The NFL lockout is over so ESPN can mercifully retire the same photo of the locked gate holding back the dirty snow we saw over and over and over again. But this also means our favorite former service academy stars can return to the field and NFL teams can invite recent graduates who will try to catch a coach’s eye before returning to active duty.
Sure, this is probably the lazy way to go but let’s see what the players are up to via the Twittersphere now that the NFL’s has announced that football’s back and we can go back to ignoring women’s soccer.
Former Zoomie running back/wide receiver and current Philadelphia Eagle Chad Hall tweeted that he drove up to Philadelphia on July 22 in anticipation that the lockout would end. July 23, he got “Back in Philly!” where he made the accurate observation that it is “So hot!” but still completed a “Good track workout [July 23],” before making “time for some good food.” Maybe a good ole’ Philly cheese steak?
Then Sunday night, Hall saw the movie Horrible Bosses, which he said was “hilarious.” On Monday, he had “good workout with some of the teammates this morning.” On Wednesday he and the rest of the Eagles will report to training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
Former Army Black Knight and current Detroit Lions linebacker Caleb Campbell was less generous with his schedule and thoughts on the lockout. He’s happy to get back on the field, though. Monday afternoon he wrote, “Time to go to work. Blessed to have another opportunity to play the game that I love.”
Campbell hasn’t made it back to Motown quite yet. He spend Monday visiting a church in Tulsa, Okla., according to his Twitter account.
The players who might have been the most nervously anticipating the end of the lockout were the players who didn’t get drafted and had to wait for the lockout to end before teams could sign them. Many of these players included service academy stars who often receive invites from NFL teams, such as former Air Force Academy defensive lineman Ben Garland. Most players use the entirety of their leave to attend the camps.
This year another Air Force star, Reggie Rembert, is likely to get a few calls from NFL teams. According to his Twitter feed he hasn’t heard from any teams, although he retweeted ESPN reporter Adam Schefter’s tweet that the lockout had ended.
