Who did Brockers work with in the off season?
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Agamemnon
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Rams DT Brockers taking his game to a new level
June 15, 2015
By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_336f3a86-c0bb-5e84-a9f3-d74ce56051c8.html
Say what you will about Michael Brockers, but the Rams’ defensive tackle leaves no stone unturned when it comes to trying to improve his game.
A couple of years ago, he hired a personal chef to make sure he was eating right. Last season he showed up lighter in an attempt to improve his quickness and overall effectiveness.
As for this offseason, he has taken up mixed martial arts training in an effort to use his hands better on the football field and keep opposing blockers’ hands away.
“In life, I think every day you have to learn something,” Brockers said. “If you’re not learning, you’re not living. So definitely for the most part, I try to ‘up’ my game. There’s never a time where I feel like I know it all.”
Line play at the NFL level isn’t only about strength, power, and quickness; it’s also about leverage and technique. Usually, once an offensive lineman gets his hands on you, it’s over for a defensive lineman.
“It’s about getting that man’s hands off you, especially playing defensive tackle and nose guard,” Brockers said. “It’s all about physicality, and not trying to let them get their hands on you and grab you and stuff like that.”
The most interesting aspect of Brockers’ fray into martial arts is his teacher. It’s none other than Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White.
Brockers made the hookup through his agent Scott Casterline, who also represents White. Prior to the start of the Rams’ offseason conditioning program on April 20, Brockers made regular weekend visits to work with White in Dallas.
Brockers, whose permanent residence is in Houston, would make the four-hour drive to Dallas on a Thursday and stay there working with White until returning on Sunday.
“It’s been a slow process,” Brockers said. “He’s been doing this stuff all his life, for all his career. So learning from him I’m starting to get like the steps down. I’m trying to implement it a little bit in my game, trying to use it for 2015.”
Brockers grew up a Cowboys fan in part because there wasn’t a football team in Houston between 1997, when the Oilers left for Tennessee, and 2002, when the expansion Texans started playing. Brockers, still only 24, is too young to have seen White play but knew who he was before the martial arts tutoring begin.
“I knew a lot about some of the history about Dallas and knew he was part of it,” Brockers said. “So for the most part when I learned he wanted to work with me, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’
“It’s cool because of the fact that he’s a Hall of Famer and you think that they carry themselves a lot higher than they do. They’re at the top of the top. But he’s a real chill guy, cool, down to earth. So that’s the reason why I really like working out with him, because he’s a great guy to talk to and he listens and tries to really help my game.”
White was introduced to martial arts training in 1976, his second year in the NFL, by then-Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Bob Ward. In that sense, Ward and the Cowboys were way ahead of their time.
“Bob had the vision of incorporating the martial arts into our football,” White told the Post-Dispatch. “I enjoyed doing it and really took to it. It really helped my career.”
Even after his career ended following the 1988 season, White continued his martial arts training. And he started training others, from elementary school-age youths up to NFL players.
One of his past “students” was six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle La’Roi Glover, who spent three of his 13 NFL seasons with the Rams (2006-08) and is currently the Rams’ director of player programs.
(White met Glover at an arm-wrestling tournament, where Glover was a participant and White was doing commentary.)
“I’m not the great guru but I’ve got something to offer,” White said. “Something they can look at. If they like it, they can add it to what they do.”
White, now 62, has found Brockers to be a very willing pupil.
“Michael really is a very intense guy,” White said. “And is hungry to get better and be better. I’ve spent some time with him. I don’t know how many times we’ve trained. Quite a few.
“He really picked it up and he saw the value of what I was showing. It takes just a little bit to really grasp how you apply it. You develop sensitivity. We do hand drills and develop sensitivity.
“Most players, right off the bat they want to know, ‘Well, if he does this, what do I do?’ I can show ’em that, and I can show ’em a counter for a specific way a guy is trying to block you or attack you.”
But eventually, it’s got to come instinctively.
