The late spring and early summer months are usually downtime for the NFL. There’s not much going on—no player movement, and all the signings and drafting are done. Players get a lot of time off during this period, but not all of it. They still have various voluntary and mandatory organized team activities (OTAs) during these months.
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And Sean McVay is trying to make the most of those few days with his Los Angeles Rams. The Super Bowl-winning coach decided to take his guys to Hawaii to conduct their mandatory minicamp from June 16 to 18. No doubt his players loved him for it.
Others also saw McVay’s decision and looked on with intrigue. Former NFLer and current podcaster Julian Edelman believes it’s a great way to ingratiate yourself with the players as a coach. Who doesn’t love Hawaii?
Edelman is also confident that with an OCD coach like McVay at the controls down there, they were still using their time in paradise productively.
“I think it’s a cool opportunity. … I don’t have a problem with that at all, as long as the time that they use to get ready for football in Hawaii is productive,” Edelman said before adding,
“That’s amazing, that’s evolution to like, workplace people. You gotta take care of the guys, the horses. So I thought that was a cool thing that McVay did… And I’m sure every meeting, and walkthrough, or practice that they did, was very productive with their time.”
Edelman then argued that getting your guys involved, and keeping them involved, during this summer downtime can be key to starting a season strong. As he pointed out, some teams, like the Bengals, who never play their starters in August, have struggled coming out of the gate in September over the past few years.
“And that’s the difference. You look at other teams that don’t practice their guys, the Cincinnati Bengals, Zac Taylor don’t play the guys in the preseason, and they haven’t won a game in September in like five years.”
Other than that, the Rams trip also served as major bonding time for the team. Team-building. Edelman understandably reminisced about his time in the league with the New England Patriots. He remembered how some of his favorite moments were not touchdowns or big catches on the field, but trips like this one that allow teammates to learn from each other and become closer, not just as coworkers but as men and friends.
“Some of my favorite times as a Patriot is when we would go play an away game in Green Bay and as a team we would go work in San Diego for the week, and stay in San Diego for the week. And unify as a team. Those are unifying team moments. Your family’s there whatever, but you guys are all together and you’re working together,” Edelman said.
“You’re not all going home. You’re all going to the hotel. You’re all gonna eat with each other, you’re gonna talk with each other, you’re gonna be around each other’s family. That’s great.”
With the Pro Bowl no longer held in Hawaii (and why that is the case, we will never understand), this was a rare opportunity for NFLers to get down to the Aloha State.
You just know that if the Rams have a big start to the 2025 season, other NFL coaches are going to point to this unorthodox decision and start following suit in the coming years. And the players will surely have no problem with that.
