Forever Faster Training Series: There is no offseason for NFL players
The NFL regular season may last just four months of the calendar year, but the game is becoming more and more of a year-round venture in so many ways.
Recent changes to the league's collective bargaining agreement had the potential to halt that development in a big way, as new rules limited the players' offseason availability to their teams, and thus their facilities and training programs.
Originally, organizations and coaching staffs around the league worried about the negative impact the changes could have on the quality of the game. However, it's the players who have taken it upon themselves to stay in game shape all-year round. They are increasingly joining private offseason training programs, often doing so collectively, to prepare for the season ahead.
Some, like the LeCharles Bentley O-Line Performance Academy, are position-specific training programs run by former players, designed to help current players better themselves throughout the time away from their respective teams.
Chiefs offensive linemen Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson were two of Bentley's many participants this past offseason, and as Allen says, paying his own way in Bentley's program was an investment in himself.
As productive as these academies certainly can be, they aren't the only form of training NFL players seek out in the offseason. Many, like wide receivers Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green, will get together with others around the league to construct programs of their own.
Eagles rookie receiver Jordan Matthews was among several to join Johnson and Green in their workouts this past offseason, knowing the impact training with two of the league's best at his position could have on his own career development and growth as a player, per NJ.com.
People put a lot of stock into the first day of training camp, but [succeeding in the NFL] is about who can sustain and who can make it through the season. That is what I went to train with A.J. Green and Calvin Johnson for. To learn about longevity, learn about being a professional over a long period of time.
As players around the league continue to experience the benefits of offseason work available to them with both veterans and ex-pros, it should become even more common over time.
And so, despite changes to the CBA that limited team workouts in the offseason, the players' year-round dedication to their craft is what makes them some of the world's most impressive athletes. In turn, the NFL continues its seemingly endless growth in popularity within the sporting world.