Don't look now--but football season is right around the corner

By Peter Schwartz | Posted 6/21/2017

I’ve never been much of a summer person.  My dislike for the season really started when I was a kid because my birthday is in July and that meant never having a birthday celebration during the school year.  No cupcakes…no donuts…no birthday cake…nothing. I also can’t stand hot weather so when the summer months arrive, I yearn for the time when I can step outside, put on a sweatshirt, and enjoy a really nice 55 or 60 degree day.

In the fall, when it’s football season.

So what I’ve had to do over the years is to find something that can get me through the summer and bridge the gap to when life is really good and that bridge has always been football.  I had no interest in going to a day camp when I was a kid because it just wasn’t my scene.  So my camp growing up on Long Island was getting on my bicycle and taking a short ride to Hofstra University to watch my beloved New York Jets during their training camp.

I went every day and back then there were two a days so there were times I watched both workouts.  After practices, I’d run over to the other side of the field where the players would sign autographs through a gate.  Sometimes, they would let the fans on the field to meet the players and I thought that was the greatest thing in the world.

July and August is not always thought of as football season but it’s always been my escape from the summer doldrums.   Today, as a youth football parent, the summer continues to be a big part of my life because football in the summertime continues to get me closer to the best season of the year and that’s the fall when football season begins.

Our family football fun begins this week when we attend the annual Empire Challenge, a Long Island vs. New York City high school football all-star game featuring seniors that range from those who are going on to play in college to kids that will be playing the final football game of their career.  Every year my son Bradley, who is now 11 and has played 7 years of youth football, leans over to my wife and I and says something to effect of “someday I’m going to play in this game.”

Bradley will also be back on the football field this week as he begins practice for a New York vs. New Jersey all-star youth football game that will take place on July 1st, which just happens to be my wife Sheryl’s birthday.  Next week, Bradley and my 7 year old son Jared will take part in a three day non-contact youth football camp that features many current and former NFL players and coaches as instructors. 

It’s a great way for kids to get the rust off, run around the football field, learn a few things, and get ready for training camp.  Jared took part in the camp for the first time last year and is really excited for this year’s camp because he is going to start playing flag football this fall. 

Are you ready for some more football?

Each summer, our love of football takes us to Jets and Giants training camp.  We’re a Jets household but we spend a day at each camp because it’s wonderful to get an up close look at our local NFL teams getting ready for the season and the boys may just learn a thing or two.  Both camps have interactive activities for the kids and they get to go home with some autographs.  

We’re also taking a trip to Canton, Ohio as we will visit the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.  There have been so many improvements to the hall of fame since my last visit that I think I may be the biggest kid of them all on that trip.  It will be great to check out the youth football fields that have been built at the complex and it will be a great football learning experience for my whole family.

Before you know it, it’s late July/early August and that means the start of youth football training camp.  Bradley will be putting on the helmet and the pads for his final season of youth football before joining his middle school team next year.  Meanwhile, Jared will be getting ready for his first foray into organized football as he takes part in the fun of flag football.

I must reiterate again that I don’t like the summer.  Give me the fall and 50 degrees or even the winter as I don’t mind shoveling a little snow.  I’ve always found that the best way to put up with the heat of the summer months is to be around football because that tells me that the season, both fall and football, is right around the corner.  

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WCBS 880 Radio in New York.  His son Bradley plays youth football on Long Island while his younger son Jared will begin playing flag football this coming fall.  Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field. 

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