Just 14 short years ago when I entered the NFL things were different. The leadership was different, the coaching was different, the player was different, and maybe the most important thing, the preparation, is completely different. Now fast forward to 2013 - every time I jump online or turn on ESPN I see another NFL player with another injury. I see another team lose a key component to their season. I also see a diminished product on the field, especially at the offensive line position.
The question that everyone wants to know is why? Why so many injuries and why the poor play at a position that once was loaded with tough and technically sound lineman? Under the old CBA, all players started their off-seasons around the middle of March. Players were benching, squatting, and power cleaning four days a week. Conditioning was cranked up the first week, and you wondered as a player how your body would take the grind so early. The other auxiliary workouts that were added at the time were plyometrics. This mix of explosive training was the game-changer at the time. Now let’s jump to the extra work as a team you did on the field. Quarterbacks were throwing a few days a week on the facility fields with any and everyone that wanted to get the QB’s attention. I remember Bill Parcells would say that he didn’t want to see guys with the coaches doing football stuff, such as OTAs and two mini camps, until the team could get in at least two and a half months of lifting and conditioning. That mentality was understood because of the long haul of a season, the rigors of a 20 plus week NFL year. I remember my strength and conditioning being out of sight out of mind as I reached July and the start of training camp. When the season started and things got cranked up we all put in the suggested time of work. It started with a morning lift and meetings to condition the body and mind early in the day. Once you flooded your mind with old and new plays, you hit the fields for your three-hour grind session. Full pads twice a week in the early part of the season and shoulder pads only on Fridays. After that three hours was over guys always did something else. They ran extra routes, threw a few more balls, special teams had another 10-15 minutes on the field as a unit, offensive and defensive line coaches always grabbed the young players in their first two years along with practice squad guys and they would get extra work on their feet and technique. They would go through a one-on-one pass set station against each other “Live” just to get those reps they were lacking during the normal practice time. Toughness was built during this work time for the young players. They were able to catch up to the older guys, and O-line and D-line coaches were able to assess these guys more and get them up to speed. Depth was built, not found, and instead of GMs and player personnel guys waiting years to see if guys panned out, they were able to assess quicker and fill needs faster. In the grand scheme of things more work got done, more development on the field got done, and guys were better conditioned for the marathon they call an NFL season. Then something happened. We got smart as players, or at least the vets did.
Fast forward to the end of the 2000s. Us old heads around the league said, “Wait a minute. Why do we need to kill ourselves in the offseason? Why do we need to be away from our families so much through the off- season? Our bodies are getting beat down with all the padded practices throughout the season. We need less grind, which will in turn give us fresher bodies and longer playing careers.” In retrospect, all these things sounded great. The philosophy behind it seemed flawless. But was it? Now I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. I was on board with this, because as a player who had played 10 years already, I knew my body. My skill set was already created, and I knew what it took to be a pro. The grind that got me that far was the reason why I made it that long. But moving forward we as players were looking out for the old heads. The guys that knew what it took to be a pro. Not so much the younger player, specifically the on-the-field and football stuff.
Then came the new NFL CBA, which changed the way the player prepares and betters himself for an NFL season. The new CBA caters to a player who has played 8+ years. It allows him to take the strain off his body with a later offseason schedule. It shortens the time spent at the NFL facility in the offseason by a full month. That’s 30 full days of football training that a player doesn’t get anymore. Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well hell, these guys are all training hard where they live with trainers and all the gurus.” Well, some guys are and some guys aren’t. A lot of these “gurus” out there are great. I personally used them. Functional training (which I love), body specific training, yoga, pilates, etc are all great, but in my opinion the core lifts have carried guys for a long time and those auxiliary training methods should be ADDED in the weekly regime. Guys are now 100% auxiliary training and pushing away from the core lifts. Call me old school, but the game I played for 12 years pushes and demands my body to do a lot of things over a 20 plus week season. The physicality that is needed to perform at your peak week in and week out is built in March thru July. Yes, these auxiliary training techniques all have their pluses for creating better performance in the short term, but it will not get the body ready for the long haul. Now take that extra month away and go to mini camp and OTAs lacking that additional strength and conditioning. Your body cannot handle it. Coaches aren’t worried about how long you have been training when the players are out on the field. They just want results at the fastest and highest levels. That, to me, produces a situation in which the body is not ready and puts players in a greater position of getting an injury. Now the pundits out there will disagree with me, but the pundits haven’t played 12 years in the NFL. Next is the time put in as a player to become a pro. Teams continue the same number of OTAs (Organized Team Activity) but the contact and the hours spent at the facility has drastically reduced. Offseason now starts at the end of April and ends in mid June. That leaves the players no time to build that base in the weight room to compete. First three weeks you’re not even allowed to go throw on the field at the facility. How can you be ready for OTAs and mini camp? How can you develop that continuity in the offseason where great teams are made? Now the season starts for each team and they’ll only have 14 total full padded practices the entire year. Haha, now as an old guy I’m grinning ear to ear, but as a young guy, you’ve got NO SHOT. And remember the extra work with the coaches and the ability to stay after practice? It’s gone. In a time where offensive and defensive linemen play a more passive game in college, the extra work has never been needed more than now for these college kids coming into the league. The rookies are the future of the NFL. The product that will lead the league into the next decade and beyond. I can remember after a few practices in 2011 I just wanted to run some extra sprints to get my conditioning up and I had to hurry up and get off the field. I was like, “Huh?” Every NFL team's practice is now videotaped from a window at the facility, not just by the team but by the league so that the players are not on the field over the allotted time limit set by the league. Or I should say the agreement set by us, the players, and the league.
As I sit here and continue to ramble and write this as a former veteran player, I'm thinking, “Damn, I could've played for another five years.” But all of this quietly poses a problem with the health, development, and careers of the NFL players moving forward. This is my opinion, and you heard it from Becht’s Mouth!
