: Episode 699 – NFL player Chris Manhertz, Tight End formerly for the New Orleans Saints, and now for the Carolina Panthers, joins Vinnie to discuss football and becoming an elite athlete.
CHRIS MANHERTZ
- Chris had not played football until he was approached by the Buffalo Bills organization after college
- He was a basketball player
- Tried out twice for the Buffalo organization
- Before the second try out he tried to learn as much as he could and gain the muscle required for the position
- When this interview was conducted, he was with the Saints and mid-October he signed with the Panthers
- It has been a long journey and process to get where he is today, playing pro football just a couple years out of college
- He is now straight muscle, at 255, 6’6″
- Before this he was super lean as a basketball player
- His parents let him play what he wanted to play
- Chris eats all in moderation
- “If you are going to eat something you shouldn’t be eating, it’s all in moderation”
- He doesn’t eat poorly too often
- He believes in LIL!
- “If you are going to eat something you shouldn’t be eating, it’s all in moderation”
- Chris acknowledges that when he is older he can likely not eat the way he eats now
- Eventually, he realizes he will have to change his diet to reflect his age and lack of crazy calorie burning
- Football is “not a career, it’s a job”
- Chris got a master’s in sports administration, so he believes this will help him in the long run
ELITE ATHLETE
- When Chris had to gain the extra weight to be up to par for his position, he was on a high protein diet
- He has no extra fat on him, just 255 lbs of muscle
- Hit the weight room, kept running
- Did combine work, worked on footwork, getting quicker and having better acceleration
- Chris knew if he couldn’t do well at the combine, he wouldn’t get drafted
- Football can be taught, being fast and such is not exactly the same, although it does require lots of work
- Chris knew if he couldn’t do well at the combine, he wouldn’t get drafted
- Combine requires running and weight lifting
- Combine is the first impression for an organization
- You trained so hard, you must show it here
THE FIRST HIT
- Chris spent a year on the sideline, which mentally prepared him to get hit as he watched it happen all the time
- The day Chris got hit hard for the first time, he was mentally prepared
- Not just about taking the hit, also about giving the hit
- Every hit is like a car accident
- Now, if you get hit too hard or hurt your head, you get taken out
- MUCH better protocals to avoid brain damage
