The opening week of practice is always the most optimistic week of football season. 105 Division I athletes are competing in shorts and no pads, and they all look the part. Well, except for the kickers and punters.
Towards the end of the first week, the pads go on, and that's when the worries begin. On the first day, it's "Man, Nick Acree is a manchild!" And then when the pads go on, it changes to "Oh boy, Acree has a lot of work to do!"