“When you’re on the football field, you don’t have time to be thinking about what move am I gonna use,” said White, who is training Brockers for free. “You’ve just gotta feel it. So you keep working the drills and develop sensitivity, and I show ’em all the different options that I know to make themselves effective as far as rushing the passer, pursuing a play.”
Just like learning more traditional defensive line techniques, Brockers knows it will take lots of repetition to take his martial arts techniques to that instinctive level. So once the Rams’ offseason program started in Earth City and he could no longer make the weekly trips from Houston to Dallas, Brockers studied videos to try to stay sharp.
“I even practice with my wife sometimes,” Brockers said.
(Now that’s a devoted wife.)
“Just hand movements,” Brockers said. “It’s not like I’m really throwing her or anything.”
The drills with White are strictly hands and footwork. The sessions last two to three hours, with a break thrown in here and there.
Once the Rams complete the final week of OTA practice sessions next week, the veterans have a five-week break before the start of training camp. Brockers plans to spend at least a couple of those weeks working with White in Dallas.
Once camp starts at the end of July, White might drop in at Rams Park to watch Brockers in practice, seeing if he’s applying the martial arts techniques on the football field.
“He wants to be the best he can possibly be,” White said. “And when you’ve got a guy that’s got that attitude, and he’s got the ability he has, he’s gonna be successful.”
Earnest Hart, Jr.
Instructor of the Month
WorldBlackBelt Founding Member
http://www.worldblackbelt.com/pages/iom_hart.asp
No-one who knows WorldBlackBelt Founding Member Earnest Hart Jr., a former kickboxing champion, has ever described him as being a shy person, but Hart admits that he even surprised himself when he handed his business card to NFL All-Pro D'Marco Farr of the St. Louis Rams a few years ago and boldly told him to give a call when he got serious about winning. At the time, the Rams were coming off one more losing season, and a year later, following yet another losing season, Farr got serious and placed the call to Hart right after their last game and simply said “I’m ready.” Two years later, the St. Louis Rams were sitting on top of the NFL world as Super Bowl Champions and Earnest Hart, Jr. was being featured on ESPN and the Fox Sports Network.
Farr took Hart, who was not even a football fan at the time, in to meet with the then Head Coach of the Rams Dick Vermeil. “Coach Vermeil had previously hired a Cardio Kickboxing Instructor and did not get very good results, so I had to sell him on myself,” recalled Hart. “I sold him on speed, I told him that I could make his guys quicker and faster, and although I don’t think he was entirely convinced, Coach Vermeil decided to give me a chance.”
Next, Hart had to prove himself to the players and earn their respect. Farr, already a believer, started offering $1,000 to any player who could block one of Hart’s still lightning quick kicks…he never had to pay up. “I used to do the Kung Fu thing by snatching pennies from their hands, because even though I was older I was faster,” said Hart.
As for the coaches, Hart soon realized how important it was to not alienate himself from the strength and conditioning coaches so that they would see him as a threat. Hart made sure not to exclude them and wisely offered them free private lessons so that they could understand what he was teaching. The coaches soon became believers too.
“Basically, I taught the players quickness through explosive drills and told them to always stay relaxed, be ready but don’t be tense,” explained Hart, who put on four classes a day three times a week for the Rams, as well as giving private lessons. “The guys really responded well and the year before they won the Super Bowl I could see it coming because they were hungry,” said Hart.
During their Super Bowl run in 1999, Hart became a national celebrity. “All of the TV announcers wanted to talk to me, guys like James Brown from CBS and John Madden and Howie Long from Fox. The only TV personality Hart would not talk to was Dennis Miller from ABC’s Monday Night Football. “There was no way I was going to talk to him (Miller), if things didn’t go well with the team that night I knew he would rim me, and then I would have had to kick his butt because I’m from the old school,” joked Hart.
