After a long period of trial and error, the NFL's season preparation has formed a relatively complete system, and before the official opening of the regular season in the first week of September, each team has prepared at its own pace and in an orderly manner.

According to the rules, the team needs to submit a 53-member squad before the official deadline, which is the last player lineup; But before the preseason, the roster could accommodate 90 players, and then according to the progress of the season's preparations, the roster was gradually reduced to finally confirm the main lineup for the regular season.

It can be said that each team is aiming for the final roster and preparing for the season step by step.

At the end of April, after the draft ended, free agents began to sign one after another, and then the team arranged a voluntary training camp according to their needs.

Normally, voluntary training camps take place in mid-May or early June and include physical training, recovery and basic tactical training, but the main task is to ensure that rookies and free agents who have joined the team smoothly and adapt to the manager's tactical system.

As the name suggests, this is a voluntary bootcamp.

More often than not, rookies, undrafted players and new signings will be more proactive in attending training camp in order to impress the coach and be able to take a place in the final squad; Or, when a new coach joins a team, this is the best time to get to know each other, and even senior players have to earn the trust of the new coach.

But overall, every player can choose according to their own situation, whether or not to participate in voluntary training camps, including rookie players; In addition, a small number of players who are fighting for big contracts and even rookie players will deliberately miss the camp as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the team and go on strike unless the contract is signed.

The entire voluntary bootcamp will last about a month.

Depending on the specific needs of the team, there may be a small mandatory camp for players at a specific position, such as quarterback camp or wide receiver camp, which may or may not be skipped depending on the coach's conception and the player's condition.

Then, in early July, the official training camp opened, which also meant the end of the offseason and the start of the new season.

This is a mandatory training camp, unless there is an injury, unless there is a walk-out, unless there are unforeseen circumstances, every player must be in attendance, and the coaching staff will begin the formal tactical drills, from offense to defense to special service, and fully enter the new season.

Almost every team chooses to change the playbook to a new playbook in the voluntary training camp, from tactics to codes, and then practice it in the mandatory training camp, which means that even the veteran players have to relearn the playbook, which becomes a constant problem and challenge every year.

All of these tactical tests and line-ups will be played in four preseason games in August, and the coaching staff will make adjustments and arrangements to determine tactics, flaws, rosters, and finally the new season.

To sum up, after the draft meeting at the end of April, the preparation for the new season has actually sounded the horn.

But specifically, the June volunteer bootcamp is a clearer starting point. Every player will try to impress the coaching staff with their performances and form, and do their best to stay in the final 53-man squad.

Because during this period, every week or two, the coaching staff will make cuts, shorten their roster little by little, and it is no exaggeration to say that every week is a moment of life and death, there is no breathing room, there is no room for laziness, the slightest negligence, all the previous efforts may be in vain.

Even players who started in pre-season can be the subject of layoffs.

This is especially true for undrafted rookies.

It's always hard to work, and it's hard to go on vacation, and that's the offseason.

The noise and buzz of the Super Bowl seems to have been last night, and after a long night of partying and sleeplessness, the world has turned a new page, and the San Francisco 49ers' voluntary training camp has officially started for two weeks, and the entire team is in preparation mode for the 2012 season.

Joe-Loney lifted his chin and looked at the dark blue sky above his head, the moon was sparse, the whole world was gray, and still couldn't catch much light and color, this was the most peaceful moment before dawn, it seemed that even the sound of car engines, complete revelry and noisy insects had completely disappeared, only the lone street lamp was bright, supporting a small halo to light the way forward.

Looney retracted his gaze and trotted all the way in the direction of the training ground, there was not much to see in the hazy dark blue, the lights of the training ground had not been turned on for the time being, and only a faint silhouette could be captured through the halo of the locker room and the office building, outlining the appearance of the training ground.

Closer, closer, and then Looney saw the figures of two companions:

Demarcus-Dobbs in the number 83 jersey and Jeel-Hampton in the number 33 jersey.

