Wednesday, August 11: Day 15 of the 2021 Arizona Cardinals Training Camp. It is Bernhard Seikovits first practice camp as a cardinal, his first as an NFL player.
„The last few weeks have passed by in a flash. Since the announcement of my commitment to the Cardinals, one small highlight has followed the next. I had little time to really internalize each of these steps“, Says the 24 year old Viennese, who has officially been part of the NFL team in Arizona since May 4th.
One day after the sensational announcement, the athlete, who played for the Dacia Vienna Vikings for 13 years, was on the plane to the USA. He has already successfully completed rookie mini camps, OTAs (‘Organized Team Activities’) and individual units; even on a short visit home in early July, there was not a day on which he was not working on his career. “Whenever I wasn’t in the gym or in the field, I went swimming and learned the playbook. Doing nothing for a day would have felt weird.“
Exactly planned 13-hour days are customary
The thoroughbred athlete has never lacked the right and ambitious work ethic. Perseverance, determination and hard work on yourself now more than benefit NFL rookie Seikovits. Endurance and concentration are required on every day of the camp.
„My day starts at 6 a.m. with breakfast and ends around 7 p.m. These hours are precisely planned with training, gym, many meetings, walk-through and eating together. And when the official team day is over, I prepare for the next day in my hotel room – internalize it with a film study and playbook. There is not so much time left for everything. You just have to deliver your performance.“
Since the training camp began, the entire Cardinals team has lived in a hotel next to – and overlooking – State Farm Stadium, a $ 550 million beauty with 63,400 regular seats in Glendale, Arizona.
„The first training session at the State Farm Stadium was more than cool, it made a big impression. The stadium is huge, which is impressive the first time. Then the first practices with fans followed – like the traditional Red & White training here last Saturday. There are thousands of fans in the stadium at an open practice, probably as many, if not more, than in Austria on the best-attended game days. These are just other dimensions and a general interest in football and in my team that I have not been used to – and that on an ordinary training day. Insanity.“
By the start of the 2021 NFL season at the latest, interest in the ‘Cards’ in the sport-loving desert state will grow even more.
The opponents of the Cardinals in the pre-season: Cowboys, Chiefs and Saints
Bernhard’s team will complete the first pre-season test on Saturday, August 14th at 4 a.m. (CEST). The Cardinals receive the Dallas Cowboys as guests at State Farm Stadium. The opponents of the further preparation games are then the Kansas City Chiefs * (on August 21 at 2:00 a.m.) and the New Orleans Saints on August 29. also at 2:00 a.m.
„When, against whom and how much I will play in these pre-season games, I cannot say yet. But I am already expecting to get playing time in at least one of the three games. At the moment I can’t say when the Starters & Veterans and when the Rookies will get playtime. But I do my best in every training session to convince and show that I can execute plays well and keep up with athleticism,“Says Seikovits, who now finds himself in an internal competitive situation every day.
„Everything here is now performance-based. Whatever you achieve – be it playtime or the coveted roster spot – you will have earned and earned it. Of course, many people know that I came to the Cardinals from the NFL Pathway Program for international players, so I don’t have a special status. On the contrary: I actually notice that my team-mates respect the fact that I play at this level, even though I come from Europe and never played in college in the USA.“
Last night the Cardinals team got reporters, sports journalists Craig Grialou and Paul Calvisi, the tight end situations Arizona under the microscope. That with this coverage Seikovits – The Kid from Austria (OT Calvisi) – Was part of the discussion, speaks for Bernhard and his real chances of stakes and a raster spot.
„The NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) program currently has 14 international players on 11 clubs, hailing from eight different countries. To support the IPP program’s continued growth and exposure, IPP players will be allowed to wear a decal of their home country’s flag on their helmets (in addition to the US flag),“ hieß es in der einer Presseaussendung der NFL Ende Juli. Foto: Bernhard Seikovits private
A small (optical) difference can be seen when looking at the helmet of the Austrian tight end with the number 43: In addition to the American flag, it is also decorated with the red-white-red of its home flag – a novelty that the NFL for the 14 IPP players decided this year.
