Today's Tidbit... NFL Training Camps as Unpaid Internships
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In 1956, NFL teams played six exhibition games and twelve league games, plus the two divisional winners played in a championship game. It seems crazy now for training camp to last half as long as the season itself, but that's what they did. Teams did not scout and evaluate college talent anywhere near today's level, so the draft had thirty rounds, and teams often learned what they had only after getting the players in camp. In addition, the College All-Star game kept the best players from their team camps for the first several weeks while other players were drafted into or mustered out of the services during the middle of camp. Finally, teams lacked television contracts for exhibition games, which were often played in non-NFL cities hoping to attract crowds. Teams often claimed they lost money during training camp.
Today's Tidbit... NFL Training Camps as Unpaid Internships
Today's Tidbit... NFL Training Camps as…
Today's Tidbit... NFL Training Camps as Unpaid Internships
In 1956, NFL teams played six exhibition games and twelve league games, plus the two divisional winners played in a championship game. It seems crazy now for training camp to last half as long as the season itself, but that's what they did. Teams did not scout and evaluate college talent anywhere near today's level, so the draft had thirty rounds, and teams often learned what they had only after getting the players in camp. In addition, the College All-Star game kept the best players from their team camps for the first several weeks while other players were drafted into or mustered out of the services during the middle of camp. Finally, teams lacked television contracts for exhibition games, which were often played in non-NFL cities hoping to attract crowds. Teams often claimed they lost money during training camp.