By Jose M. Romero / @RomeroJoseM

I used to work with a guy who played center and long snapper on his high school football team.

“Wanna take some snaps?” he would ask in the middle of the afternoon when he needed a break from writing his golf column.

I would look at my hands, knowing that any failure to catch the ball correctly might result in a broken finger.

“OK. I’ll take a few,” I would say, not wanting to show any weakness.

The co-worker would bend down to hike the ball. Suddenly the ball would zoom toward me in a tight spiral, and I had no choice but to stick my hands out in front of me and make the catch.  Sometimes the spiral would be so tight it would be like a throw.

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By Jose M. Romero / @RomeroJoseM

It’s not the first game or even the first kickoff that truly determines that the NFL regular season is on.

It’s the roster cuts and moves to form the final 53-man roster, or at least the opening week final roster, and the beginning of the work week for teams around the league who play on Sunday.

Dallas and the New York Giants play the regular season opener on Wednesday, then there are 13 games on Sunday and two next Monday. For Sunday games, preparations begin on Labor Day. Then it’s the traditional off-day from practice, Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday are the hardest practice days of the week, followed by a lighter session on Friday.

Friday or Saturday, road teams travel to the city where they will play.

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By Jose M. Romero / @RomeroJoseM

For Fox Deportes

Why, oh why did I DVR the Raiders-Cowboys preseason game Monday night?

Was it because these two teams are two of the most popular among Latinos? Was it my burning desire to see Tony Romo play a couple of series? The chance to see all the wackos, I mean Raider diehards, in the Black Hole?

If you watched it all, you know that the Cowboys won 3-0, and that those three hours of Week 1 of NFL preseason football are time you will never get back.

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