Seahawks give rookies extensive course in NFL transition

Seahawks give rookies extensive course in NFL transition

When the NFL did away with its rookie symposium in Canton, Ohio, it put the onus back on the teams to organize three days of rookie transition education after the completion of their minicamps and before players head off on their summer breaks.

Seattle took it a step further, creating an education program that started following the completion of the Seahawks' rookie minicamp the second week of May and will conclude with the mandatory three days this week.

Seattle's program was opened to the media Monday and included a history lesson on the franchise and a panel discussion with former players Bryce Fisher, Jordan Babineaux, Marcus Trufant and Hall of Fame offensive tackle Walter Jones on the lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid as a young player entering the league.

The choices that you now have to make.

Because what you are doing now is investing in your future and every choice and decision that you make will be a result of where you end up.

Trufant's recommendation was to have someone able to deflect those requests, an intermediary to work through and keep the pressure off the individual player.

"To be able to hear from guys that have sat in the same seats as us and done the same things as us is priceless," said first-round pick Germain Ifedi.