The difference between the two players is that the Dobbs jersey on the left has a name; The Hampton on the right, on the other hand, has only numbers.

Dobbs, who plays as a close end, was last year's undrafted rookie who went through the 49ers trial in San Francisco as a free agent, and he was one of three undrafted rookies who remained on the 53-man squad.

Hampton, who plays as a running back, was the undrafted rookie this year, and after the draft, he came to the San Francisco 49ers for a tryout and managed to stay in hopes of making a place on the team.

As for Looney.

He is a rookie with the 117th pick in the fourth round of this year, serving as an offensive guard, with a 66th number on his back, and he also has no name for the time being.

Because for the team, before passing the voluntary training camp, the rookie players and the undrafted players are the same, and they may not be able to make it to the end of the team and still be eliminated. While the first-round picks can all have their names and numbers, their positions and stats aren't much different.

Once in the league, they are not children.

Looney walked forward quickly, the silence of the court made him involuntarily lighten his steps, and even his voice was lowered, "See him?" Are the rumors true? Where is he? ”

"There. He was training his steps with a rope ladder. Hampton said in a low voice, then raised his hand in a direction.

Looney looked over, and then saw a figure, which looked slender and thin in the night, the light and shadow disappeared in the agile and light movements, and it was impossible to catch the specific outline, but it was certain that his steps were nimble and agile, and he was meticulous in his basic training

It's the kind of basic training that every quarterback or wide receiver or corner guard is bound to do in middle school.

"I told you." Dobbs also lowered his voice and said, "Last year, Bambi was like this, and he never fell behind throughout the season. ”

"But last year I was a rookie, and this year I'm a sophomore!" Looney couldn't help but remind.

Everyone in the team knows that Lu Ke is a training maniac.

Every day, he is bound to be the first to arrive at the training ground, and after a long training session, he will go home in the evening to rewatch the game footage, and he seems to have no sleep all day and is fully engaged in training.

As the captain of the team's offensive team and the team's hottest star right now, Lu Ke's every move has become a role model for the team, and the coaching staff led by Jim Hubble always complains to the rookies, "Speed up, speed up, your progress is too slow!" Look at Bambi, God! ”

For the rookie players, they don't believe it, and take it for granted that this is just a rumor deliberately created by the team, in order to establish Lu Ke's authority and supervise the training of the players.

Whether it's out of curiosity, for verification, or for following, the trio in front of them meet in the early hours of the morning to find out.

This is not a difficult task, as the voluntary training camp is mandatory for all players to live in a hotel arranged by the team and not go home, similar to a closed training camp where all players can get to know each other better.

The only difficulty is whether the alarm clock can wake you up, after all, getting up at half past five in the morning is an extremely difficult task.

"I don't care, I've seen it. I'm ready to join him now and start training together. Hampton dropped a word, without a superfluous pause, and ran all the way in the direction where Lu Ke was.

However, he didn't disturb Lu Ke's training rhythm, but stopped not far away and began to warm up at his own pace.

Looney, who remained in place, and Dobbs exchanged glances.

Dobbs shrugged his shoulders and said simply, plainly, but meaningfully, "Last year, the team left a total of three undrafted rookies, and I was one of them, and so was Bambi. ”

But now, Lu Ke is the team's undisputed starting quarterback, while Dobbs still hasn't been able to make a breakthrough in the competition for the near end, and more often participates in the game in the special service group.

After saying that, Dobbs also took a step forward and joined Lu Ke and Hampton.

Looney, who stayed where he was, let out a long breath, although he was so sleepy that he could barely open his eyes now, but since he was already up in bed, why not start training all day? What's more, if he wants to establish himself in the offensive line of the San Francisco 49ers, the relationship with the quarterback is crucial, and he must start working on it.

Lu Ke, who was concentrating on training, unconsciously had a little partner, and the training base gradually became lively.