Runnels on First NFL Training Camp

CHICAGO -- J.D. Runnels is preparing for his first NFL training camp with the Chicago Bears.

The former OU fullback along with fellow Sooners Mark Bradley, Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek begin work on Thursday at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.

The site, which is located about 60 miles south of Chicago, provides the Bears with four practice fields, air-conditioned locker rooms and dining facilities, a weight room, meetings rooms, and dorm rooms for players, staff, media and guests.

The Bears will hold camp from July 27 through Aug. 16.

Runnels continues his weekly journal on Chicago's official site with this entry detailing his thoughts going into camp:

"Now that we're only a day or so away from reporting to training camp, I'm ready to get there, ready to get into the flow of things and ready to hopefully start off something great. I'm just trying to control all of my emotions, stay levelheaded and run into this thing head on.

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"I think I've already shown that I can catch the ball and run with it, but that's only about a quarter of what a fullback really is. So my biggest goal is to go to training camp and show the coaches that I can block-and that I can run block and pass block equally well.

"The main thing I've been thinking about is how physical it's going to be. When I do think about that, I always tend to go back to what I thought in college. I never thought I'd be able to play on a level like that with guys that were that big and guys that were moving that fast.

"Coming to this level, you've got to take the same mentality. I'm a big guy myself and I'm going to have to go in head on and do what a fullback has to do. It's no mystery that your fullbacks are supposed to be among the hardest hitters on the team, so I definitely would like to try to establish something like that..."

>>> Read Complete Entry at ChicagoBears.com

In addition to Runnels and Dvoracek at Chicago, four other Sooners picked in the 2006 NFL Draft will experience their first pro training camps in the next few days.

Travis Wilson and the Browns begin July 26 at Berea, Ohio, while first-rounder Davin Joseph and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin Friday at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Clint Ingram and the Jaguars also open camp on Friday in Jacksonville.

Chris Chester and the Baltimore Ravens report July 31 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.

Follow the Latest Sooners in 2006 NFL Training Camps:
Bears | Buccaneers | Ravens | Browns | Jaguars | Complete List of Camps

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