FRISCO, Texas – Ask a rookie what kind of issues they typically face in their first season in the NFL and you’ll likely get a variety of answers.
- Game speed.
- Size of players.
- Using the terminology.
- Learn the playbook.
- Even finding your way around the new facility can be difficult.
For Isaac Alarcón, he takes care of all this and even a little more. Born in Mexico, Alarcón is still trying to fully understand the English language, so this is just one more problem he is trying to solve.
“Not with the playbook because the coaches speak formal English, therefore more political,” Alarcón said of the language barrier. “But when I’m with my teammates, with the rookies, I struggle a bit because they bring their slang. They have their colloquial language. They speak very fast. They have very different words, and then suddenly I am. out of the loop. But thank goodness I have friends who say, “No Isaac, I’ll explain it to you.” “
One thing the rookie offensive lineman has going for him compared to his colleagues is that he knows he will be around this season.
Not every rookie or even young veteran can make such a statement. But as part of the NFL’s International Pathway program, Alarcón was awarded to the Cowboys with a list exemption. He will at least be part of the practice squad all season, but is eligible to be part of the 55 players.
But first of all, he’s just trying to keep his head from spinning.
“It’s a whole different world. This place is amazing …”, said Alarcón in a recent interview with Ambar Garcia on SomosCowboys.com. “Thank God everyone made me feel very welcome. Thank God I have a very good relationship with my rookie teammates. In fact, I had the opportunity to speak to veterans like Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott . Honestly, they are all very nice people. They made me feel welcome. And what else can I tell you, I think I’m with the best team in the whole NFL. “
It also looks like Alarcón thinks he’s part of the bigger team as well.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen human beings this big,” said Alarcón, who is on the official list as numbers 6-7, 320. “I mean, I’m tall, but in Mexico I got used to seeing people smaller than me, and then I come here and there are amazing human beings. They are huge. I think I was surprised when I saw Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Tyrone Crawford. They are very tall people. “
And not only big, but also fast. Alarcón said he’s adapting to speed – not just on the pitch.
“The most complicated is the speed of the match,” said Alarcón. “Just like everyone is very fast in the field, very agile, so are they in the meeting rooms. We meet for about an hour, which is when we set up about 20 games like this. , and coaches expect that these 20 pieces they just taught can be perfectly executed when it comes to doing them on the court. So there is no such thing as ” Oh my bad ”or“ Oh I got distracted. ”No, you have to be focused the whole time you’re here.”
