http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9519202 <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Symposium to prepare rookies for NFL life Click here to find out more! (June 21, 2006) -- On June 25, the NFL kicks off its 10th annual Rookie Symposium in San Diego. The four-day orientation will introduce the 2006 NFL Draft class to life in the NFL prior to the rookies reporting to training camps.The program includes presentations, videos and workshops about the operation of the NFL and the challenges faced by its players. Interactive video learning -- during which each rookie uses a hand-held device to answer questions about the day's themes -- will be utilized again this year."This helps the rookies get off to a good start with regard to the new lifestyle they are about to enter," says NFL vice president of player and employee development Michael Haynes, a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback. "The lessons learned at the Rookie Symposium help players develop personal and professional goals that will sustain them during and beyond their playing careers."The symposium's agenda consists of topics such as personal finance, life skills, personal conduct, life as a rookie, media policy, substances of abuse, personal experiences, family issues, player development, football operations, NFL security, and success in the NFL and life after football,Speakers this June will include members of the NFL league office and clubs, the NFL Players Association, professionals in specialized fields, and current and former NFL players who have experienced first-hand the difficulties inherent in some of the topics covered.The rookies will also take part in the fourth annual NFL Youth Football Clinic at the Symposium on Tuesday afternoon (June 27) in San Diego. At last year's event, the rookies tutored and ran through drills with 200 local area youths.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tha rizzock @ Jun 23 2006, 08:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>i love when they show the teams rooks</div>What? That made 0% sense.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Johnny White Guy @ Jun 24 2006, 01:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tha rizzock @ Jun 23 2006, 08:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>i love when they show the teams rooks</div>What? That made 0% sense.</div>I'll have to agree.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Tenth rookie symposium begins near San DiegoBy Len PasquarelliESPN.comStruggling to come to grips with a new defense and a new position, along with his new financial status, DeMarcus Ware wondered this time a year ago how he could ever afford to carve out a four-day hiatus from football matters to attend the NFL's rookie symposium.A year later, the Dallas Cowboys linebacker, a first-round draft choice in 2005 and one of the top rookie defenders in the NFL last season, knows the symposium was time well spent."For a lot of guys, you've suddenly got more responsibilities than you've ever had before, money, a lot more outside factors coming at you," Ware said last week. "It's kind of like, 'OK, so welcome to the real world.' And the symposium is really great at getting you to focus on real-world issues. You might go into it thinking, 'What can they really tell me that will do me any good?' But you don't come out that way."This year's symposium, which opened on Sunday near San Diego and runs through Wednesday, marks the 10th anniversary of what many players, albeit some of them in hindsight, regard as one of the best off-field initiatives the league has ever created. The four-day orientation, with its typically ambitious schedule, is aimed at indoctrinating the 255 players selected in the 2006 draft to life in the NFL and all it entails.The program, fine-tuned over its 10 years, includes sessions on developing life skills, personal finances, football operations, the league's substance abuse program, career planning, and general circumstances that might confront a young player. It will once again feature speakers from the NFL office, the NFL Players Association, and from professionals in areas outside the game.As has been the case in the past, current and former players will address the rookies about their experiences in dealing with the pressures inherent to their profession.For the second year in a row, players will attend workshops that include an interactive component, where they will receive instant feedback on their answers to questions about the particular theme of a session. The topics will range from things like monitoring investments, what to expect in your first training camp and how to prepare for life after the game.It marks the one and only time the league gets an opportunity to address its entire draft class in the same setting, and the NFL works hard, acknowledged league vice president of player development Mike Haynes, to deliver counsel and direction to a captive audience.A captive audience because attendance, by league decree, is mandatory.So serious is the NFL about the importance of the rookie symposium that it has levied stiff fines in the past against players who failed to attend or who skipped sessions. Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was fined $25,000 in 2004 for departing the symposium early and without a valid excuse."I think that the natural reaction is to question why you're even there," said second-year quarterback Jason Campbell, a Redskins first-round choice in 2005. "But then they start talking about some of the stuff and you find yourself sitting up straight in your chair and listening. They definitely get your attention."Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.</div>http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2500015
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>NFL | Tuaolo becomes first openly gay speaker at symposiumMon, 3 Jul 2006 06:23:16 -0700Vito Stellino, of the Florida Times-Union, reports former Jacksonville Jaguar Esera Tuaolo became the first openly gay speaker at the NFL's rookie symposium. Many players shook his hand afterwards and he believes the NFL's attitude toward homosexuality is changing. "They didn't have to include me in this. But they did," Tuaolo said. "They're working on it. They're moving forward. Things just aren't going to happen overnight. I felt really proud of myself. I feel really good. It was cool to go back as a gay man to where I used to play." He would also like to visit teams and talk to veteran players and coaches.</div>http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Raiders | Rookies win award at rookie symposiumMon, 3 Jul 2006 16:49:14 -0700Raiders.com reports the Oakland Raiders' rookies captured the crown in the team competition where players and their teams can win prizes for correctly answering questions about what they've been taught at the NFL rookie symposium, with Raiders rookie OC Chris Morris taking individual honors. The Raiders' rookies will receive free cell phone service for a year for their efforts, while Morris earned a one-year lease on a Sport Utility Vehicle. According to the NFL, Morris chalked up a perfect score of 32 out of 32.</div>http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nflTha rizzock will be PROUD to hear this
Im very impressed......The Oakland Players bi-passed the metal-detecters and got entry into the event.
