With all 32 NFL teams back in action this week to prepare for the season, being mindful of high temperatures is a priority for training staffs.
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It is one of the rites of an NFL training camp: Deal with the heat index.
“I live in Texas in the offseason and Texas is a hot place. But this place beats it,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans said after a camp practice on Friday, when the 97-degree high was forecast to match a record for that date in Tampa.
“The humidity, it gets real sticky out here. People always say, ‘You’re not used to the heat.’ I’m not. It takes a while. You need to go through training camp and preseason to get your body ready for this.”
Acclimation is the word of the week. As the bulk of NFL teams approach the end of their first week in camps – with many of the sites blanketed by the USA’s widespread heat wave – much attention is focused on managing the elements.
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Perspective from the front lines:
The ‘ramp-up’ period matters
The labor deal between the NFL and NFL Players Association mandates a five-day acclimation period for camp, widely hailed in 2020 when teams returned (with an even longer ramp-up) after the long layoff due to the pandemic. Having minimal contact drills and no practices in full pads for several days aligns strategically with the league’s heat-related protocols.
“Typically, heat illnesses happen in the first three to five days,” Reggie Scott, the Los Angeles Rams’ vice president of sports medicine and performance, told USA TODAY Sports.
Scott, who is also president of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS), points to practices seen across the league that include multiple water breaks, cool-down tents and the scaling back of practice times if conditions warrant an adjustment.
“When you get to Day 6, Day 7,” Scott added, “the body is much more acclimated and prepared to take on the heat.”
What’s the biggest risk to NFL players?
The most tragic football-related loss in the NFL in at least a generation occurred in 2001, when Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer died from exertional heat stroke following a camp practice. That underscored the need for consistent monitoring of conditions – with body temperatures increasing while wearing several pounds of pads — that lead to heat stroke, heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses.
Stringer’s widow, Kelci, established the Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) with the University of Connecticut, and it serves as a leading authority and research hub for heat-related issues.
Technology has helped, too, as it has become routine for NFL players to have performance and physical measurement collected and analyzed by computerized devices. Yet there’s still a human element.
How can players help themselves cope?
By staying in shape before being exposed to extreme conditions. It sounds simple enough that it would be standard for a pro athlete. Yet there are degrees to each individual’s approach that in some cases can be exposed upon reporting to camp.
“It’s not like the old days when you have five weeks for people to get in shape,” John Norwig, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head athletic trainer, told USA TODAY Sports. “These guys are coming from all over the country, and they have some responsibility themselves. We expect them to come here will a good level of fitness, which allows them to acclimatize to the heat a little more efficiently.”
Norwig pointed to “common sense” factors that can make a difference, such as proper hydration and exposing their skin to allow sweat to evaporate.
“That’s what we harp on with the guys: You don’t need leggings on. You don’t need sleeves down to your wrist. When you take a break, make sure you take your helmet off,” Norwig said. “And make sure you get adequate rest – seven or eight hours of rest a night. Sleep is probably one of the key components that we focus on for recovery.”
Evans, a ninth-year pro, mentioned how he had altered his offseason regimen as his career progressed. He said that years ago, he would shut down training for two months during the offseason. Now that shutdown is for two weeks. It’s made a difference in dealing with the elements.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota, meanwhile, said that part of his personal ramp-up after spending weeks in a cooler climate on the West Coast was come to Georgia a few days before camp opened to acclimate his body.
“Once you get here, you kind of get used to it,” Mariota said. “I think it’s an advantage for us, especially early on in the season when you’re going places and it is hot. To be able to have this on a day-to-day basis, I think it allows us an advantage.”
Beware of hidden symptoms
Scott and Norwig can easily spot the obvious signs of a player exhibiting heat-related stress. Along with their medical staffs, they are trained to react with an emergency action plan if a player is dizzy, cramping, confused or nauseous.
“If somebody pukes during practice, you’ve got to take them out,” Norwig said. “Somebody that’s excessively sweating. But I can’t tell if someone has a headache or not. Sometimes, I can’t tell if they are confused or fatigued. Everyone looks fatigued.”
Thus, it can be difficult to spot all of the signs that would suggest a heat-related emergency.
“Outside of the obvious, one of the sleepy symptoms is personality change,” Scott said. “You can have an adverse personality change. People can become a little more combative or just altered in their personality. When you’re playing football, it can be, ‘Maybe he’s having a bad day.’ But it could also fall into some type of heat illness that you don’t know.”
Scott furthered his point in considering sweat, or lack thereof.
“As you get more into heat exhaustion and heatstroke, people think that profuse sweating is a very high symptom,” Scott said. “But as you get into the most severe cases, it’s a loss of sweat. That’s the way our body cools down. You don’t see a guy sweating at all, that’s pretty much their loss of fluid. They could actually be experiencing a very severe heat illness.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.
