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Teams across the NFL officially kicked off training camp earlier this month, which meant it was only a matter of time until we were treated to one of my favorite annual traditions: watching frustrated players fight each other.
Travis Kelce was forced to apologize after losing his cool shortly before the Giants got in on the action, although none of those altercations offered the kind of entertainment Cleveland Browns defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo treated us to by slapping offensive lineman James Hudson III before quickly running away.
The Titans, on the other hand, haven’t had any major incidents since they gathered at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, and it seems like there may be a reason the players gearing up for the current season have managed to keep their tempers under control.
According to The Tennessean, head coach Mike Vrabel —who described those scuffles as “dumb s*** that hurts the team”—has pledged to discipline any player who decides they want to fight by banishing them to a sand pit located in a remote corner of the practice field to continue practicing.
The team embraced that particular feature in 2019 in the hopes of making it easier for injured or beat-up players to take some stress off while training, but it appears it now serves a slightly different role.
If you’ve ever tried to do some running on the beach, you’re probably aware the nature of sand can make it a particularly taxing endeavor, which is probably one of the reasons players want to avoid getting sent to the pit.
Of course, Anakin Skywalker once summed up another reason it likely serves as a deterrent: sand is coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere, which isn’t exactly ideal for athletes who are already dealing with plenty of friction in sensitive areas.
It might sound a little out there, but it seems like it’s working pretty well so far.