Training Center Tour

As many of you know, I had the honor of attending the Miami Dolphins Web Weekend IV even for the Oakland Raiders game. I took a lot of photos and posted a lot of them here. I spoke about what I saw and we spoke to, and who spoke to us. There has always been a question though as to what else was there to really share. What else that I experienced, could I put into a blog that would help someone visualize that experience.

A training center tour.

Many fans, myself included until this year, never get the opportunity to know what an NFL training center looks like, or feels like to be in it. Well, I can’t give that to you, but I can at least lay it out for you. I can share some photos and describe how the building is laid out. How you go from here to there.

From where the coaches rooms are to the players meeting rooms, the locker room to the weight room, the team room to the media room, and where the press conferences are held.

So if you ever wondered what it looks like, I hope this helps…even if only a little bit.

Location: When you first arrive in parking lot, the facility is in the back of Nova University in Davie off of University Drive, it looks like any other building or parking lot. There are no large stone Dolphins in the front, there is no giant logo. A simple stone wall that announces the team and the facility at the entry. And a building facade that is white, surrounded by palm trees.
You enter through glass doors into a large open foyer. Stairs to the left and right lead upwards, there is a long hall to the left, a door to the right, and in the back center is a security desk. A hall on each side of that desk disappear behind it.

The walls are decorated in Dolphins history, from Marino to the actual draft cards used from this past April to draft Ginn, Beck, and the others. Above the doors is a Dan Marino tribute. As you walk around the security desk to the left is a model of the USCG vessel named Dolphin, a framed photo of Don Shula and the captain at the christening accompanies it. It bears the Dolphins logo. You are in the training facility.

To The Right: Turning right as you enter into the foyer will take you through a door that leads into a small room with a larger room on the right. These are the press rooms. The longer room, the one on the right, is where the press releases are handed out, and where the local media reporters go to work on their articles during practice breaks and so forth. There are individual work spaces, a table lined up in the middle back of the room, and in the front of the room, is a podium with the Dolphins logo in front of it. It is not an overly big room, but it still feels as though there is space. It reminded me of a reading room in a library, only smaller. (picture 1)

Had you gone straight instead of turning to the right into the media room, you would have run into a room that is very narrow, and not overly long. There is a large table in the middle, seemingly too large for the room, there is a Miami Dolphins banner hanging on the wall. This is where the Miami Dolphins host their All-access radio show, as well as where the Dolphins non-stadium press conferences are held. The space between the Coach in the front and the table is minimal. Just enough room for a podium. The camera’s used by the team and by the media are lined against the back wall. There is probably about 8 to 10 feet from back to front wall. Saying that it is cramped is an understatement. (picture 2)

Join us tomorrow for more of this tour.