James Darling Camp Diary Part III
Wow, it has been a couple of crazy days.
I went home Friday after the morning practice and I wasn’t getting any cell phone service so when I got into Phoenix I picked up this message from my wife Kim that she is at the hospital with a fever. I was panicking because I thought I was missing something.
Our son wasn’t supposed to be born for another two weeks so driving down I am getting my mind right to play a game. Listening to the radio, some R&B, and Tupac and focusing on my assignments, what kind of plays Dallas would be running, and then I get to Phoenix and find out we might be having the baby. It was like a 180.
Anyhow, I get to the hospital and she has a really high temperature so they started giving her I.V.’s. After about three hours, they got the fever down and released her. We go home and then about fifteen minutes she goes upstairs and takes a nap and she gets up to go to the bathroom and her temperature was back. They started inducing her at like 11 o’clock Friday night. They thought the baby would maybe be born at around 2 on Saturday but he didn’t come till about 3:47 that afternoon. I was hoping he would be born early and I could shoot over to the game still and play. At first I thought I was going to be able to make it, but he wasn’t keeping his temperature and his blood sugar wasn’t what it needed to be so we stayed there at the hospital Saturday night. We named him Dylan. It took us about 8 of the 9 months to pick out his name. We had about a 1,000 girls names picked out but we couldn’t come up with anything we agreed on for a boy. He was 19 inches, 6 pounds and 3 ounces. It was amazing to hold him for the first time. Seeing him, you almost don’t believe it. It was just amazing.
I listened to some of the game on the radio, but it had been a long day. I was anxiously nervous it felt like. It is just a weird feeling waiting for him to come and hoping everything would be okay. He looked so helpless that you just want him to be healthy. At first I would pick him up and he had no muscles in his neck. It is just like holding glass. You have to be so careful. It is a little odd. You come out here and you take all of your frustrations out and you can be so physical playing football and then you have to be so careful and cautious with a baby.
I left the hospital at like 12 o’clock finally on Sunday and had my first shower. Yeah, I was gross. I also had to brush my teeth. I have never had such a good teeth brushing. I went back to the hospital till about 8 that night and then came back here for the 11 p.m. curfew. They stayed in the hospital that night too and so I was pretty relieved that I knew they were being taken care of and that everything was okay.
It was weird to watch film and not be playing. Knowing you are part of a team, but then you weren’t. That was a strange feeling. I didn’t like it. They shut them out so they really dominated and we know we still have a lot of improvement to do, but you want to win every time you step on the field and a shut out is not too bad. There were a 1,000 different people out there playing and knowing we could all come together for a shut out was a good feeling. Nijrell Eason made a lot of plays. Quentin Harris made a lot of plays. Calvin Pace made a lot of plays. They played a lot and they had a lot of production out there.
Some people sent in questions asking about my weight and how much we lift up here at camp.
My weight is 242. I try to stay at the same weight so when I get up I’ll have a banana or two. I try to have a big lunch and then for dinner, well I don’t like to eat big dinners. I put on weight pretty easy so if I eat full meals all the time I could be 260 before I even know it. I usually drop three to four pounds during practice, but here that is pretty okay. With the Jets, they fined you a $100 per pound per day. If you were 6 pounds over, it was $600. You could be fined like $5,000 a week pretty easily. It was ridiculous up there. Here, I feel like as long as you are at or under then you are okay. Here it seems like two or three pounds isn’t that big of deal but like 6 or 8 pounds and being chronic overweight seems to be what they care about. I never got fined in New York though. I don’t want to ever waste money.
Throughout camp, we’ve pretty much been lifting about twice a week. Usually on the days we don’t have a morning practice we’ll do a full body lift.
This camp has been pretty good. You are always tired at camp, but I think we’ve all still got our legs. We haven’t had any major injuries or lost guys for the year. Minor injuries are always going to be part of camp. We’ve been learning and playing well together and we are getting there.
I guess from having a lot of camps under my belt that it isn’t anything new to me and nothing has surprised me. It is right up there with one of the best camps I’ve been in. Camps are never fun but it hasn’t been that bad. The best thing about this training camp is that the food has been really good. I have been to a lot of camps where the food has been really terrible. I mean, we’ve had a lot of guys that have just come in and swiped their cards and then gone off to McDonald’s. For the most part, the food has been pretty uplifting.
Right now, I am just really missing my wife and son. My home is in Washington and I really miss doing lawn work too. I like my grass perfectly manicured. I know the person I have doing it, isn’t doing it right. I shouldn’t say that, but no one can do it like you would do it, ya know? I hired my neighbor, and he’s like maybe 14 and he’s mowing my lawn. I told him I was going to spy on him and that on the bye week that he better watch out and that really, you never know. If we have a victory on a Monday, I might just fly home and check on it. It keeps him honest. I don’t want him leaving some clump of grass sitting out. He’s got a standard to live up to. My parents still live around there so I tell them to just drive around the block and stick their head over the fence to see what the lawn looks like. I am paying him $25 every week. That is what I paid the landscaping crew, but he needed a summer job. I thought that was too much to pay a 14 year old kid so I told him he had to pull weeds out of the flower beds too. My wife thinks I am crazy but I can’t help it. My lawn is a big thing to me.
Other than that, we’ll have one more practice this morning and then head down the hill. I am really anxious to play out in San Diego this weekend. I’ve got to earn my keep!!
I’d like to say hello to the Charlton family who sent in a couple of questions. As you’ve already read, we named him Dylan and you guys already know my offseason workout routine!!!! Glad to know somebody is reading these entries!
