Every year, active and retired NFL players go to camp. But it's not the typical football training camp of two-a-day workouts, tackling sleds and screaming coaches. Instead, its about finding your TV/radio voice and learning how to analyze, dress and act on the air. It's the league's annual Broadcast Boot Camp.

This week, former Browns and Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards led a group of 19 current and former players who came to the very epicenter of NFL myth making — NFL Films headquarters in Mount Laurel, N.J. — for the four-day camp that ended Thursday.

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They were tutored on the ins and outs of TV and radio by some of the biggest names in the business, including James Brown and Solomon Wilcots of CBS Sports; Ron Jaworski of ESPN; Kenny Albert of Fox Sports; Ross Tucker of SiriusXM; and Brian Baldinger of NFL Network.

Just as importantly, they heard from behind-the-camera production aces including Glenn Adamo of NFL Network; Seth Markman of ESPN: Greg Cosell of NFL Films; and Gerry Matalon of Playbook.

We asked one participant from each side of aisle to give us their takeaway from the four-day camp, which covered everything from tape study, editing and show preparation to field reporting, production meetings and radio production. The now-retired Edwards told us what he learned. The veteran Adamo game us the teachers' point of view.

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Over the past decade, 250 players have graduated from the boot camp. More than 100 are now in sports TV, radio, writing or acting, according to Adamo. Famous grads include ex-cornerback-turned-actor Nnamdi Asomugha; NFL Network's Michael Robinson; Fox's David Diehl; and ESPN's Tim Hasselbeck and Jeff Saturday.

(Getty Images) https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/4f/fb/braylon-edwards-jets-052016-getty-embedjpg_cwc7i6kxha5x1agrwwu1o3v3o.jpg?t=-854129756&w=500&quality=80

Braylon Edwards with the Jets in 2013. (Getty Images)

"Every year since we started, it has gotten better and better. Some of it is word-of-mouth with players. Some of it is that, as the media landscape has changed, they come here a little hungrier and more prepared," said Adamo, the legendary producer who co-founded the boot camp a decade ago.

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Here are Edwards and Adamo's impressions of this year's camp:

Start at Square 1 and work your butt off. The sports media world is filled with cautionary tales of ex-jocks who thought they could skate their way through TV/radio gigs with bad jokes and war stories from the locker room. These lazy asses don't last long.

One of the first things Edwards learned this week is you have to start at the beginning, then outwork the competition. Like everybody else every in the real world, you can't just "wing it," said the former Michigan star, who has been doing local broadcasting in the state.

"It was a crash course in the reality that it takes work to be good at broadcasting," he said.

Why are so many "big uglies" on TV? Ever wonder why ex-NFL linemen like Saturday, Mike Golic, Mark Schlereth and Randy Cross have TV analyst jobs? It's because they planned and thought about their post-football careers while the higher-paid wide receivers and quarterbacks only thought about the next game.

"I don't think the top-tier guys in the league think about it as much as the lower-tier guys do," said Edwards, 33, who was the third overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. "I didn't really think about it during my days of playing. I did a lot of radio hits. I didn't mind doing things. But I didn't necessarily foresee this as a career direction I was going to go in."

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The big uglies, who don't get paid as much as the skill guys, see the game from the trenches and are smarter about preparing themselves for a life beyond the game.

"Those guys in the middle, the big uglies, have a lot of knowledge. They've been doing this forever, so it's an easy transition for them to get on TV, radio or digital media, and give that information back to the fans," Edwards said, "especially if they were a personality when they were played. If Rich Incognito wants to do a radio show when he's finished, I'm pretty sure a lot of people will want to have him."

Look to role models. Edwards really likes the on-air style of ESPN's Merril Hoge and Trent Dilfer. Matalon, a former ESPN executive, taught him the TV technique of "Declaration, Justification and Clarification" this week. Nobody does that better than Hoge, Edwards said.

"He's basically telling you his point, affirming it strongly, justifying why his point it's true, then wrapping it up with a clarification so you understand why that point is true. He's never caught off guard. He's never searching or (has to) reach for points," Edwards said.

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Let your personality come through: Edwards also learned from Matalon that the most important thing on TV or radio is to be yourself. If you try to be something you're not, you'll find yourself on the unemployment line.

"Find your voice, be yourself and learn the information. A lot of times, these guys lose themselves on camera. If you're a silly guy off camera, if you're a goofball, bring that to the table," he said. "Be educated, be articulate, but show your personality. Have fun. Make your voice your own . . . Don't get on camera and get scared."

Stay flexible. Before attending the boot camp, Edwards was totally focused on becoming a TV analyst, but this week he discovered he liked doing radio. He also read a TelePrompTer for the first time. The camp opened his eyes to different career paths.

A track star at Michigan, Edwards thinks he can cover both football and track and field. He'd like to work at a network like NBC that covers everything from football to the Summer Olympics.

"I don't want to limit myself to just football, although football is the springboard," he said.

If you have a face for radio . . . Adamo told the story of a 400-pound former offensive lineman who showed up for the first boot camp.

Everywhere he went during the studio exercise, the ex-player carried a towel to mop away the flop sweat

Whenever he got in front of a TV camera, he sweated profusely.

Finally, he turned to Adamo and said: "Glenn, I don't care what you say. I'm radio guy with a radio face. I'm not made for TV."

Adamo said the big lug went on to have a very successful radio career.