I was so excited to attend practice today! I’m looking to become an NFL general manager and the majority of NFL GMs start as a scout so I thought that going to practice would help start me on my path to become a general manager.
When I was at practice, another intern, Dakota, and I started setting up the field with the Equipment Manager and after we did that the players came out and started to practice. I was very nervous and excited but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do so Dakota explained to me that I needed to spot the balls for the players when he would call the plays. I was very confused with how the Predators were practicing because it is different from the NFL so I was having some trouble knowing where to spot the ball and I was slowing practice down. Practice needs to be fast-paced so that players can get a feel for how fast the actual game will be paced and be prepared for it, so it wasn’t good that I was slowing things down.
Shortly after the coaches had a more experienced intern, Minh, and the equipment manager, Patrick, spot the ball and call the plays because they were faster and they understood the pace. The rest of practice Dakota and I would get the balls that went out of bounds, rub them off and toss them back to the team for the next play. After practice I understood better how things were ran and Dakota explained to me a little more in-depth about practices and told me to always be listening and do everything fast. So, the lesson of the day was stay on your toes all the time and be aware of everything.