Approximately 110 aspiring football players had a day of sweaty fun Saturday at Terre Haute North High School, where Steve Weatherford brought the National Football League to his hometown for the second year of Camp Weatherford.
“Year two, the best yet,” the former Patriot and free-agent NFL punter said after it was over. “All the kids had a great time. It was awesome … a couple of blisters, but no injuries.”
There’s no charge for the annual one-day camp which, Weatherford noted, includes “shirts, shorts, lunch and instruction.” The quality of the instructors isn’t too shabby either.
“We had five NFL guys, four retired [NFL] guys and six former Big Ten players,” the 2001 North graduate and McMillan Award winner pointed out. “We’re also getting help from people around here like Fox Canteen and Bagnoche Sports. People are popping out of the woodwork to help.”
It’s an event Weatherford plans to continue indefinitely, he indicated.
“I’ve been very blessed by the Terre Haute community,” he explained. “This is my opportunity to pass those blessings back on to the community … it’s a very humbling experience to get up to speak at the start of camp and see those eager faces looking back at you.”
Expect the camp to be on the same weekend again next summer too.
“It falls between the dead week for the high school teams and the seven-on-seven tournaments,” Weatherford noted.
It’s also a weekend that’s almost always a free one for the NFL personnel involved. In a normal NFL summer, mini-camps and organized team activities are over by this time, with training camp a couple of weeks in the future.
“I structure my workouts around the date [for Camp Weatherford],” its director said Saturday.
Of course, this isn’t a normal NFL summer, thanks to prolonged labor negotiations between the owners and the NFL Players Association.
“Ordinarily this would be about a week and a half or two weeks before training camp,” Weatherford said. “I’d be zeroing in and polishing my swing — but I’m still doing that.”
And the hard work won’t have been wasted, Weatherford believes.
“There’s a lot of excitement right now [among the NFL players],” he said. “It’s been such a long offseason, with no end in sight. But now it feels like we’re at the edge of getting [a new labor deal] done.”
The players will be ready when the lockout ends too, he added.
“My buddies are training harder than ever; they’re so ready to get it over with,” Weatherford said.
Most of those buddies also have contracts in hand as soon as the lockout ends, however. Weatherford — and veteran kicker John Carney, one of the experienced pros who joined him Saturday — will be looking for new teams or to re-sign with their former teams as soon as they are able to do so.
“I feel very comfortable, coming off the season I had,” Weatherford said. “I tied the NFL record for most punts inside the 20[-yard line] and I broke the NFL record for most punts inside the 10.”
And although missing the mini-camps and OTAs might be a problem for players at some positions, punter is not one of those. Weatherford indicated this week that getting together in the spring with his teammates sometimes proves to be an interruption of his normal training routine.
“It’s great to go out with your snapper, or your holder if you’re a kicker,” he said Saturday, “but if you’re a professional and prepare in the right manner, that should only take one or two weeks at the most.
“Of course, I could have a new snapper and new punt protections to work on this year,” he continued, “but I feel I’m more prepared because I’ve had such a long offseason to train. I’m chomping at the bit; [a training camp] can’t get here soon enough.”
One of the teams rumored to be looking at Weatherford is the Chicago Bears, who — if the labor deal is hammered out soon — would be playing in the Hall of Fame Game that’s the annual opener of the exhibition season next month.
“They’ll be very motivated to get [free agent] things done soon,” said Weatherford, who hinted he would welcome a chance to talk with the Bears. “They’re an organization that’s motivated by winning, not making money. And [Chicago quarterback] Jay Cutler [from Santa Claus, IN] is a friend of mine; we’ve known each other since we were 15.”
If he were to sign with Chicago, that would give the Bears a double connection to Terre Haute on every punt. Long snapper Patrick Mannelly of the Bears is the son-in-law of Tommy John.
But whatever team becomes his new one will be getting a good deal, Weatherford indicated, and he’s looking forward to the next couple of weeks to determine his future.
“I’m healthy, I’m strong and I’m flexible,” he said Saturday. “I want to make some team really happy about the decision they’re about to make.”
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