Eisenberg: Rookies Have Landed In The Twilight Zone

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.

Jimmy Buffet wrote those wonderful song lyrics years ago, and they seemed especially appropriate after listening to the plight of the Ravens' draft class of 2011 Tuesday at the first of this week's players-only workouts at Towson University.

"Have you seen a playbook yet?" a reporter asked running back Anthony Allen, the seventh-round pick from Georgia Tech.

"Nope, sure haven't," Allen said.

He said he was hoping to borrow one from a veteran who brought a playbook to the three-day practice camp organized by Derrick Mason. Anquan Boldin supposedly made a couple of copies.

"I have 75 cents out in the car that I can spend at Kinko's," Allen said with a smile.

You have to feel for the newest Ravens – and for that matter, for all of the NFL's rookies-in-waiting. They realized a lifelong dream when they heard their names called during the draft, but instead of landing in football heaven, they've landed in the Twilight Zone that is pro football in the midst of a rancorous labor dispute between the players and owners.

The rookies haven't heard from their teams. They aren't under contract. Their wages may be limited by a rookie wage scale that the players and owners agreed on before their mediated talks broke down.

Many haven't even seen playbooks.
 
"Do you feel like an NFL player yet?" Allen was asked.

"Kind of, kind of," he said. "I've got about 17 dollars in my bank account, so not quite yet."

All they want is to impress their new employers enough to get their careers started the right way, but they can't accomplish anything while the drip-drip-drip dispute between the players and owners trudges through the courts and the players are locked out of their practice facilities.

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They were spectators to the situation, college kids, when the lockout started, but it's their problem now.

"I really feel for those guys," Ravens running back Ray Rice said. "My experience coming into the league obviously was totally different. They're coming into a situation they were totally unprepared for, financially, mentally, everything. We're going to help them out. Being a veteran, anyone who is a rookie, we'll take care of them."

A hop-on-board-with-us attitude was apparent before, during and after Tuesday's workout, which was attended by more than two dozen veterans and rookies including starters Joe Flacco, Mason, Rice, Boldin, Jarret Johnson and Cory Redding.

Flacco arrived in a car with rookies Torrey Smith, Tandon Doss, and Tyrod Taylor and explained later that he was staying at their hotel so he could spend time going over the offense with them.

If they stopped for donuts and coffee on the way to the practice, Flacco surely bought.

"The biggest thing about getting out here right now is with these young guys," Flacco said. "The guys who are missing out the most right now are the young guys. They're not going to be able to get in and have a guy go over the playbook with them and come out here on the field and get a real feel for how to run the routes.

"I want them to walk away from this with an understanding of how we call our routes and can they recognize where they line up and which route they're going to have. As long as they have those basics, I think they can grow off of that."

Allen, who is expected to compete for a job backing up Rice, said Rice had called several times and also was planning to go over the playbook this week.

"Ray has been great," Allen said.

The Ravens' approach stands in contrast to the approach taken by Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman, who said he "didn't feel the urgency" to help out his rookie teammates before their players-only workout.  On the other hand, former Ravens quarterback John Beck, now with the Redskins, said he did reach out before their event because he "tried to put myself in their shoes."

Waiting for the lockout to end, waiting to see what the playbook looks like, waiting for a contract, waiting for… everything.

John Eisenberg covers the Ravens for Comcast SportsNet Baltimore. He worked in the newspaper business for 28 years as a sports columnist, with much of that time coming at the Baltimore Sun. While working for the Sun, Eisenberg spent time covering the Ravens, among other teams and events, including the Super Bowl, Final Four, World Series and Olympics. Eisenberg is also the author of seven sports-themed books.