understood as soon as I opened my notebook that a professional playbook is a lot more difficult to learn than a college playbook and would require a few extra study hours. I was being asked to learn a whole new playbook and three positions in the offense in a little more than four days. This, combined with the fast-paced and error-free practices that Coach Fassel demands, made for an anxiety-ridden first week.

As we say in football, "You never want to be THAT guy," meaning the person who does not know what he is doing during a play. Unfortunately, in the first week of practice, everyone is "THAT guy" on a few occasions. However, the key is to be a low-rep player, meaning if you make a mistake, you can't take 10 more repetitions to get it right. The repetitions piled up throughout the week, as well as all the meeting hours. I began to stop thinking about the play schematics, frantically running them through my head, and just proceeded to line up without thinking and did what came naturally -- play football.

The first week has come and gone, and both sides of the ball have become comfortable with a large part of the playbook. We are also bonding as a team and a receiving corps. Everyone focused on a scrimmage against the California Redwoods, who also happen to be our opening opponent in two weeks. We have been beating up on each other pretty good during practices for the last 10 days, and it will be a good change of pace to compete with another team.

On a side note, I would like to congratulate my former Rebel teammates and UNLV coach Mike Sanford on a hard-fought 34-33 win over Hawaii last weekend. Go Rebels and UNLV fans, and I hope you will also come out and see me play Oct. 8, as we need all the support we can get.

I will end my journal every week with a quote that I used to motivate myself that week. This week's quote was: "Every day you are either getting better or getting worse, as you never stay the same, so COMPETE."