Beware the Turk

[Brand J]

I remember when Turk Schonert was literally The Turk and had to tell players coach wanted to see them. I thought that’s where the name came from, didn’t realize it was league wide until years later.

[Beck Water]

4 hours ago, boyst said:

I've known several guys who were camp fodder spaces. Most know it is coming. A friend of mine was a long snapper for 3 teams over 4 seasons just to fill out camp. Said the guys who come in to relieve veterans like he was doing are treated well considering everyone knows they're goners 

 

TBH, I think your friend is in a different situation than most players who are trying to make the roster.

 

As a LS, if the team already has a LS on the roster, he knows there can be only one and he's for reals there to fill out camp or maybe in case of injury.

 

But for a guy like Andy Isabella who still has dreams of playing a significant role on a competitive team, or an UDFA like Tyrell Shavers who has dreams of making an NFL roster and who has been out there making some catches and hearing cheers from the crowd watching training camp or pre-season games, it's different.  They have to believe in themselves and believe they have a chance.

 

Still, I agree with you that by the end of preseason, there are only a few positions up for grabs, there's a heirarchy, and most guys know that it's coming.  The anxiety may be whether they will be tapped for the practice squad and if they have multiple offers, stay here or go elsewhere?

 

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

And they can say they were professional football players. The worst guy in an NFL camp is still a hundred times better than more of us.

 

We knew a guy at work years back who had gone to camp with the Oakland Raiders (when they were a perennial contending team) as a nose tackle.  He was the most physically intimidating and mentally aggressive person I have ever met.  He said he wasn't surprised to be cut at the end of summer and didn't try to find another team because he decided he didn't "like pain enough".  He had used his football scholarship to complete a degree as an industrial engineer, so he did ok professionally.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Beck Water

[Clyde Smith]

Yeah, here comes the rooster

[boyst]

54 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

TBH, I think your friend is in a different situation than most players who are trying to make the roster.

 

As a LS, if the team already has a LS on the roster, he knows there can be only one and he's for reals there to fill out camp or maybe in case of injury.

 

But for a guy like Andy Isabella who still has dreams of playing a significant role on a competitive team, or an UDFA like Tyrell Shavers who has dreams of making an NFL roster and who has been out there making some catches and hearing cheers from the crowd watching training camp or pre-season games, it's different.  They have to believe in themselves and believe they have a chance.

 

Still, I agree with you that by the end of preseason, there are only a few positions up for grabs, there's a heirarchy, and most guys know that it's coming.  The anxiety may be whether they will be tapped for the practice squad and if they have multiple offers, stay here or go elsewhere?

 

 

We knew a guy at work years back who had gone to camp with the Oakland Raiders (when they were a perennial contending team) as a nose tackle.  He was the most physically intimidating and mentally aggressive person I have ever met.  He said he wasn't surprised to be cut at the end of summer and didn't try to find another team because he decided he didn't "like pain enough".  He had used his football scholarship to complete a degree as an industrial engineer, so he did ok professionally.

The multiple offers issue is also very stressful. Childhood friend went undrafted, after being projected a 6th or 7th. Had offers of signing UDFA contract to several teams and chose a team with a bona fide future HOF with 6-7 yrs experience by that time in the position he played. Said they chose the team based on his likelihood to learn in a great system, be somewhat close to home, and try to get his 3-4 yrs NFL experience.  Ultimately, I think he did 2 yrs there, maybe 3 and went to another team for a year or two.

 

His last contract, per him, was basically the team knew who he was and had known him since college - they initially offered him a UDFA contract - and needed camp bodies with experience, and PS guys who knew the system.

[chongli]

I thought for a monent this thread was referring to Big Turk! 😀

[machine gun kelly]

7 hours ago, Pete said:

Knock-knock-knock-  a sound players do not want to hear the next 48 hours.  I can’t imagine the anxiety and fear many players are feeling right now.  Imagine being Shorter or Isabella, Cam Lewis, and every other bubble player.

