Chicago Bears Top Pick Kyle Long Will Miss Time Due to Oregon’s Final Exam Schedule
April 26, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Kyle Long poses with his Bears jersey during a Chicago Bears press conference announcing their first-round selection of guard Kyle Long from Oregon University at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports
Former Oregon Duck Kyle Long will get a quick glance at what his NFL Future will look like with a mini camp this weekend, and then thanks to a little University of Oregon ‘Classes’ Conflict won’t be able to workout with his new team, the Chicago Bears for a month. He will miss the team’s scheduled minicamp from June 11th-13th.
You read that correctly.
According to Brad Biggs from the Chicago Tribune,
NFL rules mandate that a draft pick cannot take part in anything other than the rookie minicamp until after the school he attends has completed final exams. Oregon uses a quarter system and final exams run through June 14. Like most teams, the Bears are holding their veteran minicamp June 11-13. In total, the guard will miss 13 practices — 10 OTA sessions and three days of minicamp.
Over the course of an NFL career that may not seem like much, but when your first getting your feet wet, those first practices can be very important.
Don’t worry too much for Long, he will continue his workouts with Tony Wise, a familiar face in the Bears organization, having coached there as an assistant from 1992-1998. Wise also worked with Long during Senior Bowl week back in January.
After getting in work this weekend, he will have to wait until after June 14th to continue his NFL activities.
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