I had to read that twice. I can't even see how that is possible. It was only a few years ago that I could do 10 reps at 225, and I was a 30 something desk jockey that would get pushed around at the pickup games at the Y. How is it possible that an O-Linemen could only do 16?
It's not like your average gym warrior is getting on a bench and regularly putting up over 20 reps up at 225. It's harder than most may think but it's a pretty good benchmark. It takes a lot of work and training. Breathing, learning how to use your muscles and leverage. The fact that our lineman couldn't get more than they did, doesn't say that they were weak, it says that they weren't putting in the amount of training and dedication that it takes to be strong enough to compete well. Blaming anyone is useless now. It's over and done with.
I'm hopeful, that all of our players this spring, are putting in the work that it takes to be competitive now. That means getting their asses out of bed at 5:00 and running even though it's nut freezing cold still outside. It means putting in the extra time running in the afternoons. It means putting in the extra reps in the weight rooms. It means that the coaches that are doing the guidance, are giving them good work to do, and keeping them going in the right direction when they can coach them.
Cliché? Absolutely. But the kind of dominant strength that we had on the line of scrimmage in the past, comes from the legs, and the heart and that gets built now, starting weeks ago already actually. If you think you can wait til fall, it's too late.
The saying that got drilled into my head by when, is "who's still sleeping?" Are they sleeping in Utah? Or are they up running? The early bird gets the worm. Get out of bed early, get to work, and get stronger every day. It's what you got to do, if you're going to have any chance of overcoming adversity and winning regularly.
And adversity is going to come. THis is the offseason, everything is rosy.
It's the same message no matter how you present it. I'm sure Diaco has his way too. Rob Ambrose used to use some damn thing about ghosts.
It's definitely time to make some new memories based on those old ones. I'm pretty sure that Chris Long was another first round NFL defensive lineman that got run over a bit.
