Happy campers

Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn made himself very popular with his veteran players. According to reports, Zorn has informed the team at the end of spring minicamp that veterans with at least four years experience won't have to spend the night in the dormitories at the team's training camp site. Instead, they have the option of going home each night, provided they return in time for practices and meetings the next day.

Zorn believes his veteran-ladened team faded after a 6-2 start last season because the players were fatigued. He thinks by letting them sleep in their own beds the vets will be a lot fresher. Most of the players live near the training facility, Redskin Park, in Ashburn, Va.

This is not a ground-breaking move. Mike Shanahan and Brian Billick did the same thing when they coached Denver and Baltimore, respectively. Baltimore ended the policy when John Harbaugh took over as coach last year.

There is no chance the Bills would implement this, and with good reason. Their training camp is at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, which is more than a 90-minute drive from Orchard Park, Hamburg and other neighborhoods in the Southtowns where most of the players live.

Once practice and meetings are over, it can be pretty late. The last thing coach Dick Jauron wants is for his weary players to climb in their cars and make the long trek back to Buffalo, and then get up at the crack of dawn and drive back to Pittsford. They would be too tired to practice or play games. Staying in dorms is no fun, but the players would be more rested than going home.

What do you think of Zorn's idea?

---Allen Wilson

Comments

[Matt]

These guys already practice year round. Zorn's idea makes sense, but it won't work for the Bills as their camp is out of town to help regionalize the franchise.....soon they will be holding camp in Montreal!

[Gomer]

Good for Zorny, too bad the Skins haven't been significant in 20 years..

[Phil]

I think it's a bad idea and could really blow up in Zorn's face and here's why. Training camp has become about more than finding out what players are gonna stick and putting in the playbook (the latter of which they do most of in OTA's). These days, I think one of the biggest things that camp does is build camaraderie and chemistry within the team. Having a lot of team members staying away from the team could hurt that.