Training days: the NFL's offseason workout programs are in full swing, and teams are using everything imaginable—from 'The Beast' to martial arts to steel chains—to give players the physical edge they'll need this fall

Sporting News, The, June 9, 2003

Tuten designed The Beast so that if the pusher is not in a proper football stance, the sled digs into the ground. As a result, The Beast simulates the low, driving motion of blocking about as well as any contraption or exercise. It builds strength in the quad and calf muscles, helping players develop power for short bursts of motion. Tuten also has some players drag the sled to help with their speed. Either way, it's agonizing.

"When I think of that thing," defensive end Trevor Pryce says, "two things come to mind--lighter fluid and a chain saw. I want to hack that thing up and light it on fire."--Cliff Grassmick

YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T PLAY

Powerball is a ticket to Easy Street in some states. In Tennessee--or at the Titans' practice facility, more specifically--it is a unique method of football conditioning.

"I was looking for a way to train the athletes with a football while increasing their intense metabolic endurance," says Steve Watterson, the Titans' strength and conditioning coach. What he came up with about four years ago is powerball--a hybrid of rugby, basketball and football.

There are some basic rules to the game. Anywhere from three to eight players per side use a combination of running, lateraling and occasionally passing to reach one of the two trash cans, which are at opposite ends of the 40-by-53-yard field. A point is scored by tossing the ball into the can. There are no zone defenses; the ball never can touch a player's foot; possession changes occur through penalty, when the player with the ball is touched, fumbles or is intercepted; and the first team to five wins. The losing team pays the price with extra exercises--50 push-ups, 100 sit-ups or a 100-yard sprint.

To make things interesting, Watterson will mix things up. "Sometimes I put tackling dummies in the middle of the field or replace the football with a basketball or rugby ball," he says. "It really depends on my mood."

The players love it. "If we go more than a week without playing it, a mob call will start," Watterson says. "I'll walk onto the practice field to chants of, 'Powerball, powerball'" Funny, he never hears a mob call for wind sprints.--D.V.