Most welcome-to-the-NFL moments happen on the football field when a rookie gets lit up or understands the new level of competition. However, for Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington, it happened after a training camp practice.
In the team’s old format for their meetings, they would have an extended break between practice and meetings. Those meetings would often last until late in the evening. However, after one practice, Washington fell asleep and missed all of the meetings, and he was met with a costly fine.
“After practice, we got meetings, and meetings typically last from I want to say, 4-5 to 9 at night," Washington said on Zech’s Tech Turf. “I typically go back to my room and just sit there, turn on the game...and this time, I fell asleep. I woke up at 9:10, so everything’s over. I missed team meetings, offensive meetings, and position meetings. The next day I’m thinking everything’s fine, I thought they didn’t notice me. And the fine hit, it was like $17,000."
The Steelers remain strict on meetings and attendees. They dish out fines for this stuff routinely, and it was one way to let Washington know that it would not fly around the team. Head coach Mike Tomlin builds an inclusive culture, but he does bring down the hammer when necessary.
This was one of the situations that helped Washington realize he was in the NFL and had to take it all the more seriously. Even after a long day of practice, the slogs of meetings could catch up to players.
The Steelers switched their training camp schedules in 2024, however, to combat some issues such as this. They moved practice up and pushed it back on certain days to give themselves more flexibility with sleep schedules, treatment, and meetings.
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