Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I think yesterday was the slowest sports day of the summer. There were only five MLB games. The WNBA All-Star break started. No World Cup. Good thing the NFL news cycle never stops.
In today’s SI:AM:
👋 Pavia sent packing
🏀 100 days from college hoops
⚾ One MLB trade that must happen
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Training camp underway
The first game of the NFL preseason is less than two weeks away, which means players have already begun reporting to training camps. And that means that they’re already making headlines.
The Cardinals and Panthers, who will play in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 6, were the first teams to require their veterans to report to camp. They had to show up by Wednesday, and everyone else in the league will be required to report no later than this coming Tuesday.
Arizona and Carolina are the only teams that have taken the practice field at this point, but they aren’t the only ones making news. Let’s take a look at a few of the most notable developments across the league as training camps begin.
Ravens cut Heisman runner-up
Former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia won’t be reporting to camp with the rest of the Ravens’ rookies today.
Baltimore waived Pavia yesterday to make room on the roster for veteran center Ethan Pocic. (Pocic, who turns 31 on Aug. 5, was the Browns’ starting center for the past four seasons.)
Usually, no one would pay attention to a team cutting its fifth-string quarterback to make room on the 90-man training camp roster, but Pavia was the most famous fifth-stringer in the NFL. His fearless style of play and fiery personality made him a fan favorite in college—first at New Mexico State, and later at Vanderbilt. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting last year after leading the Commodores to their first 10-win season in school history.
But Pavia has well-documented shortcomings (pun very much intended). Listed at 6' tall on the Vanderbilt roster, he measured just 5'10" at the NFL combine. Video of him taking snaps at Baltimore’s rookie minicamp in May went viral because of how much smaller he was than his center.
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