North Carolina State University Athletics
Patrick Thomas Mini-Camp Diary
4/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 28, 2005
It's been a long day. I got to the airport around 12 and they took us straight to the stadium. It brought back some good memories pulling up to that stadium. When we played Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl, it never crossed my mind that I would be playing here, but it's my home now. I'm gonna make it my home.
We got fitted for our pads and helmets, and got our cleats. My name is on my locker and I've got number 53 - I knew I wasn't going to get 52, so 53 is close enough. Everything was in my locker - I'm not sure how they had all my sizes, but everything fit. Then we had physicals, bloodwork - basically the same stuff that I've done every year in college. It was wild - guys I grew up watching on TV like Fred Taylor are in the same lockerroom with me.
Our first rookie meeting was at 5:00. Coach Del Rio came down and talked to us and introduced himself. I visited here a couple of weeks ago and had met him then. I really like him a lot. The meeting was short and sweet and then we had an early dinner.
After dinner, the whole team met and we went over schedules, what to expect this year, what coach thinks we need to work on, and met all the position coaches. Then we went to a defensive meeting and I got my playbook. It's like a chemistry textbook - that junk is THICK!!! Then we went to our linebacker meetings and started breaking down the playbook. We went through base formations and base plays. A lot of it is the same stuff I know, just different terminology. The base stuff is always a little easier to pick up, but I know it's going to get more and more complicated. We learned a lot today - I took a lot of notes, just like I was in class. I asked questions and feel good about it - the coaches were real cool.
The position meeting lasted around an hour and then came back to the hotel. I'm rooming with Gerald Sensabaugh from Carolina. I've had to return a bunch of calls, because a lot of people have called to see how I'm doing. I'm going to do some studying and then get some sleep. We have to be catch the bus to leave to go back to the stadium at 6:20, so it's going to be an even longer day.
