5 Reasons Why You Should Attend Spring Football Practice

There are many more than just five reasons to attend a Louisville spring football practice. But for the sake of your time and attention, I have narrowed it down for you. So far, there have been 8 practices for the fans to attend. There are 6 more before the Spring Game on Friday April 11 at 7:30. So in case you need any motivation, here are 5 reasons why you should attend a spring practice before it’s too late…

1) Because you finally can!

We all appreciate what Charlie Strong and his staff did here, that’s a given. But when it came to stuff like this, you would think that the Louisville football team was Fort Knox. There would usually be one or two open practices for the fans, and that was it. So if you couldn’t make one of those two, you were out of luck. This year has been completely different. All 14 spring practices are open to the public. That gives you so many chances to go see the team, so take advantage of this opportunity. We know what it’s like to feel shutout from seeing our own team out there on the practice fields. This is a real treat.

2) Up close and personal experience

When you attend a football game at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, you may sit far away from the action. Even if you don’t, you probably don’t get to hear what the coaches and players are saying. At practice, you are right there in the thick of things. At the Trager Indoor Practice Facility, the only thing separating you from the action on the field is a net. You can literally be just a few feet away from players as they are going through drills. When the Cards take the field this fall, you can say that you remember seeing this player or that player work on certain moves and you then see them applying those in the games.

If you have kids that are UofL fans, bring them out. This could be something that they never forget. I am 27 years old and I can remember certain UofL moments as a kid like it was yesterday. My mom would take me back near the locker rooms after basketball games about once per year and I would get all of the players’ autographs, and I still have them to this day. Or after a football game at Cardinal Stadium (the original) I would go down to the rail and give all of the players a high five, and I even got a glove one day. My memory is so crazy that I remember it was from Casswell Goodman and we had just beaten North Texas 57-14. I was 9 years old and I remember that score and opponent. Why? I have no idea. So take your kid to a practice. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but maybe something will happen for them that they will never forget. 

3) It’s Free!

There aren’t many things you can do in this town that are both entertaining and free. This is one of them. You don’t have to pay for parking, and you get to watch 2+ hours of UofL football for no cost at all. If you are a season ticket holder and you pay a lot of money for tickets, as you probably do, use this as a chance to get a little more for your money that you spend. If you aren’t a season ticket holder, well then just take advantage of this great opportunity to see Cardinals football for a couple of hours.

4) Distract yourself from other things

If you haven’t gone to a practice yet, you may just not be ready for football season at this point. Maybe you need cooler weather in the fall to really get in that mindset. Well I will tell you this…the first two practices I went to this spring were on days that our men’s basketball team had an NCAA Tournament game later that day. I am not making this up, but I was so wrapped up in the football practice that I kept forgetting that we even had basketball games later on. Sound crazy? Probably, but it’s 100% truth. Right when I walked in the door of the Trager Center, it was football season to me. Seeing Bobby Petrino, Dominique Brown, Michael Dyer, Will Gardner, and everyone else just makes you forget about anything outside of that practice. Suddenly, if only temporarily, you are in Louisville football mode. And it. Is. Awesome!

5) DeVante Parker

So you don’t want to be distracted from other things. You don’t care that it’s free. You aren’t worried about the previous staff only having a couple of open practices. Being up close and personal also means nothing to you. Well then here is your 5th reason, DeVante Parker. This man is an NFL wide receiver that is playing college football this season. He is a man among boys out there. He could very well go down as the best wide receiver to ever play for the University of Louisville. You have a chance to go see him run routes and catch footballs for free.

There are 6 home games this season. Unless you travel to some away games, you have 6 more chances to see him in person in games. Well you can go see him practice 6 more times before the spring game too. He could very well be working out for the NFL Draft in May if he had chosen to go pro. He is back at UofL. I will repeat this: He is an NFL wide receiver that is playing college football this season. So just think about other guys that have gone pro early because they are good enough to. Now picture them playing their senior year and just looking dominant and on another level. That is DeVante Parker. Go out and watch him and tell me you aren’t excited to see him play this year.

If these 5 incredible reasons (maybe not, but I tried) are not good enough to convince you to attend a free Louisville football spring practice, well then I suppose I will just see you in the fall. Just don’t complain about ticket prices to see the team play or say that you sit too far away from the action. I won’t know that feeling because I am taking advantage of this amazing opportunity.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the practices. 

Tuesday April 1: 4 p.m.

Wednesday April 2: 4 p.m.

Friday April 4: 4 p.m.

Saturday April 5: TBA

Tuesday April 8: 4 p.m.

Wednesday April 9: 4 p.m.

Friday April 11: Spring Game! 7:30 p.m. at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium

Go Cards!

JR