The life of a professional football player has always been a sought after career. Nice cars, big homes, hot women, and a fat bank account are some of the rewards for working hard and pushing yourself to your physical limit. From the outside looking in, it all looks like fun and games. Who wouldn't want to be a professional athlete, doing what you love every Sunday. The ugly truth is that being a professional football player isn't easy at all. It can leave your body almost crippled or even with life changing injuries. Only maybe the top 2% of all NFL players are earning double digit millions, a few more are earning single digit millions and the rest are in the hundred thousands. With all this lockout talk, the players could end up getting the extremely short end of the stick. No insurance, pay cuts, etc. Not having guaranteed insurance is a big deal, because their profession makes them a walking, running, and breathing liability....and what insurance company wants to pick that kind of weight up? Not many.
Beside the financial aspects, being a player is a full time role. From Wednesday to Sunday, they rarely have time for anything besides training, workouts, and the actual game. But let's break it down day by day.
Wednesday is probably the heaviest day for an NFL player. Wednesdays usually begin very early for a player....either going over new defense strategies, reading over the game plan, lifting weights. Then there are the meetings depending on your position: coaches meetings, special teams, defense, offense, etc.
Thursday is filled with more meetings, watching film and then usually practice in the late afternoon.
Fridays are considered shorter days. There are weigh ins early in the morning. After the weigh in comes a team meeting and then about a four hour practice.
Saturdays typically consist of a walk through. The team has a meeting and any situational walk throughs are brought up. If its a home game, the team usually checks into a hotel close to the training facility for meetings to bring up any last minute changes. Saturday nights then conclude witha team dinner, and a curfew is enforced. If you're the traveling team, then the team usually leaves around 2pm, checks into their hotel, has a late meeting, dinner, then off to bed.
Sunday of course is game day....time to show and prove. Players will have a big breakfast with lots of carbs, listen to music or read the Bible to find their Zen.
Monday is situation to whether or not the team won Sunday (or for teams that are playing on Monday, this schedule of course is completely shifted). If the team won, they either have Monday off, or a very light schedule. If the team loses, they come in for some weight lifting and to watch the film of the game.
Tuesday is the official off day for the entire NFL.
That's a pretty hectic schedule, but pile on top of that sprained ankles, inflammed joints, torn ligaments, pulled muscles, concussions..... The players are sacrificing their bodies every Sunday for out entertainment, so football shouldn't be take lightly. However, even with those hazards, being a professional football player is still one of the most lucrative jobs in the entire world. When people hear the words lockout, they think its an easy situation to solve. Yes we're talking money, but money is needed to take care of these players after they've hung their jersey up for the last time. Medical bills are expensive. Imagine having soaring bills and still having to pay a mortgage, car note, and your children's way through school. Moral of the story, don't take your favorite pro football players for granted, or the NFL for that matter. Its a hard job and somebody's got to do it.
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