Imagine going to a new school filled with people you don't know. The classes are much harder, and you are expected to succeed in every subject. Being a rookie in the NFL is a very similar experience. They are introduced to a new team, and the pressure these young players face to make a positive impact in the NFL can be very overwhelming at times.
Marques Colston
"I tell them that every player before them, at one point in their career, was a rookie," says Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards. "They went through the same type of situations that you are going to go through and they were successful."
Talent alone doesn't make the great college players stand out as NFL players. Rookies have to do their homework by learning the plays for their new team and improve on the skills that got them to the professional level.
"My goal was just to keep improving and take the coaching and apply it on the field and become someone that the coaches and other players could depend on," says one of last year's top rookies, New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston.
The new batch of rookies will soon find out that the NFL may be a tough school, but with hard work they could be the star of the class.
