I went back home right after the season, but I didn’t exactly do too much when I got there. I helped my sister move out of her college dorm and into a little apartment. I also helped my dad fix up his house.

I helped him out by sanding his ceiling and the walls. And I helped him fix up his bathroom and put the fixtures in. I think my height certainly helped, especially with the light fixtures and sanding the ceiling. When it comes down to putting together the toilets, I mostly left that up to him. I just sat back and watched.

Besides spending time with everyone, I really enjoyed my mom’s cooking when I was back home too. The last thing I ate when I was back there was a steak dinner. She put some steaks out, and I don’t know why, but she wanted me to have some steak. So we had a delicious steak dinner, with baked potatoes and salad. 

Usually when I go back home, I love to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Thankfully when I got home, my mom had everything ready so I could make my own. 

If you give me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a glass of milk, and leave me to watch cartoons – I am good.

That’s pretty much the gist of what I did while I was back home this offseason.

Now that I’ve been back in town for our offseason program, it’s been really good seeing the guys again. It’s good to be around my teammates. When we met up for our first minicamp last month, it was a minicamp, but it was also a work camp. I don’t think it was a typical minicamp, because we really got after it. 

What really got me was how the coaches wanted us to walk through certain parts, but our guys were so motivated and ready to go. It wasn’t really a walk-through pace, guys really got after each other. I enjoyed it and I think our coaches enjoyed it too. I can definitely tell that everyone is looking forward to this year. 

Not only did it feel like a different year, but it felt like a different team. There’s been a huge attitude change for our team. We were supposed to have a walk-through practice, but we were very up-tempo. Right now, a lot of guys are here working out in the offseason. I have to say, this is the most amount of guys I’ve seen working out.

After minicamp some of the reporters picked up on the fact that I’ve put on some weight. It wasn’t a focus of mine and I don’t think it will ever be a focus of mine. If it happens, it happens. Yes, I have gained a little bit of weight. But I won’t gain so much to where it hinders me. Once I start to see my performance drop, I have to start slimming down. That might be tough for me, because I love food. I love sweets and I love snacks. 

As a matter of fact, I’m eating M&M’s right now!

Now that I’m back in town working out, Marcus Hudson and I have been hanging out again. We’ve been working on our bowling game. I’m very disappointed with my most recent performance, I’m not where I was last year and I’m not where I want to be. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up! 

Right now my daily schedule goes like this:

 I work out early in the morning, come back to the house, get something to eat, lay down, take a nap, get up, watch some movies, chill, and then I get on my X-Box and play some video games.

 The hottest game that’s out right now, to me, is Resident Evil. You know what? It’s so hot, I haven’t even played it – I’m going to get it today. I have to. I saw the previews and now I have to go get it.

That’s really all I’ve been up to. I haven’t been able to see too many movies which is something I like to do in my free time. I think the last movie I saw was The Haunting in Connecticut. 

Let me just say, it wasn’t one of my top choices. It’s supposed to be scary and I am sorry that I went to go see that movie. I don’t recommend that. I don’t even want to talk about it; I can’t even put my name by that movie.  As a movie critic, I feel so bad about that one.

One last thing I can’t leave out of this blog is mentioning the hill we now have by our practice fields. We’ve been using it during our offseason program and let me just say, the hill is a beast. It really is a beast. The things we are doing with this hill can only make us better because you can feel the effects of it right after you’ve used it. It’s like a workout within a workout.

Man, that’s a huge hill. It’s a hill with grass on it – that’s what gets me. I feel bad for the guys who have to mow it. How do you even do that? You can’t really mow it straight up and down? 

That’s a workout within itself too.

If you try to mow it sideways, it’s a burn in your thighs. I don’t know how our grounds staff does it, but however it is done, they do a great job.