 

 

 

Beware of 'TheTurk.'Across NFL lockerrooms, cafeterias and weight rooms today, 'The Turk' is lurking. The Turk isthe nickname given to the staff member -- usually someone from the personneldepartment -- who tells players they are to go visit with the head coach andgeneral manager.
The Turk has amessage that, in so many words, goes like this: "Coach wants to see you.Bring your playbook."That can onlymean one thing: You are being cut.
"Down in thecafeteria and I see the Turks lurking," the Ravens official site tweetedFriday morning. "Kenny Sanders from the scouting dept. sends players tosee HarbsOzzie. Not a fun job."An anonymous NFL personnel executive summed up how difficult the jobof the Turk is:
"One of mysaddest experiences was when we had two young backs in camp who had reallyworked hard. Each one knew only one was going to make it. They sat next to eachother in the locker room. So, I have to go down and get the one we are cutting.I walk in and both are looking at me. Who's going to the gallows and who'sgoing to the castle? I tell him. The other kid works hard to control himself.The kid that walks with me is devastated. That is a tough one when they areside-by-side like that."It's the Turkthat essentially taps the player on the shoulder, but with the Ravens, Harbaugh is the one that meets with them. And it's one of the more difficult aspects ofthe job.
"Sittingdown with those guys face-to-face is very challenging, because you develop a relationshipwith them, and you really care about them and they care about the program andeverything," Harbaugh said after practice last week.
"Everybody dealswith it differently. Some guys are mad, some guys are sad. Its all different;every single guy faces it in a different way. They are all good guys, and thatprobably makes it that much tougher."

 

https://www.nbcsportswashington.com/baltimore-ravens/beware-of-the-turk/340383/

Pete, I’m not the syntax police, but maybe possibly consider paragraphs and shorter sentences your friend.  From my phone I’m the worst so I’m living in that glass house.  Your premise though is accurate.  I’d hate to be a bubble player for the next 48.

[benderbender]

[Mark Vader]

CHINGLI!!!

[Simon Says]

9 hours ago, Limeaid said:

I would think that teams would want to have a final meeting with team awards, etc. before they start releasing.  

With players who they would like to keep at a lower salary level give them warning they are on bubble and if they are not willing to renegotiate they will be cut which would allow team not to cut another player.

Hey,let's give them all "participation trophies " . LOL! There are some awards given after camp at Fisher but these are professionals.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

10 hours ago, wppete said:

Why do they call him the Turk? First time hearing this. 

Because the Turk in the Godfather was known to be very good with a blade hence cutting people. PS I totally just guessed, but this makes the most sense to me, 

[BillsFanForever19]

Much like Khalil Shakir, the fans are the only ones putting Justin Shorter on the bubble. Overvaluing Pre-Season games over investments and development plans way too much, as always.

 

There is an almost zero possibility that Beane is going to outright cut a 5th Round Pick developmental WR without giving him at least one season to develop. They drafted him with a plan to see if they could develop his attributes into a good NFL player. They knew that would take time. And Beane has never outright cut a Draft Pick higher than the late 6th or 7th Round in their Rookie season.

 

Andy Isabella's chances really went out the window to me when Deonte Harty took all the first team Return reps in the last game. Keeping him as the Return man so that Harty could focus entirely on the Offense was Isabella's only route to the 53.

 

Ultimately, he's a guy who was a 2nd Round Pick that was given up on after two seasons. That doesn't happen often and that message is heard loud and clear throughout league circles. Especially when his second chance in Baltimore ended with him being released from there as well, where he then stayed unsigned up until Training Camp. That stink doesn't go away with one halfway decent Pre-Season. The league knows who he is and he's a Practice Squad guy right now.

 

Regardless of how he looked in the Pre-Season, no one is signing him to a 53 man roster spot. There's a much better chance that someone would with Shorter, given his attributes and the fact that he has yet to play a down in the League and still could develop into something. Whereas in Isabella, we will be the 2nd team releasing him in a span of months after being declared a bust by his Drafting team.

 

I believe Isabella was signed as a Camp Body with his ceiling being a Practice Squad player if he showed something. I think he's earned that. But I don't see them keeping him over other guys they invested in and had plans for.

 

Ultimately, every season there's a guy or two that fans get excited about because of Training Camp or the Pre-Season. But both those things mean very little unless there's a path to the roster. And there really isn't for him. Every year fans say "this person has outplayed this person" or "there's no way we can sneak them on the Practice Squad". And every season, long term plans and investments outweigh that and they do end up sneaking those offseason underdogs on to the Practice Squad.

Edited August 28, 2023 by BillsFanForever19

[wppete]

3 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Because the Turk in the Godfather was known to be very good with a blade hence cutting people. PS I totally just guessed, but this makes the most sense to me, 

Makes sense.