By Lisa Zimmerman, Player Engagement Insider
When linebacker David Harris was sidelined for the New York Jets Monday Night Football game vs. the Arizona Cardinals on October 17th, it was the first game he had missed since 2008. It was also only the sixth game he’d missed since being selected out of the University of Michigan in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Now in his 10th season, Harris has been a stalwart of the Jets defense and is the team’s fourth all-time leading tackler.
So, what’s been the key to his longevity and high level of production? A little bit of a luck and a lot of attention to his overall health and conditioning. And he learned the importance of that focus on health and conditioning very early on in his NFL career, following an arduous rookie year.
“It seemed like [my rookie] season took forever,” Harris said. “You finish the college season in January, then you go straight to training for the Combine then after the Combine comes you’re taking visits to teams and then after the Draft you’re right back at it with rookie mini-camp. You never have any time off so it seemed like it never ended.”
And it was that crazy and exhausting year that caused a bit of a rocky second season and when he realized that to function at 100%, he had to give 100% all year.
“I learned a painful lesson after my rookie year,” he said. “It was the first time I had three-and-a-half months off to myself. You’re on your own, you have some money in your pocket and I didn’t train the way I should have. I went into my second season heavy. I blew my hamstring out right before camp and then tore my groin and then had sports hernia surgery during the season so I missed five games and then I broke my leg the last game of the season so it was a bad year for me injury-wise. I learned a lesson from that. If I would have worked out like I should have I wouldn’t have had those muscle, soft tissue injuries.”
Harris picked the brains of older teammates who gave him advice on things he should do, like eating the right foods and post-workout and post-game techniques to help with better and more thorough recovery. Over the years he has continued to fine-tune and tweak his conditioning.
“Flexibility [is more important each year],” Harris said. “I do more weight lifting, especially in my legs. As you get older you lose muscle and when you lose muscle you lose all your explosion. I try to be more mindful of hamstring and hip strength and core strength.”
He also does regular acupuncture and massage and in recent years added ART – Active Release Technique – which focuses on maintaining the health of soft tissue including muscle, ligaments and tendons and helps with overall flexibility.
While he doesn’t have a specific food regimen, he sticks to a healthy diet and avoids fast food as much as possible. Everything he’s doing seems to be working. But looking back, even Harris is somewhat amazed to find himself a decade in to his NFL career.
“I would never have thought I would have played this long,” he said. “But, you only have one body and you have to get take care of it. Love your body and it will love you back. I’m 10 years in and trying to play as long as I can.”
Lisa Zimmerman is a long-time NFL writer and reporter. She was the Jets correspondent for CBSSports.com, SportsNet New York’s TheJetsBlog.com and Sirius NFL Radio. She has also written for NFL.com.