Camp Is Open for NFL

Same old training camp, brand new rock stars.

“Drew! Please! Drew!� the grown man shouted Saturday morning, straining not only his voice but the chest-high fence that kept him from tumbling onto the Dallas Cowboys’ practice field in Oxnard. His was one of hundreds of pleading voices vying for the attention of Cowboy quarterback Drew Bledsoe, running back Julius Jones and safety Roy Williams, the three most sought-after autographs on the first day of training camp.

Bledsoe stood nearby, encircled by a five-deep cluster of reporters and TV cameras. He answered questions about his first official practice as a Cowboy, and his reunion with Bill Parcells, who coached him in New England half a career ago.

“In the last two weeks,� he said, “it started feeling like it’s time to play football again.�

He’s not alone in that feeling. By Saturday, every NFL team but three had started training camp, and the remaining teams -- Baltimore, Arizona and Washington -- open camp today.

“I know it’s only been one day of camp, but it seems like we’ve been here for a month in a way,� said New England Coach Bill Belichick, whose team conducts camp in Foxboro, Mass. “We’re in the routine now. We’re in the flow of meetings, practice, meals, go to bed, get up and do it again.

“I think the team is starting to feel like they are into that type of routine, no light at the end of the tunnel.�

In some ways, things are anything but routine for the Patriots. Their defense has lost linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Ted Johnson, cornerback Ty Law and, at least for the moment, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who is holding out for a better contract. It’s shaping up to be a challenging season for the franchise that has won three of the last four Super Bowls.

Perhaps just as significant as losing the players, the Patriots are without the offensive and defensive coordinators who played such a prominent role in those championship seasons. Former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is now head coach at Notre Dame, and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Already, Cleveland players are noticing a pleasant change with a new coach at the helm. Whereas former coach Butch Davis opened camp with a two-hour practice with full-speed drills in pads, Crennel kicked things off Friday with a light no-pads practice with drills run at half- to three-quarter speed.

“Guys run a conditioning test and the muscles are a little bit tighter than normal and then you go through a full practice in pads, somebody always pulls a muscle, turns an ankle,� Crennel said. “We said that we would go in shorts, work individual kind of drills at a little bit slower tempo to get the bodies accustomed to the change in direction, the football movement-type skills.

“Then we’ll go in pads.�

In San Diego, two players were conspicuously absent Friday from the team’s first full-squad scrimmage. All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates is holding out for a more lucrative deal, and the team’s top pick, outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, is unsigned. Merriman skipped all off-season workouts for fear he might suffer an injury before signing a contract.

Parcells, whose two first-round draft picks didn’t sign until after missing Saturday’s opening practice session, said he blames agents more than players for the contract hangups. He echoed the words of George Young, the late New York Giant executive, in explaining why he feels the teams have the upper hand in the negotiations.

“We’ve got the money,� Parcells said. “They’ve got to come out and get it. There’s a lot of truth to that. Time is on our side.�

For some players, there are things in life more important than contracts or camp. Seattle running back Shaun Alexander missed the first day of Seahawk camp Saturday to be with his wife and new daughter, Trinity, who was born Friday.

Two years ago, Alexander missed the first quarter of a home game against St. Louis so he could attend the birth of another daughter, Heaven. Clearly, the family obligations haven’t hampered his career. He was Seattle’s franchise player this off-season and in 2004 rushed for a franchise-record 1,626 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Oakland receiver Randy Moss rolled into Napa in a bright purple SUV with free-spinning rims and a mock license plate reading “Tipp Drill 84.� He passed a group of reporters waiting to speak with him, swatting the request with, “Forget it, man.�

Not everyone was so jaded. Former USC defensive lineman Shaun Cody, the second-round selection of the Detroit Lions, nearly made it to camp on time. He missed the first 10 minutes of the opening practice Friday while the details of his contract were being completed. In fact, he signed the paperwork in jersey and cleats just before running onto the field.

“I didn’t know how many signatures I had to do,� he said later. “There was a lot of signing there.�

Finally, the waiting was over.

“I was in there thinking, ‘This is my first NFL training camp play right here. Here it is,’ � Cody said. “It was finally good to put on the pads and be done with 40s and jumping and bench-pressing. It was finally good to play football.