It’s here.

It’s finally here.

The start of football, not just Steelers football, is a glorious part of the year for fans everywhere. Training camps starting up means the regular season is just around the corner. But it also means the grind which is the complete 2024 season has just begun.

When you think about a season in its full context, it is truly a grind, and that grind starts at training camp. Yes, there are Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and minicamps, but training camp is the first time when both fans and players start to seriously look ahead to how the team is shaping up for the upcoming season.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have descended upon Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA again for camp, you have to appreciate what, and how, they go about their business. The Steelers are one of just a handful of teams who still go away for a “destination” style training camp, not that many players would consider living in dorm rooms again any type of luxurious destination. But Mike Tomlin says all the time how he values the ability to get away, for players to live and breathe football 24/7 when they are at camp.

That’s all part of the grind.

In the NFL you have to immerse yourself in this work to be truly great. Part-time players don’t work in the NFL, and that’s been made blatantly obvious for decades now. Starting the year in the fashion the Steelers do is just the beginning of the process. But when you look at the process in its entirety, it truly is a grind.

Just think about it. Players report to training camp at the end of July, and stay at Saint Vincent College throughout the majority of the preseason. Following the preseason, the team jettisons back to Pittsburgh, for one week off before the official start of the regular season. Sure, the regular season is exactly what the players and fans alike look forward to, but the September to January schedule is not for the faint of heart.

The more I write, the more I can see how most teams have decided to reject the notion of moving their training camp to their home venue. The thought of players being away from home and family for almost the entire preseason, and then to go immediately into the regular season, is the true definition of a grind. Mike Tomlin embraces this, but I could certainly make a case for the opposite being the decision made by teams who are looking to put their teams into the best chance to succeed.

The team and organization getting ready for the season is absolutely paramount, but the fan experience matters to the organization too. In fact, it might matter more than most fans believe it does. The Steelers going to Saint Vincent College is as much about the fans getting an up-close-and-personal view of the team’s preparation as it is about the team getting themselves ready for the upcoming season.

Let’s also be honest with ourselves, the vast majority of people reading this article are fans who don’t view the Steelers starting camp as just another year starting, it means they are preparing themselves for the upcoming season. We, the fans, prepare for the season as much as the players do, just in different ways. We read articles, watch film, and listen to podcasts as if we are preparing ourselves for the field of battle in the month of September.

Don’t think that doesn’t matter to us fans, and don’t think that isn’t it’s own grind.

The NFL season is a grind in every possible way, and I have to be honest…I love it. I love every second of it.

Bring on the 2024 season.