Indianapolis - School's out and a new class of college graduates are heading out into the real world to begin their careers. Some college football players are lucky enough to start making money playing a game.
There's no 87 or 88 on the field at the Colts' voluntary workouts. That leaves more work for a pair of rookie wide receivers. First round draft pick Anthony Gonzalez and fifth rounder Roy Hall are taking advantage of extra reps while Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison are gone for the summer.
"This is the time, really, when a lot of the vets are around and it's probably a little bit slower in terms of what they put in offensively; give you things that you can handle, things that you can do," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez and Hall played together at Ohio State. Their shaved heads are together again in Indy.
"We use the same razor. The Fusion is our choice. Not the same one, but the same company, the same brand," joked Hall.
Gonzalez and Hall join the world champions. They played for a college powerhouse, so they are used to the attention and winning. But there's still a bit of a wow factor catching balls from Peyton Manning.
"To be honest there's a little bit of nerves at first, I guess, but you get over that pretty quickly. You'd better," said Gonzalez.
"You see his personality on all his commercials and then when you get around him he's the exact same way in practice also. He's helpful, but he's a real good guy. It took a week or so for me to get over who he was type of thing but once you make that adjustment and realize that he's a football player just like you and he's a down-to-earth guy," said Hall.
Gonzalez is expected to replace Brandon Stokley as the Colts' inside slot receiver.
"The inside receivers are really critical in our offense because of Marvin and Reggie and the fact that we get so much double coverage and so much is dictated by people trying to take those guys away that the guys that work the inside of the field really do have an advantage," said Colts Coach Tony Dungy.
Hall could also provide depth at the slot position. But he hopes to contribute immediately on special teams.
Manning says:
