He looked pretty agile back in the day doing his shuffle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9oVth5rJbg

Meanwhile on the Geico add, he looks old and stiff. Dude is only 48. Cautionary tale. Do yoga. Work on flexibility. Doesn't have to be that way.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Makes me miss those original Miller Lite retired sports guys commercials, the beer not so much.

Being a running back is brutal on the body, I'd imagine there's been a lot of wear and tear which haven't helped.

OTOH, lots of recently retired offensive and defensive lineman have been dropping lots of weight (75-100 lbs. or more) just after retirement. Seems to be a generational trend that Ickey just missed out on.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I dunno, it looks like I'm running the guy down but that's not where I was coming from. He only played one full season, blew his left knee out 2nd game the next season and then the right knee shortly after trying for a third season. Aging well is something I look at. I'm not doing everything I could at present, I need to sharpen up my game as well.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

How many people here think that sixteen work days per year is brutal. You also have to keep in mind that of those sixteen work days there is 4x15mins=60 minutes total per week. Of that some where near half is on the other side of the ball, so now down to 30 min/ per week. I feel that the teams that will be successful recruiting in the future will be those that have a record for physical (healthy strength) training, and fewer hours of direct contact training. I would bet that a promising athlete would take 2 mil/yr for that program as opposed to 5 mil/yr for getting their clock cleaned in training camp 10 times per day while training with teammates.

LOL at the concept that "work days" in professional sports is only during a game.

Read my post again please. They would and should go over game plans, tendencies, drills. What I was referring to is less full contact practices. Does a running back need to be hit hard and tackled several times during the week to make him a better runner?

this has to be one of the best examples of not getting it i've ever seen. to think anyone could be good enough at anything (let alone ascending to the pinnacle of that thing i.e. best professional league of said thing) by working 30 minutes a week is beyond ridicule. think about the work that goes into getting prepared for the 30 minutes (practice, working out, film study); not saying they aren't extremely fortunate to ball for a living but to fail to recognize the level of work and commitment is just ignorant of the facts.absolutely.....if they did no contact during the week and tried to play guys would be getting seriously hurt all the time. now some teams go overboard but there has to be hard, game-like stuff going on in order to prepare for the speed and intensity of the game. think of a martial artist punching his hand into a bucket of pebbles for hours on end....his hand becomes like the rock

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0o==o0

James 4:8

"...let us put aside the blindness of mind of those who can conceive of nothing higher than what is known through the senses"
-Saint Gregory Palamas, ---Discourse on the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ


Centrally located in North East Central Pa.

I actually read it twice before posting to make sure how silly the post was. Why don't you give it another try?

Sorry but I must disagree with your idea. If punching your fist into a bucket of rocks is great, then get a bunch of off the street thugs to tackle, and beat the shyt out of the running backs with 2X4s from Monday through Saturday to get them ready for game day. I will stand by my comment that a good game plan with healthy athletes executing those plans will be the future. That will be when the GM's figure out who to draft.

The son of a family friend played Pro ball for 8 years after Penn State. Defensive Free Safety for the Jets and Tampa Bay.
Last time we were together he listed the long term injuries and medical procedures required to keep him upright and reasonably pain free.

Both Knees replaced
Major work on both shoulders
Major work on both elbows
Right ankle replacement
Spinal surgery to brace lower vertebrae
Neck surgery for nerve/disc issues

His medical costs have exceeded whatever he made in the NFL and he said the League Plan Coverage is a joke.

He made less than a million total for 8 years, but went to Law school and then into Military as JAG Corps and then into private practice. He was always a good student (3.45 GPA at Penn State not in Phys Ed or Athletic BS) and said that if he had to do it again he would never have gone Pro. he learned right away that he was "meat" and no one gave a crap about him as anything but meat. The answer to every physio medical issue was the needle. He played with major injuries because that is what they paid him for.

He advises a lot of College athletes and tells them the truth up front...it's all about the bucks. He sets up long term plans for them so after athletics they are not working at Wal~Mart or Construction.

I've read that the leagues are now providing counseling, advice, etc. for them who come into large amounts of money at a young age. About time. I've read of numerous cases of former pro athletes being on the skids or actually homeless.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The public only hears about the big contracts for the high profile draft picks, not the everyday workmen and bench. The contracts are also filled with clauses that condition the value on various performance milestones and bonuses that may or may not ever come to fruition.

True enough but even the low paid variety make a few hundred K a year. Two years of that is one hell of a lot better nest egg than I had at that age.

At least that's these days. Pro athletes were not especially high paid not that long ago.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K