08-15-2022, 03:01 PM
(08-15-2022, 02:50 PM)higgy100 Wrote: No, I'm also part of "anyone else" but I've also had four really good friends that have played in the NFL (a couple for over a decade now)
who have filled me in on the many many questions I've had over beers regarding what just goes on in the NFL, including preseason.
I never had a "good friend" in the NFL, but I have played with 3 guys who made it to the NFL and known a couple of more through friends when I was at UT.
A lot of fans think NFL players are pampered and just get by on their elite athletic ability. That is the way they saw it work in high school. But by the time you get to the NFL 99% of the guys are there because they outworked someone else with the same athletic ability. There are not a lot of lazy bums trying to get out of practice. In fact they guys who make it to the NFL are generally so hyper-competitive that they will play with an injury when they actually should not. They love the game and hate to sit on the sidelines.
Every year I could scour all the numbers from the pro-day workout across the country and find dozens of guys running in the 4.3-4.4 range that will never see an NFL game. Almost none of the top ten fastest players in combine history became stars in the NFL. And if you go to a strongman gym in any big city you will find a lot of guys who can outlift NFL players. There are very few players in the NFL who get by just on athletic talent alone. The guys who don't work get weeded out pretty quickly.
