NFL Location of training camp sparks debate among different coaches

Some teams chose to stay home, others travel away from many distractions.
By RICK GOSSELIN
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS -- For 34 summers the Washington Redskins would pack up their cars, trucks and moving vans and drive a few hours up the road to Carlisle, Pa., for training camp.
During the George Allen era, the Redskins would spend upwards of six weeks on the Dickinson College campus, getting their minds and bodies ready for a chance to build a championship team.
The Cowboys spent their summers in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and the Chicago Bears spent theirs in Platteville, Wis. The Denver Broncos shifted operations upstate to Fort Collins, and the Minnesota Vikings shifted theirs downstate to Mankato.
That was when training camp was an integral part of a team's conditioning program. There were six preseason games, and players needed time to get into shape.
Different in the present
But rarely do players get out of shape in today's NFL with the year-round training regimens teams have in place. The preseason schedule has been reduced to four games, and there is less of a need for an NFL team to get away.
The Atlanta Falcons will spend only 15 days in training camp this summer. The Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams and Vikings all will spend only 21 days in camp.
A growing number of teams aren't even going away to camp any more. Thirteen of the 32 teams are staying home and conducting training camp at their in-season facilities: Cleveland, Detroit, Denver, Green Bay, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, New England, New Orleans, New York Jets, San Francisco, Tennessee and Washington.
New facilities
Why not? The Lions spent $35 million to build a training palace that is considered the best in football. It sits on 23 acres in suburban Detroit. They have 21/2 grass fields and a full 100-yard indoor artificial-turf field. The weight and medical equipment are all state of the art.
The Houston Texans have their training facility built into the grounds and structure of Reliant Field. The Texans have a 10,000-square foot weight room -- the largest in the NFL. They also have three grass practice fields plus an indoor practice field.
"With the facilities we have here, it's better for us to stay," Texans coach Dom Capers said. "You spend all this time organizing and scripting out your practice, figuring out the number of repetitions you want in all the different areas. I don't have to worry about losing one single repetition to bad weather."
Cowher likes getting away
The Steelers have spent the last 37 summers in Latrobe, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. Even though the Steelers have a brand-new facility of their own, they have no plans to return home for camp.
"The benefit of going away is that you have very few distractions," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "There are enough during the season -- family, public, the scrutiny of the media. So the players are more focused in camp. Any time you can avoid and eliminate distractions, that's a positive."
Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, whose team trains an hour west in Terre Haute, also thinks it's a positive to go away to camp.
"I can see where that may not be the best way in terms of cost," Dungy said, "but I like the idea of 21/2 weeks of an intense, football-only focus."
Practicing with another team
The Dolphins train at their home base in Davie. But coach Dave Wannstedt sees the advantage of getting away -- so he makes it a point to break up camp each year with a trip. This summer it's to Nashville, where the Dolphins will spend a weekend practicing against the Tennessee Titans.
"It allows us to bond as a team," Wannstedt said. "That's the only negative to staying at home. You don't get coaches and players staying in one place, eating together, sleeping together -- that whole lock-down dorm mentality."