In his third season with Chicago, Wasrabi Gleel knew his game better than ever before. He was a strong tackler with good instincts and a nose for the football. He’d been a solid contributor ever since he arrived, even getting a defensive rookie of the year nod a couple seasons ago. But as the new season training camp approached, Gleel found himself doubting whether or not he’d be able to take the next step as a player with his current style of play.
So he showed up early. Put in some time during OTAs with not only the linebacker coaches, but the running back coaches also. The one thing that had followed him around his entire football career, from pee-wee, through high school and college, through the DSFL and eventually now in the ISFL, has been his below average speed. It was a price to pay for being heavy and strong. His strength has always been his greatest ally, but as the season approached he knew he’d have to let it go to take the next step.
The regular linebacker drills in training camp were no problem, but to get his body where it needed to be for the season, he turned to two of the team's best runners: Baby Yoda and Madison Hayes. The two running backs pushed him harder and harder through the simplified version of their running back drills in order to improve not only his speed, but his lateral quickness. It was grueling work, essentially participating in two training camps instead of one, and it wasn’t fun either--the team nutritionist did their part to help Gleel with his goal by forcing him to cut out all pizza rolls, McDonalds, and various other treats, and replaced them with healthy (albeit, boring) meals to bring his weight down.
By the end of training camp, Gleel had shed 15 lbs of weight and dropped his body fat percentage by 10%. Leaner than he’d been in his entire life, his improved speed was noticeable to everyone on the Chicago squad. Training camp had been eventful, but now it was time to put his new build to the test.
(I switched my arch this week lol)
(358 words)
So he showed up early. Put in some time during OTAs with not only the linebacker coaches, but the running back coaches also. The one thing that had followed him around his entire football career, from pee-wee, through high school and college, through the DSFL and eventually now in the ISFL, has been his below average speed. It was a price to pay for being heavy and strong. His strength has always been his greatest ally, but as the season approached he knew he’d have to let it go to take the next step.
The regular linebacker drills in training camp were no problem, but to get his body where it needed to be for the season, he turned to two of the team's best runners: Baby Yoda and Madison Hayes. The two running backs pushed him harder and harder through the simplified version of their running back drills in order to improve not only his speed, but his lateral quickness. It was grueling work, essentially participating in two training camps instead of one, and it wasn’t fun either--the team nutritionist did their part to help Gleel with his goal by forcing him to cut out all pizza rolls, McDonalds, and various other treats, and replaced them with healthy (albeit, boring) meals to bring his weight down.
By the end of training camp, Gleel had shed 15 lbs of weight and dropped his body fat percentage by 10%. Leaner than he’d been in his entire life, his improved speed was noticeable to everyone on the Chicago squad. Training camp had been eventful, but now it was time to put his new build to the test.
(I switched my arch this week lol)
(358 words)
"big boy has power."
![[Image: WGleel.webp?width=901&height=676]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/848088838664093696/848089433071943690/WGleel.webp?width=901&height=676)