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Wow, it has been a couple of crazy days.
I went home Friday after the morning practice and I wasn’t getting any cell phone service so when I got into Phoenix I picked up this message from my wife Kim that she is at the hospital with a fever. I was panicking because I thought I was missing something.
Our son wasn’t supposed to be born for another two weeks so driving down I am getting my mind right to play a game. Listening to the radio, some R&B, and Tupac and focusing on my assignments, what kind of plays Dallas would be running, and then I get to Phoenix and find out we might be having the baby. It was like a 180.
Anyhow, I get to the hospital and she has a really high temperature so they started giving her I.V.’s. After about three hours, they got the fever down and released her. We go home and then about fifteen minutes she goes upstairs and takes a nap and she gets up to go to the bathroom and her temperature was back. They started inducing her at like 11 o’clock Friday night. They thought the baby would maybe be born at around 2 on Saturday but he didn’t come till about 3:47 that afternoon. I was hoping he would be born early and I could shoot over to the game still and play. At first I thought I was going to be able to make it, but he wasn’t keeping his temperature and his blood sugar wasn’t what it needed to be so we stayed there at the hospital Saturday night. We named him Dylan. It took us about 8 of the 9 months to pick out his name. We had about a 1,000 girls names picked out but we couldn’t come up with anything we agreed on for a boy. He was 19 inches, 6 pounds and 3 ounces. It was amazing to hold him for the first time. Seeing him, you almost don’t believe it. It was just amazing.
I listened to some of the game on the radio, but it had been a long day. I was anxiously nervous it felt like. It is just a weird feeling waiting for him to come and hoping everything would be okay. He looked so helpless that you just want him to be healthy. At first I would pick him up and he had no muscles in his neck. It is just like holding glass. You have to be so careful. It is a little odd. You come out here and you take all of your frustrations out and you can be so physical playing football and then you have to be so careful and cautious with a baby.
I left the hospital at like 12 o’clock finally on Sunday and had my first shower. Yeah, I was gross. I also had to brush my teeth. I have never had such a good teeth brushing. I went back to the hospital till about 8 that night and then came back here for the 11 p.m. curfew. They stayed in the hospital that night too and so I was pretty relieved that I knew they were being taken care of and that everything was okay.
It was weird to watch film and not be playing. Knowing you are part of a team, but then you weren’t. That was a strange feeling. I didn’t like it. They shut them out so they really dominated and we know we still have a lot of improvement to do, but you want to win every time you step on the field and a shut out is not too bad. There were a 1,000 different people out there playing and knowing we could all come together for a shut out was a good feeling. Nijrell Eason made a lot of plays. Quentin Harris made a lot of plays. Calvin Pace made a lot of plays. They played a lot and they had a lot of production out there.
Some people sent in questions asking about my weight and how much we lift up here at camp.
My weight is 242. I try to stay at the same weight so when I get up I’ll have a banana or two. I try to have a big lunch and then for dinner, well I don’t like to eat big dinners. I put on weight pretty easy so if I eat full meals all the time I could be 260 before I even know it. I usually drop three to four pounds during practice, but here that is pretty okay. With the Jets, they fined you a $100 per pound per day. If you were 6 pounds over, it was $600. You could be fined like $5,000 a week pretty easily. It was ridiculous up there. Here, I feel like as long as you are at or under then you are okay. Here it seems like two or three pounds isn’t that big of deal but like 6 or 8 pounds and being chronic overweight seems to be what they care about. I never got fined in New York though. I don’t want to ever waste money.
Throughout camp, we’ve pretty much been lifting about twice a week. Usually on the days we don’t have a morning practice we’ll do a full body lift.
This camp has been pretty good. You are always tired at camp, but I think we’ve all still got our legs. We haven’t had any major injuries or lost guys for the year. Minor injuries are always going to be part of camp. We’ve been learning and playing well together and we are getting there.
I guess from having a lot of camps under my belt that it isn’t anything new to me and nothing has surprised me. It is right up there with one of the best camps I’ve been in. Camps are never fun but it hasn’t been that bad. The best thing about this training camp is that the food has been really good. I have been to a lot of camps where the food has been really terrible. I mean, we’ve had a lot of guys that have just come in and swiped their cards and then gone off to McDonald’s. For the most part, the food has been pretty uplifting.
Right now, I am just really missing my wife and son. My home is in Washington and I really miss doing lawn work too. I like my grass perfectly manicured. I know the person I have doing it, isn’t doing it right. I shouldn’t say that, but no one can do it like you would do it, ya know? I hired my neighbor, and he’s like maybe 14 and he’s mowing my lawn. I told him I was going to spy on him and that on the bye week that he better watch out and that really, you never know. If we have a victory on a Monday, I might just fly home and check on it. It keeps him honest. I don’t want him leaving some clump of grass sitting out. He’s got a standard to live up to. My parents still live around there so I tell them to just drive around the block and stick their head over the fence to see what the lawn looks like. I am paying him $25 every week. That is what I paid the landscaping crew, but he needed a summer job. I thought that was too much to pay a 14 year old kid so I told him he had to pull weeds out of the flower beds too. My wife thinks I am crazy but I can’t help it. My lawn is a big thing to me.
Other than that, we’ll have one more practice this morning and then head down the hill. I am really anxious to play out in San Diego this weekend. I’ve got to earn my keep!!
I’d like to say hello to the Charlton family who sent in a couple of questions. As you’ve already read, we named him Dylan and you guys already know my offseason workout routine!!!! Glad to know somebody is reading these entries!