June 15, 2015
By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_336f3a86-c0bb-5e84-a9f3-d74ce56051c8.html
Say what you will about Michael Brockers, but the Rams’ defensive tackle leaves no stone unturned when it comes to trying to improve his game.
A couple of years ago, he hired a personal chef to make sure he was eating right. Last season he showed up lighter in an attempt to improve his quickness and overall effectiveness.
As for this offseason, he has taken up mixed martial arts training in an effort to use his hands better on the football field and keep opposing blockers’ hands away.
“In life, I think every day you have to learn something,” Brockers said. “If you’re not learning, you’re not living. So definitely for the most part, I try to ‘up’ my game. There’s never a time where I feel like I know it all.”
Line play at the NFL level isn’t only about strength, power, and quickness; it’s also about leverage and technique. Usually, once an offensive lineman gets his hands on you, it’s over for a defensive lineman.
“It’s about getting that man’s hands off you, especially playing defensive tackle and nose guard,” Brockers said. “It’s all about physicality, and not trying to let them get their hands on you and grab you and stuff like that.”
The most interesting aspect of Brockers’ fray into martial arts is his teacher. It’s none other than Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White.
Brockers made the hookup through his agent Scott Casterline, who also represents White. Prior to the start of the Rams’ offseason conditioning program on April 20, Brockers made regular weekend visits to work with White in Dallas.
Brockers, whose permanent residence is in Houston, would make the four-hour drive to Dallas on a Thursday and stay there working with White until returning on Sunday.
“It’s been a slow process,” Brockers said. “He’s been doing this stuff all his life, for all his career. So learning from him I’m starting to get like the steps down. I’m trying to implement it a little bit in my game, trying to use it for 2015.”
Brockers grew up a Cowboys fan in part because there wasn’t a football team in Houston between 1997, when the Oilers left for Tennessee, and 2002, when the expansion Texans started playing. Brockers, still only 24, is too young to have seen White play but knew who he was before the martial arts tutoring begin.
“I knew a lot about some of the history about Dallas and knew he was part of it,” Brockers said. “So for the most part when I learned he wanted to work with me, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’
“It’s cool because of the fact that he’s a Hall of Famer and you think that they carry themselves a lot higher than they do. They’re at the top of the top. But he’s a real chill guy, cool, down to earth. So that’s the reason why I really like working out with him, because he’s a great guy to talk to and he listens and tries to really help my game.”
White was introduced to martial arts training in 1976, his second year in the NFL, by then-Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Bob Ward. In that sense, Ward and the Cowboys were way ahead of their time.
“Bob had the vision of incorporating the martial arts into our football,” White told the Post-Dispatch. “I enjoyed doing it and really took to it. It really helped my career.”
Even after his career ended following the 1988 season, White continued his martial arts training. And he started training others, from elementary school-age youths up to NFL players.
One of his past “students” was six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle La’Roi Glover, who spent three of his 13 NFL seasons with the Rams (2006-08) and is currently the Rams’ director of player programs.
(White met Glover at an arm-wrestling tournament, where Glover was a participant and White was doing commentary.)
“I’m not the great guru but I’ve got something to offer,” White said. “Something they can look at. If they like it, they can add it to what they do.”
White, now 62, has found Brockers to be a very willing pupil.
“Michael really is a very intense guy,” White said. “And is hungry to get better and be better. I’ve spent some time with him. I don’t know how many times we’ve trained. Quite a few.
“He really picked it up and he saw the value of what I was showing. It takes just a little bit to really grasp how you apply it. You develop sensitivity. We do hand drills and develop sensitivity.
“Most players, right off the bat they want to know, ‘Well, if he does this, what do I do?’ I can show ’em that, and I can show ’em a counter for a specific way a guy is trying to block you or attack you.”
But eventually, it’s got to come instinctively.
“When you’re on the football field, you don’t have time to be thinking about what move am I gonna use,” said White, who is training Brockers for free. “You’ve just gotta feel it. So you keep working the drills and develop sensitivity, and I show ’em all the different options that I know to make themselves effective as far as rushing the passer, pursuing a play.”
