With just over a month until training camp begins, Vikings rookies are continuing to try and learn the team’s playbook. But because of an expanded element of the league’s rookie orientation program, this year’s NFL rookies are also learning about the rich history of their game as they prepare for the first year in the NFL.
In an effort to teach incoming players about the history of pro football and give them a greater appreciation of the NFL and the opportunities and responsibilities ahead, the NFL mandated that all rookies visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, as part of their orientation program.
The Vikings rookies made their visit on Monday.
“It was great to stand in the room with bronze busts of some of the NFL’s great players,” Vikings quarterback Kyle Wright said. “One part of the Hall of Fame I really enjoyed was watching individual highlights of guys like Walter Payton. They had his biography, a list of his accomplishments and then a short film of him. That was cool to see, even though it’s hard to cut a Walter Payton highlight video down to such a short amount of time.”
The trip to Canton began with an early morning pickup and then a flight to Ohio. After an hour or so bus ride from the airport to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the players toured the facility and listened to multiple guest speakers. The day ended with a trek back to the airport from Canton and then an evening flight to Minneapolis.
“It was a long day, but definitely worth it to see such an important and historic place,” quarterback John David Booty said. “When you’re standing in there with the bronze busts it really hits you that you’re in the Hall of Fame. We all obviously would love to end up in there once our careers are finished, so it’s good to visit and see what’s there and learn from the history.”
Each team’s tour is headed by its player development director and includes speakers representing former NFL players, Pro Football Hall of Fame personnel and others.
The idea was inspired by 2007 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Michael Irvin in a conversation with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last August in Canton.
This experience will help prepare rookies for their own careers while stressing the importance of their role as NFL players.
“The coolest part to me was watching video highlights of the Hall of Famers,” linebacker Erin Henderson. “I liked that because there are a lot of great players who I’ve heard of but I never actually got to see them play or I’ve never even seen video of them playing. At the Hall of Fame you get to see that and you also get to read and hear what other great players said about them.”
The trips to Canton are part of several rookie orientation initiatives designed to ease new players’ transition to the NFL.
“Some of the most valuable lessons for our young men can be learned from those who played before them,” said NFL Vice President of Player and Employee Development Mike Haynes, who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1997. “The rookie orientation activities at the Pro Football Hall of Fame are a great way to provide a look at the rich history and tradition of our game.”
Draftees also will attend the annual Rookie Symposium in San Diego, California, from June 29-July 2, and rookies at 19 teams will participate in the first NFL Player Brand University, learning how the choices they make in business and in the community shape their overall image.