RENTON — Football was back Thursday at the VMAC.
Well, sort of.
There was the trademark playing of music and the usual hooting and hollering as players did the bag drill. There was Pete Carroll with his annual opening day waxing of optimism. And there were passes thrown and caught and kickoffs and punts kicked and returned.
What there wasn’t was popping of pads, something that NFL rules require will have to wait until Sunday.
Still, the first day of training camp is always a landmark event, the beginning of another Seahawks season — this one, the 44th in the team’s existence — bringing with it all the attendant hopes and dreams that on a bright, sunny morning like this one all feel still just waiting there to be realized.