Just like learning more traditional defensive line techniques, Brockers knows it will take lots of repetition to take his martial arts techniques to that instinctive level. So once the Rams’ offseason program started in Earth City and he could no longer make the weekly trips from Houston to Dallas, Brockers studied videos to try to stay sharp.
“I even practice with my wife sometimes,” Brockers said.
(Now that’s a devoted wife.)
“Just hand movements,” Brockers said. “It’s not like I’m really throwing her or anything.”
The drills with White are strictly hands and footwork. The sessions last two to three hours, with a break thrown in here and there.
Once the Rams complete the final week of OTA practice sessions next week, the veterans have a five-week break before the start of training camp. Brockers plans to spend at least a couple of those weeks working with White in Dallas.
Once camp starts at the end of July, White might drop in at Rams Park to watch Brockers in practice, seeing if he’s applying the martial arts techniques on the football field.
“He wants to be the best he can possibly be,” White said. “And when you’ve got a guy that’s got that attitude, and he’s got the ability he has, he’s gonna be successful.”
Earnest Hart, Jr.
Instructor of the Month
WorldBlackBelt Founding Member
http://www.worldblackbelt.com/pages/iom_hart.asp
No-one who knows WorldBlackBelt Founding Member Earnest Hart Jr., a former kickboxing champion, has ever described him as being a shy person, but Hart admits that he even surprised himself when he handed his business card to NFL All-Pro D'Marco Farr of the St. Louis Rams a few years ago and boldly told him to give a call when he got serious about winning. At the time, the Rams were coming off one more losing season, and a year later, following yet another losing season, Farr got serious and placed the call to Hart right after their last game and simply said “I’m ready.” Two years later, the St. Louis Rams were sitting on top of the NFL world as Super Bowl Champions and Earnest Hart, Jr. was being featured on ESPN and the Fox Sports Network.
Farr took Hart, who was not even a football fan at the time, in to meet with the then Head Coach of the Rams Dick Vermeil. “Coach Vermeil had previously hired a Cardio Kickboxing Instructor and did not get very good results, so I had to sell him on myself,” recalled Hart. “I sold him on speed, I told him that I could make his guys quicker and faster, and although I don’t think he was entirely convinced, Coach Vermeil decided to give me a chance.”
Next, Hart had to prove himself to the players and earn their respect. Farr, already a believer, started offering $1,000 to any player who could block one of Hart’s still lightning quick kicks…he never had to pay up. “I used to do the Kung Fu thing by snatching pennies from their hands, because even though I was older I was faster,” said Hart.
As for the coaches, Hart soon realized how important it was to not alienate himself from the strength and conditioning coaches so that they would see him as a threat. Hart made sure not to exclude them and wisely offered them free private lessons so that they could understand what he was teaching. The coaches soon became believers too.
“Basically, I taught the players quickness through explosive drills and told them to always stay relaxed, be ready but don’t be tense,” explained Hart, who put on four classes a day three times a week for the Rams, as well as giving private lessons. “The guys really responded well and the year before they won the Super Bowl I could see it coming because they were hungry,” said Hart.
During their Super Bowl run in 1999, Hart became a national celebrity. “All of the TV announcers wanted to talk to me, guys like James Brown from CBS and John Madden and Howie Long from Fox. The only TV personality Hart would not talk to was Dennis Miller from ABC’s Monday Night Football. “There was no way I was going to talk to him (Miller), if things didn’t go well with the team that night I knew he would rim me, and then I would have had to kick his butt because I’m from the old school,” joked Hart.
LetsGoRams
Pro Bowler
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- Thrasher
There's a photo in the thread 'Camp pictures 8/6' that shows Randy White visiting Brockers at practice yesterday.
LACHAMP46
A snazzy title
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@cvramsfan I wanna say Randy White....but it's just a guess....
