So from reading old memoirs of NFL players, I know that they used to have to stay in a team facility (say a college dorm or the like), with a curfew during training camp, and that (in camp and on road game trips) they had roommates who they’d often become good friends with.
Are either/both of these practices common now? Especially for teams that don’t go “away” for their camps (many do, I know, to remote places where I guess the goal is avoiding distraction), are today’s players really willing to sleep in a college dorm with a curfew if they have a perfectly good home (or hotel) nearby?
And are they willing to share a room on roadtrips when renting the Presidential suite would be a drop in the bucket for them?
Just curious.
I know the 49ers recently dropped having training camp “away*” but during the training camp, players do stay with roommates in a hotel type facility and they are under a curfew.
Don’t know about road games.
*: it was in nearby Stockton, but is now held at the 49ers’ team facilities in Santa Clara.
The Packers still have the “residential” aspect of their training camp at St. Norbert College in De Pere (a couple of miles south of Green Bay) – that’s where the players stay, and where (IIRC) at least some meals and meetings are done. All of the actual practices are conducted on the Packers’ regular practice fields, across the street from Lambeau Field. This is the same set-up for training camp that the Packers have had since the Lombardi era, at least.
I have no idea if the players still have roommates during training camp, or on road trips.