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Run test and its repercussions
Bob Labriola, a Pittsburgh native, has been editor of Steelers Digest since its inception in 1988. This page offers him an opportunity to provide additional insights into the Steelers, the NFL and the events that are making news.
By all accounts, the run test that marks the official start of a Steelers training camp is much ado about nothing. Even calling it a test seems to be something of a stretch, because what these uber-athletes are asked to do is akin to having mathematicians
recite the times tables. For the vast majority, even the very inexperienced, this is as simple as two-timestwo. But once every decade or so, the run test snares someone, and so it was that the 2008 version became much ado about too much Casey Hampton.
Run tests are like fingerprints, and Mike Tomlin explained his version: “It was eight 100-yard sprints, then you jog 50 yards back and walk the remaining 50 yards with a continuous running clock. It is a great gauge of conditioning, but at the same time it keeps people safe from (muscle) pulls by the way the test is structured.It is a little different than if you had 40-yard dashes, if you will. What we want is to make sure that these guys are in great cardiovascular condition without exposing them to potential injuries, because we came here to play football.”
Because Hampton completed only five sprints, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list, where he remained through the first week of training camp. This meant that while his teammates were working on football, Hampton was on a separate field trying to sweat off those extra pounds.
“I could be in better shape,” said Hampton shortly after the run test, “but my thing is the only way you can get into football shape is to play football. You can do all the running you want, know what I mean? You can have a guy do the run test and be the best run-test guy, and he can’t play football, so it doesn’t matter.”
Depending upon your outlook, banishing Hampton to PUP either meant that he was being subjected to an embarrassing form of discipline because his offseason had been so
undisciplined in the conditioning department, or it meant that a key component of a thin and aging defensive line was going to have fewer hits on a body that will be 31 years old on Sept. 3.
Actually, it’s both.
Hampton failed the run test, and there is a degree of embarrassment to that because these elite competitors hate to lose at anything.
And although Hampton was hardly contrite about his weight and level of conditioning upon arrival, even joking that he hopes it takes him “the whole month” to return, there is an element of punishment involved in one player being prohibited from working on football with the rest of his teammates, even in the heat of a steamy August afternoon.
How this will impact Casey Hampton’s season, and by extension the Steelers’ season, is impossible to predict.
Ideally, this time on PUP allows Hampton to get into better condition for what awaits while sparing his body some pounding. Then again, ideally, a Pro Bowl player who is
looked up to by his teammates shows up for training camp in shape.
A PAIR OF 3s
Last year, it was seen as a confrontation between emerging players when Anthony Smith smacked Willie Reid a few times during a non-contact seven-on-seven drill, a circumstance that sent Hines Ward into a post-practice rage.
“It’s chicken(bleep). That’s what it is. Chicken(bleep),” said Ward at the time last summer. “We’re talking about practice, and you go out there and hurt somebody? I understand we’re going at it hard, and you want to hit somebody else, but we have to
practice smart. If he were to get hurt and lose his ACL, who’s going to be the stupid person then?”
But one year later, when Smith again smacked Reid during a noncontact seven-on-seven drill that sparked a brief scrum, it had the smell of desperation.
Smith and Reid are third-year players — both third-round picks in the 2006 draft — which means they are both on the cusp of restricted free agency and the escalation of salary that accompanies such a designation.
And as their third seasons begin, both Reid and Smith have been more about potential than production. Reid was thought to be a difference- maker as a return specialist —
Bill Cowher, in fact, thought he had first-round talent because of that dimension — but he was inactive early in his rookie season and then eventually landed on the injured reserve list with a foot injury after appearing in only one game. Then last season he had some problems with ball security.
Smith has shown an ability to be around the football, but he seems to cancel that out with foolish penalties or by committing the kinds of mistakes that make it difficult for a
coaching staff to trust him in critical situations.
Today, Reid looks to be fighting for one of five spots at wide receiver, and he’s doing that with Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington, Limas Sweed and Dallas Baker. Reid’s edge over Baker is toughness; Baker’s edge is his height. At safety, Smith and veteran Tyrone Carter are behind starters Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, with rookie Ryan Mundy in the competition as well. One of the developments so far at this position has been William Gay’s ability to switch between cornerback and safety, which could give the coaching staff addition options there.
This is life in the NFL. A guy can go from being a prized first-day draft pick as a rookie, to a promising second- year pro, to someone who needs to make an impression just to
win a roster spot, and all in three short summers. To say Willie Reid and Anthony Smith are fighting for their jobs is more than just wordplay.
