Among the staples of early training camp coverage are the stories about guys coming to camp in the best shape of their lives, either heavier or lighter in hopes of boosting their performances.
But Packers tight end D.J. Williams put a new twist on the old story, saying he arrived at camp stronger than ever thanks to an offseason of cow-wrestling in Arkansas.
Awesome.
“That works out real good, especially if you get them with the baby calf, they’re really aggressive,” Williams said, via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “That really helped. It starts out as cow-tipping but once they start charging, you have to go to defense mode.”
Williams was asked a number of times if he was joking, but stuck to his story, adding that cow-tipping had fringe benefits besides getting one ready for camp.
“I guess it’s three things: for a good time, for football, obviously, and it’s a good way to impress a girl,” he said. “It’s very impressive. Usually, you say, ‘Let’s go cow tipping’ and they feel it’s a good rush when the cows start chasing you and stuff.
“They think it’s to impress them, but I’m really working on my football stuff at the same time. Two birds, one stone.”
Whatever he was doing, Williams has come to camp stronger than before, his coaches have noticed, and he’s made an impression.
That’s all that matters, even if his training regimen is nothing more than a load of bull.