A Day At An NFL Training Camp

My family and I recently attended "Family Day" at the Minnesota Vikings training camp. One of the first things you'll notice is simply how immaculate this campus is. Surrounded by manmade lakes, TCO Stadium is its own outdoor football stadium connected to an indoor performance center. 

This is where the Vikings practice. Not a bad place to go to work each day. ​

When we rolled up, one of the first things that my two daughters wanted to do was meet the cheerleaders. With thousands of people in attendance, kids games on the field, and food vendors everywhere, I crossed my fingers that somehow, these women would just appear. Sure enough...

These 4 women were gracious with their time. As we were about to leave to go watch practice, someone tapped me on the shoulder: 

"Hey, I'm ________ from ______ news. Can we interview you and your family for tonight's sports segment? We're looking for families to talk about how excited they are for this year's team and the start of the NFL season." 

I took a step back and thought to myself, Does this woman know that I'm a die-hard Green Bay Packer fan? Of course she doesn't. If she asks me a single question about my love for the Vikings, what could I possibly say? 

I agreed to the interview, and almost as a gift from the good Lord, she immediately turned the microphone to my kids. She asked a few questions: they answered, and laughed, and giggled. And that was it. 

We next went down to TCO field, where the kids got to run the 40 yard dash, throw footballs through a giant inflatable, and even kick some field goals. 

On the back side of the facility, there are 4 full practice fields. At one point, quarterbacks were on one field, defense on another, and the rest of the offensive players on another. 

Of course, when you go to Vikings training camp, you can't help but watch Justin Jefferson. The guy plays with incredible pace, has quick feet, and just seems to glide in the drills. Here is a short clip from receiver drills: 

As we left for the day, one of my daughters insisted that I take her picture next to the "giant can." 

Ahh, I guess so? 

All in all, it was a great day. Dad got to watch some football (I'm still a Packer fan), mom got her tan, and the kids were ready to take a nap. 

If you get a chance to attend a training camp session for any team, I'd recommend it. Here's a link to the training camp locations for all 32 teams.