Quad Stretch 15-20 yards or 20-30 seconds each leg standing
still(static)
Lunge & Reach 20 yds
Bear Crawl into Mountain Climb 15-30 yards
Iron Cross (lower Back Stretch) 5-10 each leg
A variety of Push-ups 5-15 total
Directions: When doing these exercises for warm-up, do not
rest for too long. Most of these exercises are completed back to back with 5-15
seconds in between each exercise.
COPY & PASTE THE WARM -UP FOR YOUR NEXT GYM OUTTING
I find it Ironic that one of the biggest tests in my life
didn’t come from a math or science teacher, but came from a numerous coaches
that were hand-picked to conduct a selection of exercises and tests; to
determine how much of a fit you would be, in their million and sometimes
billion dollar organization.
Being around all the top college players you see promoted on
TV and espn, was definitely an experience. I will never forget the time I saw
Ray Maualuga and nodded was sup to him during one of the meals like I knew him,
and he nodded back without hesitation. Then I realized that I only knew him
from the TV screen yet I felt like he was one of my boys instinctively. I still
laugh at myself for that but it’s always one love with the polys in my mind.
Another moment was when I was eating lunch in a generally
close area with about 6 other players, who I didn’t know specifically but I did
know their schools (Miami, Nebraska, Ohio State…) and everyone was wearing ID
cards on their necks otherwise we’d get ID’d by security every 5 minutes to see
if we belonged in that hotel. Well on the back of the ID cards there were
times, followed by 2 letters. Everyone was checking there’s and most the guys
in our area had one if not any, my roommate had two times and letters by them.
As soon as I caught on to what was going on, my roommate asked me how many I
had. I said “how many what?” He said, “How many private meetings with teams do
you have?” Super nervous because I didn’t think I would have any, I slowly
looked down tilting my card, terrified of having to lie, until I saw print. I
had 5 time slots.
4:30 SD = Chargers
5:00 AR = Cardinal
6:00 JG = Jaguars
7:30 CB =Bengal
8:00 BB = Bills
I went from being
nervous to being shy, I remember not wanting others to know how many I had
because I didn’t want to see any grown man jealous, its just awkward. So I told
my roommate I only had 2 like him.
The meetings were intense, you walk into a room and you see
8-12 people meeting them all at once hearing titles like owner, head coach,
Offensive Coordinator, team psychologist, general manager…etc.
The first night over there flu symptoms had hit me hard, I
must have stressed out way too much before going to have gotten sick. I ended
walking the halls from midnight-2am because my coughing was keeping up my
roommate. I ended walking and talking to my wife on my cell phone, telling her
all about the cool things I was experiencing. A DR. gave me a z-pack and I was
on my way to health once again.
In football there are 3 main phases
of the game, Offense - they try and score, Defense- they try and
stop the offense from scoring, and Special Teams - both sides compete to
optimize field position whether it be for their offense or defense. One of the most dynamic and demanding sub phases of special teams is called Punt Team.
The objective of the Punt Team is to protect
the Punter so he or she will punt the ball (hopefully) back into the opponents
territory. Then after the ball is punted they go and tackle whoever is returning
the punt, before they get any closer to the punt teams defending end zone. The
only dilemma the Punt Team has is the…Punt Return Team; those guys are the ones
in charge of stopping us from getting to their punt returner. The transitioning
from blocking to chasing the Punter require team work to be effective.
Now let me tell you about one of my experiences.
In one
particular punt during a pre-season game with the Eagles, I played alongside a
Veteran and gifted Special Teams player, Tank Daniels. When the ball was snapped(hiked)
I had a huge defender sprinting towards me, Tank didn’t have anyone
to block so he blindsided the opponent that was headed towards me, just before he blindsided my opponent he said, in the calmest voice
I’ve ever heard on the field, “Go, I got him.” I released on the outside of him
and while sprinting in the open I felt so ambitious that there was a possibility of me
making the play. I was so grateful for the work he did that put me in that
position.
Torrence "Tank" Daniels
The next week had come and they had
moved the veteran Tank down to second string because another rookie was doing
well at his same defensive position. This rookie named Moses was so ambitious
about making the team that he stressed out about others alongside him messing
things up for him. All week he was splitting hairs on my spacing on the Punt Team and was always
coaching me up. I did what I could to make him feel comfortable playing
alongside of me because I was confident that I was going to get the job done at
the end of the day. When game time came, I waited for the opportunity to apply
the same technique that Tank had done for me. When the ball was hiked, I saw a guy
sprinting towards Mo. I saw I had no one to block so I knew it was perfect
timing to blind side the opponent and I did just that. Blasting the opposing player
from the side and taming him with my kung fu grip, in a very calm voice I said
“Go, I got him.”Mo continued to chase
the ball without a problem and I knew that I had replicated something great.
The next morning you would have
thought that we were longtime friends because he came up to me like never
before and said “Marcus my dog, how you feeling?” Inside I felt great. It was
the shift in his attitude I noticed in him, which was similar to how I had felt after my first game
punt experience with Tank.
I could tell that Mo knew at that moment
during the game, I had potentially sacrificed myself to help him out. I
knew that if we were ever to play side by side again, we would work together
more efficiently and leave any possibility of distrust out of the
equation.Based on his actions, I knew
he had felt very similar to how I felt when I received help from a
teammate.The veteran who helped me on a
single play earned a lifetime of respect from me and taught me a lesson I will
not soon forget.When you make the right
sacrifice for your fellow man, it makes it easier for them to trust you and it can
happen in a matter of seconds.
