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It is one of the rites of an NFL training camp: Deal with the heat index.
“I live in Texas in the offseason and Texas is a hot place. But this place beats it,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans said after a camp practice on Friday, when the 97-degree high was forecast to match a record for that date in Tampa.
“The humidity, it gets real sticky out here. People always say, ‘You’re not used to the heat.’ I’m not. It takes a while. You need to go through training camp and preseason to get your body ready for this.”
Acclimation is the word of the week. As the bulk of NFL teams approach the end of their first week in camps – with many of the sites blanketed by the USA’s widespread heat wave – much attention is focused on managing the elements.
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Perspective from the front lines:The ‘ramp-up’ period matters
The labor deal between the NFL and NFL Players Association mandates a five-day acclimation period for camp, widely hailed in 2020 when teams returned (with an even longer ramp-up) after the long layoff due to the pandemic. Having minimal contact drills and no practices in full pads for several days aligns strategically with the league’s heat-related protocols.
“Typically, heat illnesses happen in the first three to five days,” Reggie Scott, the Los Angeles Rams’ vice president of sports medicine and performance, told USA TODAY Sports.
Scott, who is also president of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS), points to practices seen across the league that include multiple water breaks, cool-down tents and the scaling back of practice times if conditions warrant an adjustment.
“When you get to Day 6, Day 7,” Scott added, “the body is much more acclimated and prepared to take on the heat.”What’s the biggest risk to NFL players?
The most tragic football-related loss in the NFL in at least a generation occurred in 2001, when Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer died from exertional heat stroke following a camp practice.
