The annual NFLPA Rookie Premiere is a mandatory event for top draft picks, but not all of them want to go.
At least, they don’t all want to go to the Rookie Premiere when it conflicts with Organized Team Activities, as it often does. Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said he wasn’t pleased with having to miss two days of OTAs while he was there last weekend.
“I’m one of those guys who wants to be with his teammates,” Bridgewater said, via the Star-Tribune. “I know there will be events like that that come up that I’ll have to attend, but I was pretty bummed that I have to miss practice for two days. But it was great to be back [when he returned on Wednesday].”
Bridgewater isn’t the first player to say he’d rather work out than go to the Rookie Premiere. Two years ago, Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery said he wanted to skip the Rookie Premiere, prompting the NFL to confirm that the rules say players can’t be at the team facility when they’re supposed to be at the Rookie Premiere.
Which raises an obvious question: Why don’t the league and the NFLPA come up with a schedule that doesn’t have the Rookie Premiere at the same time as OTAs?