Bob Labriola, a Pittsburgh native, has been editor of Steelers Digest since its inception in 1988. This page offers him an opportunity to provide additional insights into the Steelers, the NFL and the events that are making news.
By all accounts, the run test that marks the official start of a Steelers training camp is much ado about nothing. Even calling it a test seems to be something of a stretch, because what these uber-athletes are asked to do is akin to having mathematicians
recite the times tables. For the vast majority, even the very inexperienced, this is as simple as two-timestwo. But once every decade or so, the run test snares someone, and so it was that the 2008 version became much ado about too much Casey Hampton.
Run tests are like fingerprints, and Mike Tomlin explained his version: “It was eight 100-yard sprints, then you jog 50 yards back and walk the remaining 50 yards with a continuous running clock. It is a great gauge of conditioning, but at the same time it keeps people safe from (muscle) pulls by the way the test is structured.It is a little different than if you had 40-yard dashes, if you will. What we want is to make sure that these guys are in great cardiovascular condition without exposing them to potential injuries, because we came here to play football.”
Because Hampton completed only five sprints, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list, where he remained through the first week of training camp. This meant that while his teammates were working on football, Hampton was on a separate field trying to sweat off those extra pounds.
“I could be in better shape,” said Hampton shortly after the run test, “but my thing is the only way you can get into football shape is to play football. You can do all the running you want, know what I mean? You can have a guy do the run test and be the best run-test guy, and he can’t play football, so it doesn’t matter.”
Depending upon your outlook, banishing Hampton to PUP either meant that he was being subjected to an embarrassing form of discipline because his offseason had been so
undisciplined in the conditioning department, or it meant that a key component of a thin and aging defensive line was going to have fewer hits on a body that will be 31 years old on Sept. 3.
Actually, it’s both.
Hampton failed the run test, and there is a degree of embarrassment to that because these elite competitors hate to lose at anything.
And although Hampton was hardly contrite about his weight and level of conditioning upon arrival, even joking that he hopes it takes him “the whole month” to return, there is an element of punishment involved in one player being prohibited from working on football with the rest of his teammates, even in the heat of a steamy August afternoon.
How this will impact Casey Hampton’s season, and by extension the Steelers’ season, is impossible to predict.
Ideally, this time on PUP allows Hampton to get into better condition for what awaits while sparing his body some pounding. Then again, ideally, a Pro Bowl player who is
looked up to by his teammates shows up for training camp in shape.
A PAIR OF 3s
Last year, it was seen as a confrontation between emerging players when Anthony Smith smacked Willie Reid a few times during a non-contact seven-on-seven drill, a circumstance that sent Hines Ward into a post-practice rage.
“It’s chicken(bleep). That’s what it is. Chicken(bleep),” said Ward at the time last summer. “We’re talking about practice, and you go out there and hurt somebody? I understand we’re going at it hard, and you want to hit somebody else, but we have to
practice smart. If he were to get hurt and lose his ACL, who’s going to be the stupid person then?”
But one year later, when Smith again smacked Reid during a noncontact seven-on-seven drill that sparked a brief scrum, it had the smell of desperation.
Smith and Reid are third-year players — both third-round picks in the 2006 draft — which means they are both on the cusp of restricted free agency and the escalation of salary that accompanies such a designation.
And as their third seasons begin, both Reid and Smith have been more about potential than production. Reid was thought to be a difference- maker as a return specialist —
Bill Cowher, in fact, thought he had first-round talent because of that dimension — but he was inactive early in his rookie season and then eventually landed on the injured reserve list with a foot injury after appearing in only one game. Then last season he had some problems with ball security.
Smith has shown an ability to be around the football, but he seems to cancel that out with foolish penalties or by committing the kinds of mistakes that make it difficult for a
coaching staff to trust him in critical situations.
Today, Reid looks to be fighting for one of five spots at wide receiver, and he’s doing that with Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington, Limas Sweed and Dallas Baker. Reid’s edge over Baker is toughness; Baker’s edge is his height. At safety, Smith and veteran Tyrone Carter are behind starters Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, with rookie Ryan Mundy in the competition as well. One of the developments so far at this position has been William Gay’s ability to switch between cornerback and safety, which could give the coaching staff addition options there.
This is life in the NFL. A guy can go from being a prized first-day draft pick as a rookie, to a promising second- year pro, to someone who needs to make an impression just to
win a roster spot, and all in three short summers. To say Willie Reid and Anthony Smith are fighting for their jobs is more than just wordplay.