The Dead Spot In The NFL Calendar Year, Why It’s Important

The league year begins in mid-March. Free agency, the draft, schedule release, rookie camp, organized team activities, and mandatory minicamp. Suddenly, everything comes to a full stop. Do not pass go. Fans and reporters suddenly are craving more.

Alas, we are put on a six-week hiatus.

Fans and writers bemoan the fact the NFL pauses right when things get interesting. Why now? Let’s take a look.

There was a time when players went their separate ways after the season ended. Family time and off-season jobs were the norm. When training camp arrived in the Summer, it was used as a time to get back in shape. Often players would arrive 20 pounds (or more) over their playing weight.

It’s so different in today’s NFL. The season doesn’t end after the last game now. Postseason analyses are made, and players are interviewed. Players immediately begin rehab for lingering injuries. For coaches and staff, there are post-season evaluations and almost immediately they dive into talent evaluations for the new year. Players are signed to futures contracts, scouts compare notes on potential veteran free agents.

Then, they must refocus and concentrate on the talent evaluations that take place every year in Indianapolis. The combine is where hundreds of rookies are poked, prodded, and tested, both physically and mentally.

April hits and coaches and scouts are spending hours on end watching game film and interviewing dozens of potential draft prospects. Players are in weight rooms and training rooms, bulking up, adding strength and stamina for the upcoming year. They also study film and work on techniques to be a better player the following year.

Immediately after the draft, rookie mini camp brings the newcomers to their respective team’s facilities and work begins. Soon after, it’s OTA season. Yes, it’s voluntary, but still, the expectation to be present is always there.

Then the “Mandatory Mini Camp arrives three days later. Everything stops.

Everything.

And many fans ask why.

This year, Bears starting CB Jaylon Johnson was absent for the first two weeks of OTAs. Despite vowing he would be present for the last week of activities, rumors started. Is he upset he hasn’t been offered a contract extension? Johnson was brilliant with his response when, as promised, he was at Halas Hall for the last week of the OTA portion of the off-season.

“I’m a dad before I’m anything else,” Johnson said. “Before I’m a football player before I’m anything. I’m a dad first.

“I don’t get to spend too much time with her during the season because she’s back at home in California. Me in the off-season, I take pride in being a dad. I’m not just any old type of dad that just comes and sees their kid. I’m present. I’m spending time. I’m putting my heart into my daughter.”

Players need the “dead spot” to take time for themselves and for their families. There is hardly any time for anything but football for 10 1/2 months. They work out to keep their bodies and minds fine-tuned to maximize their talent. During the six weeks between mini camps and training camps, players and coaches can spend time with family, and friends and be a parent, as Johnson so perfectly pointed out.

The “Dead Spot” in the Summer is important.