FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-31             7/10/00

Didn’t MIKE JONES just wrap up KEVIN DYSON one yard short of the goal line?

That play ending Super Bowl XXXIV capped a great game to conclude another great season. But now it’s time to start another one. Tomorrow, July 11, the Cleveland Browns become the first team to open training camps for the 2000 NFL season.

Yes, football’s back -- the two-a-day, hot-and-steamy, fan-friendly variety that NFL training camps feature.

Also reporting this week are the New England Patriots on July 12, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets on July 13, New Orleans Saints on July 14, and Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers on July 15.

It’s all work for the players, complete fun for the fans. Summer is prime time for NFL fans to shake hands with and get an autograph from their favorite player on their favorite team.

"You see these little kids, and it’s their dream to be out there some day," says Seattle Seahawks quarterback BROCK HUARD. "If you can give them a little piece of that by signing your name, that’s something that they’ll hold on to."

In DePere, Wisconsin at the Green Bay Packers’ camp, players let local youngsters give them bicycle rides to practice. In Lehigh, Pennsylvania, young Eagles fans can catch passes fired from a cannon. In Nashville, the Tennessee Titans will hold two "fan days" this summer at Adelphia Coliseum with autographs for everyone. Or your son may be as lucky as 12-year old ERIC JOHNSON of Newbury, New Hampshire was last year at New England Patriots camp.

Patriots special teams coach BRAD SEELY called young Eric out of the stands to catch kicks from kicker ADAM VINATIERI, promising him $1.00 for every successful catch. Now that’s fan participation. "It was awesome," said Eric.

This kind of involvement is growing as NFL clubs are moving their training camps closer to home. This summer, the Buffalo Bills will encamp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, NY, only 90 minutes from Buffalo. The New Orleans Saints will move from their Wisconsin camp to "Bayou Country" when they train at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. And the Washington Redskins will be as close to home as you can get when they open camp at their regular-season headquarters -- Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia.

A perfect example of the "fan-involvement" approach to training camp is the Bills’ move to Pittsford, which is right outside Rochester.

"Rochester is such a big supporter of the Bills," says Buffalo President RALPH C. WILSON, JR. "Rochester is a major factor in the Bills’ existence, I can tell you that straight up."

One of the sponsors of the Bills’ 23-day camp (July 20-August 11) is JetBlue Airways, which recently opened routes into Rochester. JetBlue and 10 other Rochester-based companies, including Xerox, will team with the Bills to provide a variety of activities for fans.

Fans can run through a giant Bills helmet just like the players race through on game day, and then partake in 50 yards of

Many NFL teams have nutritional consultants that advise them on everything from the types of fish they should serve to how much water players should consume. But when two-a-days start, all players want to do is eat -- a lot!

Below is the amount of food the Denver Broncos are expected to consume during their training camp at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado from July 20 to August 15, as provided by G. HAL BROWN, the school’s assistant director of dining services.

"They all eat well," says Brown. "But we try to do different dishes to give the players a little bit of a show. Every Wednesday night we’ll have a guest chef. One Wednesday, we’ll serve ostrich meat because it’s lean. Another night, we’re going to have barbecued eel. But we’ll be sure we have the staples like meatloaf just in case players don’t want to get too daring."

Seconds, Anyone?

interactive games before reaching the practice field. Through a training camp promotion with the Wegman’s grocery

chain, the Bills are offering supporters a "Fantasy Series" of prizes, including taking an offensive lineman to school; scouting an upcoming Bills opponent; being named an honorary captain; taking part in a Punt, Pass & Kick competition for adults; carrying a player’s helmet around camp for a day; and covering a Bills home game as a photographer or sportswriter and having your work published on the Bills’ website.

Buffalo head coach WADE PHILLIPS, speaking for many NFL head coaches, thinks teams receive a benefit from training close to their fans.

"It helps you out in practice when people are hollering and screaming and cheering when we make plays," says Phillips. "Any kind of motivation, I’m glad for, because practice is the hard part -- the games are fun."

They’ll be plenty of those fun games this summer -- including 11 on national television.

The first on TV is the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Monday night, July 31 on ABC-TV at 8:00 PM ET. The game, culminating a weekend that begins the NFL’s "Kick Off a New Century" celebration, will mark the debut of ABC’s new Monday-night announcing team of AL MICHAELS, DAN FOUTS and DENNIS MILLER.

The game will be a big one for San Francisco 49ers fans, who will watch their team take on New England (in their new nautical-look uniforms) and highlights of the past Saturday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies that feature three former 49ers -- RONNIE LOTT, JOE MONTANA and DAVE WILCOX, along with HOWIE LONG and DAN ROONEY.

Three other national TV games are of special interest -- American Bowls in Japan (Atlanta vs. Dallas on August 5 on ESPN at 10:00 PM ET) and Mexico (Indianapolis vs. Pittsburgh on August 19 on CBS-TV at 8:00 PM ET), and a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIV (St. Louis at Tennessee on August 14 on ABC-TV at 8:00PM ET).

Local broadcast is another area that is increasingly being given special attention by NFL teams in the summer. The Chicago Bears have hired their Super Bowl XX-winning coach MIKE DITKA as an analyst for their four preseason TV games. The Baltimore Ravens will feature the regular-season FOX-TV team of DICK STOCKTON and MATT MILLEN on their local telecasts. The New York Jets will have "NFL Today" analyst RANDY CROSS of CBS do their preseason TV. And the Dallas Cowboys have added "The Moose," the recently retired DARYL JOHNSTON, to their radio team.

Training camps start the excitement of a new NFL season. Especially for the locals.

* New England will hold training camp at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts from July 12-21, then move to Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island on July 23.