CRANBERRY TWP — The NFL lockout isn’t over, but Brandon Fusco’s pro football learning curve has begun.

The Seneca Valley High School and Slippery Rock University graduate recently returned from ING camp in Bradenton, Fla., where he voluntarily took part in an informal mini-camp.

A 6-foot-4, 313-pound center, Fusco was a sixth-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in April. Per lockout rules, the franchise has not been permitted to talk to him since.

The players? Different story.

“(Fellow draft choice and Florida State quarterback) Christian Ponder organized this little mini-camp and asked me if I’d be interested,” Fusco said. “I definitely was. I’m looking for any edge I can get.

“There were only a handful of guys there, but the experience was very helpful to me.”

Fusco arrived in Bradenton on May 30 and came back home June 3. Ponder and Kyle Rudolph, a tight end from Notre Dame, were other Vikings draft picks participating.

So, too, were Viking quarterbacks Joe Webb and Rhett Bomar, wide receivers Greg Camarillo and Bernard Berrian.

“We got together, did a lot of lifting and running, and I had opportunities to snap footballs to all three quarterbacks,” Fusco said. “Just getting to know a few of the guys helped.

“This will ease some of the tension when camps do open up.”

The big question, of course, is when that will be.

“Right now, it’s up in the air,” Fusco said. “People are saying so many different things. We’re all hoping it ends soon because we want to play football.

“If there is no camp, what happens to all of the rookies? Do we get cut? Will they forget about us? I’ve had a few anxious moments thinking about that.”

Most of the time, however, Fusco has been spending getting ready for the NFL.

He works out Monday through Friday at a facility in Wexford. He’s lifting weights and running on his own, keeping a firm schedule.

“Since this could end at any time, I’m taking no chances,” Fusco said. “I don’t want to appear sloppy and out of shape when camp does open.

“I don’t want to look bad. I want to be ready.”

Besides the physical workouts, Fusco did some film sessions with the veteran players.

He received a copy of the Vikings’ 2011 playbook under new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave.

“We looked at game film and the players had me call out different fronts and looks the defense was presenting,” Fusco said. “I did my homework and caught on to that stuff pretty well.”

The Vikings’ overall playbook is roughly 200 pages long. Nearly 50 of those pages involve the offensive linemen.

“There’s technology, plays, various running and passing schemes ... It’s very complex,” Fusco said. “Our entire playbook at Slippery Rock was maybe 30 pages.”

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway may be organizing a similar mini-camp in Minnesota shortly.

If it happens, Fusco will be there.

“I’m not gonna miss any of that stuff,” he said. “If I can get any kind of head start and familiarize myself with as many of the players as possible, it’s only going to help me.

“I don’t want to feel like a complete stranger when this whole thing comes to an end.”