If it’s mid-August, football practice must be in full swing.

I’ve been covering high school football for a long time, and this is always my favorite time of the year.

Part of the payoff for enduring the dog days of summer is the knowledge that at the end of summer, football season awaits.

It’s a cycle that repeats itself every year: Players graduate and move on, and new ones take their place.

The torch is passed.

Last weekend, I had a chance to head down to Orangeburg, South Carolina and visit with former Raider quarterbacks Tedarrius and Derrick Wiley, who both now play for South Carolina State University.

Both Wiley brothers talked excitedly about their chance to play college football.

But both players will obviously be Raiders forever. That was pretty obvious, listening to them. Tedarrius talked about keeping in touch with new Raider QB Laron Ellerbe to help him adjust to the starter’s role — just as Derrick did with Tedarrius.

And both players are planning to come up north of the border for a Raider game during their bye week later this fall.

I guess there really is something to that “Raider magic” thing I have heard so much about.

The Wiley brothers, of course — and several other ex-Raiders who have moved on to play college football — are the living legacy of a special football program. This legacy — the players who have moved on to play both college and professional football — are just as much a part of the tradition as the seven state championships.

Covering the first couple of weeks of Raider practices, I can see how that winning tradition has been established, maintained and passed on. I’ve covered many pro and college practices over the years – and a Raider practice session bears a striking resemblance to those workouts.

Practices are divided into five-minute periods, little bites of instruction. But when you add up all those little bites, you get winning football.

It’s really quite special to watch.

Winning football is a year-round proposition, and the foundation for this year’s edition of the Richmond Raiders was laid almost as soon as the 2009 season ended.

The teams that have that winning tradition — like Richmond — are the ones that make the commitment to winning football and make the sacrifices to make it happen.

Back in my own playing days, our coach had a somewhat strange story he used to break out, to demonstrate the difference between being “involved” in something, and being “committed” to it.

The story was always told during our annual pancake breakfast, a fundraiser held the Saturday morning before the first day of practice. Our coach would be in the midst of a speech on “involvement” vs. “commitment.”

“I’ll be right back,” he’d say, heading to the kitchen. He would return with a dozen eggs in one hand and a slab of bacon in the other.

“Both the chicken and the pig had roles in today’s breakfast,” Coach would say. Holding up the dozen eggs, he’d intone, “The chicken was involved.”

And hoisting the slab of bacon, he’d smile, “But the pig was committed.”

Those of us hearing the story for the second or third time would have to explain it to the newbies later. The point was that being “committed” to the program was going to require a much deeper level of sacrifice, blood, sweat and guts.

Watching practice the past several weeks, I have seen some pretty committed football players out there.

I just got, you might say, an appetizer of Raider football last year, arriving just in time for the three-game playoff run.

I’m definitely looking forward to the seven-course meal this season.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.