NFL training camp fights illustratestrate c conflicted mind- set among coaches
While sports fans all over the world spent the past two weeks obsessing over the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, hard- core American football fans were far more interested in the fact that NFL training camps were kicking into high gear. This meant, among other things, training camp fights.
One of the higher- profile incidents of this nature involved Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta, who broke his finger during a fight with rookie linebacker Kamalei Correa on August 1. At the time, Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn’t seem to have a problem with the Pitta- Correa fight – one of six scuffles that occurred at practice on that day.
“This is football. We have to build a football team,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a tough game.” But when Harbaugh learned Monday about the broken finger of Pitta, who hasn’t played a game since 2014 due to multiple hip surgeries, Harbaugh seemed to change his tune.
“It’s absurd that it even happened,” he said.“It’s ridiculous. It’s sad and I’m disappointed about it.”
Harbaugh’s frustration is emblematic of a conflicted coaching mind- set that is at once shocking and not at all surprising. On one hand, NFL coaches want their players to be tough- minded, Type- A competitors who stand up for themselves in all circumstances. On the other hand, the same coaches want their players to be team- first guys who play smart and do everything they can to avoid unnecessary injuries.
Muddying the waters even further is the contrast between training camp rookies – most of whom have to do something shocking to stand out from their peers and enhance their chances of making the team – and training camp veterans, whose guaranteed employment status encourages them to com- pete less than full- out in order to preserve their physical health.
Essentially, Harbaugh and his NFL coaching brethren want their players to play hard, defend themselves, buy into a team concept, and avoid injuries while playing the most collision- happy sport on the planet.
That doesn’t sound ridiculous, does it?