Angry Pope
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Here is Jerry Porter's training camp diary (three days) for the 2002 season...
July 26, 2002
Jerry Porter's Diary
Q: How did the day go for you?
PORTER: This morning I got up at about 7:30; I had a mandatory drug test. Everybody hates those. But you know I had to go ahead and go do it. I had a chance to get out of it a little bit early and get taped and get stretched out before we had to hit the field. We went on with practice at about 8:30.
Q: How was the morning practice?
PORTER: I had a pretty good morning practice. I always focus on the things I did well, on the things I did best so I have something to build on. I had one dropped ball, but it was heavily contested. So I had a chance to work against Charles Woodson, Tory James, and Phillip Buchanon. So I got a good amount of work done this morning. This afternoon the offense started off kind of slow. We had the defenses number this morning, but this afternoon they brought it to us. We kind of got our buts kicked a little, but that's the way camp goes.
Q: How do you start out the morning practice? Do you take a jog first or do you split off into positions?
PORTER: We just go PAT and go. Its like 40 yards of just jogging down the field and coach throws the ball up to us to get us accustomed to catching the ball. Then we line up by position and do stretch after stretch. Then we go to formation recognition and try to get our shifts and audibles so it won't be completely strange to us by the time we see it again later on in practice.
Q: Is there any particular defensive back on the Raiders that you like going up against more than others?
PORTER: I honestly like going up against Charles Woodson because Charles is one of the best corners in the league. If I can get some good work in against Woodson and beat him every time then come time for cornerbacks like Shawn Springs in Seattle, they won't be much of a challenge because I think Charles is a better corner than Shawn is. And then every team doesn't have a cornerback on their team like a Charles Woodson or a Shawn Springs. So it would just make my whole season a whole lot easier.
Q: What did you do after the morning practice?
PORTER: I came into the room. I came in and looked over my playbook for the afternoon to see if anything new was in it that would challenge me at all. Then Travian Smith came into the room and we played a little Tecmo Bowl because I brought the Nintendo Entertainment from 1985 back out. We got like six players on Tecmo Bowl. I played two games against him. I beat him real bad one game and then he beat me once so we have to get the rematch on later on today. I basically just got off my feet a little bit and had something to eat and got ready for the second practice.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
PORTER: I had three hamburgers with no bread, water, Gatorade, and cherry juice.
Q: How was the afternoon practice?
PORTER: Like I said earlier, the defense kind of got after us in the afternoon. They made a lot of good plays on the ball as far as the defensive backs and linebackers making interceptions and knocking down the ball. They just played better than they did this morning because we kind of got after them this morning. So the match up right now is one to one. Tomorrow we're going to try to go ahead and take that lead back.
Q: What do you plan to do for the rest of the night?
PORTER: I'm off for the next few hours and then I have to go to position meetings for two and half hours. Then after that I'll be pretty much exhausted from just the mental strain and I'm going to rest. I'll probably play a little PlayStation or Nintendo, take a shower, and then get to sleep.
Q: Do you work one-on-one at all with Tim Brown or Jerry Rice?
PORTER: This afternoon when I first got out Jerry Rice was running around and we discussed some things about a particular play that we run that was a change up from what we usually do. I haven't had a chance to work with Tim at all one-on-one yet. But in the midst of practice, in the heat of the battle, I'll come over to Tim or Jerry and say what did that pass pattern look like or what could I have done better to get a chance to get open and they'll tell me. So everybody is helping everybody out there.
Q: I saw you joking around with Rod Woodson out there after he got an interception. Did you guys go at it joking around with each other a lot today?
PORTER: He kind of caught me with a veteran move today. I was blocking and he said watch out here comes the crowd and I went to move my legs out the way because you don't want to get rolled up in the crowd and he just ran right past me. He made me think everybody was coming, but nobody was there. So we just kind of started laughing. Then when he got that interception I was just yelling at him to protect the ball.
July 26, 2002
Jerry Porter's Diary
Q: How did the day go for you?
PORTER: This morning I got up at about 7:30; I had a mandatory drug test. Everybody hates those. But you know I had to go ahead and go do it. I had a chance to get out of it a little bit early and get taped and get stretched out before we had to hit the field. We went on with practice at about 8:30.
Q: How was the morning practice?
PORTER: I had a pretty good morning practice. I always focus on the things I did well, on the things I did best so I have something to build on. I had one dropped ball, but it was heavily contested. So I had a chance to work against Charles Woodson, Tory James, and Phillip Buchanon. So I got a good amount of work done this morning. This afternoon the offense started off kind of slow. We had the defenses number this morning, but this afternoon they brought it to us. We kind of got our buts kicked a little, but that's the way camp goes.
Q: How do you start out the morning practice? Do you take a jog first or do you split off into positions?
PORTER: We just go PAT and go. Its like 40 yards of just jogging down the field and coach throws the ball up to us to get us accustomed to catching the ball. Then we line up by position and do stretch after stretch. Then we go to formation recognition and try to get our shifts and audibles so it won't be completely strange to us by the time we see it again later on in practice.
Q: Is there any particular defensive back on the Raiders that you like going up against more than others?
PORTER: I honestly like going up against Charles Woodson because Charles is one of the best corners in the league. If I can get some good work in against Woodson and beat him every time then come time for cornerbacks like Shawn Springs in Seattle, they won't be much of a challenge because I think Charles is a better corner than Shawn is. And then every team doesn't have a cornerback on their team like a Charles Woodson or a Shawn Springs. So it would just make my whole season a whole lot easier.
Q: What did you do after the morning practice?
PORTER: I came into the room. I came in and looked over my playbook for the afternoon to see if anything new was in it that would challenge me at all. Then Travian Smith came into the room and we played a little Tecmo Bowl because I brought the Nintendo Entertainment from 1985 back out. We got like six players on Tecmo Bowl. I played two games against him. I beat him real bad one game and then he beat me once so we have to get the rematch on later on today. I basically just got off my feet a little bit and had something to eat and got ready for the second practice.
Q: What did you have for lunch?
PORTER: I had three hamburgers with no bread, water, Gatorade, and cherry juice.
Q: How was the afternoon practice?
PORTER: Like I said earlier, the defense kind of got after us in the afternoon. They made a lot of good plays on the ball as far as the defensive backs and linebackers making interceptions and knocking down the ball. They just played better than they did this morning because we kind of got after them this morning. So the match up right now is one to one. Tomorrow we're going to try to go ahead and take that lead back.
Q: What do you plan to do for the rest of the night?
PORTER: I'm off for the next few hours and then I have to go to position meetings for two and half hours. Then after that I'll be pretty much exhausted from just the mental strain and I'm going to rest. I'll probably play a little PlayStation or Nintendo, take a shower, and then get to sleep.
Q: Do you work one-on-one at all with Tim Brown or Jerry Rice?
PORTER: This afternoon when I first got out Jerry Rice was running around and we discussed some things about a particular play that we run that was a change up from what we usually do. I haven't had a chance to work with Tim at all one-on-one yet. But in the midst of practice, in the heat of the battle, I'll come over to Tim or Jerry and say what did that pass pattern look like or what could I have done better to get a chance to get open and they'll tell me. So everybody is helping everybody out there.
Q: I saw you joking around with Rod Woodson out there after he got an interception. Did you guys go at it joking around with each other a lot today?
PORTER: He kind of caught me with a veteran move today. I was blocking and he said watch out here comes the crowd and I went to move my legs out the way because you don't want to get rolled up in the crowd and he just ran right past me. He made me think everybody was coming, but nobody was there. So we just kind of started laughing. Then when he got that interception I was just yelling at him to protect the ball.