The Wait Ends

On the eve of the start of training camp I am met with the same emotions this year that I experience every year. The most obvious is excitement- excitement that the NFL season is almost here, excitement for the daily training camp updates I can expect over the next 6 weeks, excitement to see how the team the Ravens front office has been shaping for the past 6 months will come together. But with excitement also comes nervousness. You wait all off-season long to see what kind of moves the team made in free agency, who is drafted, etc. and yet there are so many unknowns. Every day a player is one play/drill/sprint away from injuring themselves. It seems like every year we lose a key starter to injury during camp. Last year Kelly Gregg was the victim of such bad fortune, and although the team performed amazingly with his absence you can't help but think what kind of difference he would have made if he were healthy. On the flip side our team is much deeper now as a result.

Unfortunately, that like so many things in life, the success of each teams NFL season has a lot to with luck. Every team is susceptible to injury and although some teams are built to endure it better than others, no team is immune to its potential impact. Take New England for example. Some people will be quick to say despite Tom Brady's injury they still had an amazing season and proved that they don't live and die by any one player, especially since they still finished 11-5 without there all-world QB. I on the other hand think this is a perfect example of a team being crippled by a major injury. You look at the season before when NE had a perfect 16-0 regular season and broke every major offensive record in the books. NE despite losing in the Superbowl had arguably the greatest team in the history of the NFL. Coming into the 2008 season, NE was a census pre-season pick to make the Superbowl. However, with out Tom Brady they couldn't even make the playoffs. To me that is a huge swing. In my opinion the fact they didn't make the playoffs is a testament to Matt Cassell's inadequacies. Anyway, I digress. The point is the NFL is just as much about getting the right players and as it is about being lucky and staying healthy.

I really hope the Ravens can avoid the injury bug this year. If you can eliminate that wildcard there is a lot to be excited about. So with that, I ask only for a healthy training camp with no major injuries.... oh and I wouldn't mind a Derrick Mason either. Let the season’s journey begin!