North Carolina State University Athletics
Patrick Thomas Mini-Camp Diary
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 30, 2005
Patrick's voice had a little more energy when he called on Saturday night - maybe because he was finished finished an hour or so earlier than the last two nights. It was obvious from his tone of voice that Saturday was a good day for the former Wolfpack linebacker.
"I'm catching on, dawg. I'm still messing up some on little things, but I'm getting a feel for the scheme of the defense. I think I've got a pretty good understanding of the way things work - but I should because I've done a lot of studying.
I got up around 5:55 this morning, threw on a shirt and some shorts and headed downstairs. It was still dark, but it was warm today. The schedule was the same as yesterday in the morning, except that practices were open to the fans today. I wasn't expecting that. When I came outside, there were a bunch of fans out there.
It was crazy. After practice, when we were walking back to the stadium, they were lined up outside the fence all the way back. They were saying, "Pat, Pat" and the kids were saying "Mr. Thomas! Mr. Thomas!" It was funny how they knew all about us. They had a sheet of paper with all the information on the rookies - they knew I was from Miami, so they were saying "305 in the house." There were so many of them and I couldn't tell anybody no. Finally after a while, I had to turn away and keep walking and pretend like I couldn't hear him. I felt bad - especially for the kids. But it was cool having them there.
I was right that they put in more plays today. I had studied yesterday's so I knew them prettty well and think I picked everything up pretty fast today. It was real hot this morning - we were on an turf field so that made it hotter. When we were stretching, I could feel the heat through my glove. The afternoon practice started an hour early because they were expecting some lightning storms, so that means we got through early.
Tomorrow, we have a voluntary chapel at 8:00 a.m. that I'm going to go to. After that, we'll have our last practice before we leave. I want to really be sharp tomorrow with everything that I've learned. I have made a lot of progress in two days, but I know I've got a long way to go. I never thought my brain could cram so much information in and spit it out on the field in action. They look at the speed and if you're playing fast and getting to the ball - it's hard to do that when you're not sure what you're doing. But the more you know, the easier it is to do that. I have just been trying to relax and do what I know how to do ... Play linebacker like I know how to play linebacker. I try to watch the vets and learn from them as well.
