2012 NFL Rookie Symposium Is A Wrap

The NFL Rookie Symposium was held on Thursday, providing an orientation of sorts for all the new players set to enter the league in the 2012 season. Current and former NFL players spoke to the rookies about what they can expect, but more importantly, what will be expected of them both on and off the field.

Thanks to the Symposium, Blackmon now has a much better idea of the potential repercussions for his actions.

Fairley and his fellow rookies missed the opportunity to attend the Symposium last year. The event was a casualty of the lockout.

The second-year defensive tackle made a special request to attend the event, according to the Lions’ official website. Fairley told the league and his team that he believed he would benefit from it. He is attending with rookies from the AFC, who began the Symposium on Thursday.

The 2012 version of the NFL Rookie Symposium continues as the NFC players depart and the AFC players arrive. The NFL changed up the way the players arrive at the Rookie Symposium with the players now split by conference. The NFC players arrived last Sunday and completed the Symposium on Wednesday. The AFC players arrived on Wednesday so their week is just getting started and they will be in Ohio until Sunday.

The NFC players had a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier in the week, which is part of the NFL’s strategy at getting players to understand and appreciate the history of the game.

Adam “Pacman” Jones did not want his speech to NFL rookies at the league’s Rookie Symposium broadcast. Jones did manage to provide NFL.com with a few tidbits and the general thrust of what he was going to talk about with the young players. As you can imagine, Pacman was going to offer rookies a cautionary tale or two.

The ultimate lesson, said Jones, is this:

NFL rookies descended on suburban Cleveland on Sunday for another round of meetings and discussions, but the next week will be a little different. There will be no 40-yard-dash or cramming the playbook. The next generation of NFL players are in Ohio for a crash course on a range of topics spanning the history of the game to managing money.

Each year the NFL hosts the Rookie Symposium for its newest group of employees. Going from college to the real world is a culture shock for anyone. The jump from campus life to professional football is a seismic shift, and the league uses the event as part of the process to help its rookies adjust.