BEREA, Ohio -- Part of the reason for bringing the NFL's rookie symposium here, to various points in Northeast Ohio this week, was to allow each recently drafted rookie a chance to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That chance comes Wednesday for the NFC rookies and Saturday for AFC rookies. In the meantime, the symposium -- back on the schedule after a year hiatus due to the NFL lockout -- has delivered a hall of fame-quality lineup of speakers and panelists this week.
In case anyone had forgotten, this is an event the NFL takes very, very seriously.
Speaking to the group at various points, behind closed doors, since Sunday night have been Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, former NBA player turned drug addict Chris Herren and former NFL players including LaVar Arrington, LeCharles Bentley, Luther Ellis and Matt Stover.
Vick and Jones, especially, stand as examples of what the symposium tries to prevent. As former No. 1 and 6 picks, respectively, in the NFL Draft, both received outrageous amounts of signing-bonus money before ever playing a snap of professional football. Both have experienced trouble with finances and the law, to varying degrees, and both spent at least a year suspended by the league and away from the game.
That both were able to save their careers -- and themselves -- would qualify as beating the odds. The NFL uses the symposium to supply doses of business, career and life advice the league hopes can help the next generation of players avoid the kind of trouble that Vick and Jones have had to endure.
Earlier this month, Jones told FOXSportsOhio.com that the idea to speak at the symposium was his, and that his goal was to try "to make sure nobody has to go through what I went through." That includes a litany of run-ins with police, two NFL suspensions, three teams and millions of dollars gone to waste.
"When I first got my money I wasn't thinking about no investments -- not damn one of 'em," Jones said. "You live and you learn."
Jones showed up at the 2005 rookie symposium wearing a shiny necklace with a gold-plated charm in the mold of the video game character Pacman. There were times during his stay at the symposium when he simply went to his hotel room instead of attending mandatory sessions.
He told NFL.com this week that the night before meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the 2005 symposium, he went to a strip club.
In an interview with NFL.com after his address to the rookies on Monday, Jones said he told the rookies that too many times early in his career he could be found "running around with a bunch of guys making a bunch of dumb decisions. And my message is, 'That's not cool. If you're trying to be cool, that's not the way to be cool.'
"I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but it takes a strong man to be be able to go through all the things I went through and still be able to talk about them."
The NFC rookies checked in at the symposium Sunday and will depart after their visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton on Wednesday. The AFC rookies arrive Wednesday and will visit the Hall of Fame on Saturday. In between, they'll follow a similar schedule to the one the NFC rookies have followed the last few days.
That includes a youth football camp, which marked the only time the symposium participants were made available to the media. The speakers and sessions are for league personnel and rookies only.
The intimate setting allows the speakers to be candid and gives the rookies a chance to focus on making the most of the information being presented. Making sure every rookie draft pick gets a chance to visit the Hall of Fame is an attempt to reinforce the idea that playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right.
Vick told NFL.com he hoped the rookies would understand "the responsibility of playing an NFL... and what they represent." He shared personal stories of his past mistakes and things he chose to learn "the hard way."
Vick told the rookies that going to prison in 2007 on dog-fighting charges "was the best thing for him."
If that doesn't resonate with the rookies, it's not likely much will.
"The whole week has been a great opportunity for us to hear from guys with tons of knowledge, guys who have been through a lot," Carolina Panthers first-round pick Luke Kuechly said. "Michael Vick talked to us for a while. Adam Jones shared a lot.
"It was powerful to hear those guys talk about what they've been through. I think we, as rookies, appreciate it."
Said St. Louis Rams running back Isaiah Pead: "It's been a great experience to sit back and listen. We've had guys come through with stories that make you just kind of freeze. You think you've heard it all until you hear something like that."
