Rookie Minicamps, Where NFL Dreams Begin—and End

Picture hundreds of just-minted college grads flying across the country, studying like they've never studied before, spending a few days job shadowing—then finding out right then if they'll ever draw a paycheck in their chosen field.

They spend every minute being evaluated in the biggest and smallest ways, pushed to the mental and physical limit. Many don't even have a prayer of getting hired. Oh, the summa cum laude candidates from the hoity-toity schools know they'll waltz right into a corner office, but nearly all of the rest are just praying for a spot in the mail room.

That's what NFL rookie camps are like.

Besides drafted rookies with their slotted deals, every NFL team signs at least a handful of undrafted free agents and invites at least several more hopefuls on a tryout basis. All told, dozens of young men will spend the next few days and weeks zipping around the country, wondering if their dreams are about to come true or if they're in for a rude awakening.

At this time last year, Indianapolis Colts center Jonotthan Harrison was one of those young men. Frantically weighing several post-draft offers, the Florida product thought the Colts' depth chart gave him the best opportunity to make an impact. He conferred and confirmed with his agent, Blake Baratz, and the wheels were set in motion.

"The coaches called me and said they were happy to have me," Harrison told Bleacher Report, "and then within the hour I had my flight information." Between fielding offers, making the decision and negotiating the deal, Harrison's flight was confirmed around 11 p.m. His flight departed at 10:30 the next morning.

"I want to celebrate with my family some," Harrison said, chuckling at the memory, "but at the same time I need to pack up all my stuff so I can leave." He shared a few words with family and friends, ran upstairs to frantically pack and took off the next morning to seek his fortune with just a suitcase and duffel bag.

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Once on-site, rookies typically have a few days of classroom work before they see the field. Not only do they have to learn the lay of the land, but they also have to learn their pro squad's basic terminology and positional responsibilities.

"The older guys could go at noon, but we had to stay until 4 or 5," Harrison said. "It was mentally challenging. It's a whole different level of football, of offensive play, than college." Not only was Harrison learning many new concepts, but he also was learning new names for familiar ones.

Centers are typically responsible for protection calls, giving Harrison an extra burden. He admitted to being so overwhelmed his first time on the field that he occasionally shouted old calls from Florida.

"They were like, 'Wait, we don't even have that call here.' I was just like, 'Oh wow, that was just completely...college. Like, just out of habit.'" For an undrafted rookie trying to earn an invite back to minicamp, every mistake feels magnified.

"I was confident, but the coaches are trying to make you uncomfortable," he said. "They're throwing a lot at you, to see how you can handle that." The coaches want to see rookies who can rise above the adversity to perform.

For many hopefuls, rookie camp is the last time they'll don an NFL uniform. The desperation to avoid that fate imbues every rep with kill-or-be-killed intensity.

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"We joke about it now," Harrison said of himself and the handful of Colts rookies who made it though rookie camp, minicamp, training camp and the final cut to 53. "The coach literally had to stop us and say, 'OK, this is the NFL. We need you guys to tone it down.' We were all out there trying to show everything we had, and put it all on the table." No matter how well Harrison performed during the day, doubts crept in at night.

"I would try not to think about it," he said of his evenings at rookie camp, "but every day I would go home and think, 'Did I perform well enough today?' Or, 'I made a mental error, will that affect how the coaches view me?'" When Harrison left the camp, exhausted but thrilled, he wasn't sure if it was the end of his NFL dream, or the beginning.

"I really had no clue what was going to happen," he said. "Obviously, the whole process was new to me." Colts coaches told the group of rookies that no matter what happens, it isn't personal. Fortunately for Harrison, he never got that it's-just-business call.

He came back for minicamp, then training camp. When the end came for dozens of the players Harrison broke in with, he was spared. Not only did he make the active roster, but weeks later he took over the starting job.

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The signs he might do so were there back in May.

"The center's a really smart guy and tough," Colts head coach Chuck Pagano told the team's official site. "From a technical standpoint, it looks like he's been well-coached. Really pleasant surprise, really pleasant surprise." General manager Ryan Grigson lavished Harrison with praise as well. He'd go on to start 10 games for the Colts in 2014, and he should be in the mix to start in 2015 as well.

Does Harrison have any advice for the flood of hopefuls who'd do anything to be a rookie-camp success story like him?

"Don't take your athleticism for granted," Harrison said. "You really have to mentally be there: staying alert during meetings, watching film, asking the necessary questions—never be afraid to ask a question. Study your playbook when you go home." Harrison laughed as he copped to using a flash-card app on his iPad to make flash cards of the plays, to help him learn more quickly.

"It never hurts you to do extra," he said, and passed along a little hint for rookie-camp invitees:

"Show up at the facility early to stretch and use the hot tub before everyone else. That gives you a chance to watch extra film while everyone else is getting ready. Not only does it look great to show up early and volunteering to watch extra film, you can watch that film in a no-pressure environment free of coaches who might otherwise hover over you."

Of course, no amount of brownie points can make up for a fatal lack of size, speed, strength or technique. But every year, players snubbed by the combine, buried by depth-chart numbers or overlooked by the scouting machine come to rookie camp and turn the right person's head.

For hundreds of young men over the coming weeks, they can only put everything they have into every rep they get, and hope they do the same.