At Alabama, running back Trent Richardson was such a hard worker that the team’s strength coaches had to tell him to stop bench pressing 465 pounds for fear that he could strain something. In the NFL, Richardson didn’t work as hard.
Richardson, a free agent who is expected to sign with the Ravens, admits that he struggled to keep up his workout routines once he got to the NFL. In college his coaches always told him when to work out, and he thrived on that structure. But in the NFL, he was allowed to work out when he chose -- and often he chose not to work out at all.
“It’s very easy to get lazy in the NFL — not having everything scheduled and not having everything like at Alabama where it was so structured,” Richardson told AL.com. “We had study hall or we had to get a workout in in between classes and had five classes a day. It was just so structured. In the NFL, everything’s on your own.”
When the Ravens first talked to Richardson, he weighed 238 pounds, and they told him they want him lighter than that before they’re going to sign him. Richardson said he’s been working hard and is now down to 218, even lighter than when he was at Alabama. If he can get into top shape, there’s a chance that he may be able to get back on the field this year, and change his reputation as a college star who could never make it in the NFL.