Bill Romanowski | Romo

AFC and NFC Championship Games . . . Wow!  Does football get any better than that?  How exciting to see a team like Phoenix, who has never been to the Super Bowl, or even two-rounds in to the Playoffs, beat the Eagles the way they did.  Hats off to Curt Warner and the team!  Curt Warner raised the level of talent around him to have the guys finally believe that they can win a Super Bowl.  And now they get to play the mighty Stealers in two weeks for the Super Bowl Champs. 

Congratulations Cardinals!  Good luck, and most importantly, don’t forget to believe in yourself and your teammates and you need realize it’s going to take every one of you to give it up for one another to get the job done.

How about the Stealers vs. Raven game?  Like I said in my interviews, I thought it would be one of the hardest hitting football games every played and I think that’s exactly what it was!  Low scoring game . . . defense wins Championships.  Hats off to the Stealers for getting the job done, Ben Roethlisberger for leading his team to Victory and to Mike Tomlin as a second year Head Coach.  Getting his players to believe that they could do something special.  The Stealers are an inspiration, they do it the way football is supposed to be played: hard-hitting, intensity, action packed, leave it all on the field, knock the crap out of people, win in the trenches, dominate the line of scrimmage, kicking ass and taking names . . . the Stealer way.

Look for a Cardinal-Stealer Super Bowl to be an outstanding game.  The key to the game is for the Cardinals to avoid being awed by the Stealer team.  They need to go out there and execute.  The Stealers just have to go out there and do what they’ve done all year long.  At the end of the day, both teams have to realize this is just an Away Game at Tampa Bay . . . not the Super Bowl.  When you focus on the Super Bowl, you focus on something different, something grander, than just an old fashioned football game.  They need to focus on what got them there and that was playing great football.

Good luck to both teams, I look forward to an outstanding football game.

Want my prediction? Cardinals beat the Stealers on the last drive by three points. 

As many of you know, recently there has been a turn over of Head Coach at the Denver Broncos. 

I have a deep appreciation for the Denver Broncos Organization, and after talking with my good friend Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Organization, my mind became overwhelmed with a new game plan to help the Denver Broncos build a new football dynasty.

I have to admit that I really enjoyed the excitement, mental exercise, and possibilities involved in this project.  Just thinking about the way I used to train and approach recovery, and also about the innovations I would like to see in the NFL.  Just dreaming about the perfect performance center in an NFL team, the function, and the possibilities of being the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos was exciting.

With a great support and the right Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, there is no doubt in my mind I could motivate and empower the staff and team.  I just feel in my heart that the energy in Denver would be electric and I could help make the Denver Broncos unstoppable. 

It’s quite a fantasy, on one level, because I really love what I do at Nutrition53.  I love being in the health and fitness industry, I love my employees, and I love the challenge each and every day of working to become a top CEO.  But being the dreamer that I have always been, I guess I will have to settle with the fact that I have two passions in business.  Those being how I made a living in football for 16 years, and nutrition/performance.  I get to live a blessed life and I am very thankful every day.  And I couldn’t do it without my great family; my wife that supports me, and our two gifts from God, our kids Dalton and Alexandra.  I know I may drive them crazy at times. 

After all the hype, being on the AP wire, and having a long talk with Mr. Bowlen, I have presented him with 30 pages outlining my visions of building a football dynasty.  You never know.  Realistically, I’m probably not the typical head coach candidate for him, but maybe a strong candidate as a performance coordinator.  With someone as innovative and as ”out-of-the-box” type of a thinker as Mr. Bowlen, I won’t rule out the possibilities.  He’s the type of guy who did Ironmans in the 80’s, before Triathlon was popular.  He’s the kind of guy that would potentially implement a type of program such as the one I suggested.

As it sits, it would just be icing on the cake because I am so happy here at Nutrition53 with my family and employees out in California.  But I would welcome the opportunity and feel great excitement at the possibilities of dreams becoming realities while coaching in the NFL.

Surfing legend Nat Young had some words of wisdom as we were surfing together out at “The Lane” in Santa Cruz last weekend.  Head-high to ten-foot surf was heading through and it was fairly crouded.  Nat said to me “There is really one perfect place to catch a wave. Where the energy aligns with where you are.  You see all these people around here that don’t know what the heck they are doing.  It’s very important that on your way down the wave you breath out on the way up the wave you breath in.  There is a rhythm to it.  There is an energy and peaceful rhythm that connects you with the ocean and connects you to being present. There are a lot of guys who go out there and just charge go go go and they don’t take in the pure essence, the beauty, the passion, and the love that surfing has to offer.”

So me being a sponge for any words of wisdom that a legend like Nat had to share, I saw a huge set coming in of ten-12 foot and what do you know . . . I was in that perfect space.  When I went down the wave I was breathing out, and when I went up the wave I was breathing in.  When I got off the wave about 50-75 yards later, I sat there and thought, “I have never felt that on a wave.”  I have never been that present to really recognize my breathing on every up and down on the wave.  Feeling th energy, connecting in a sport I truly love and am passionate about. 

Thank you Nat. It reminds me of a story I once heard and it’s a story about a young bull and an older and mature bull up on a hill looking down over hundreds of young female cows.  And the young bull being all excited says to the mature bull “lets run down the hill and hop on one of the heffers.”  Excited and gitty as all get-out.  The older and mature bull says “Why don’t we walk down the hill and hop on them all?”

As I think back to my sport in football, and as I think about the wisdom Nat and the mature bull shared.  As a young impressionable line-backer in the NFL, all I wanted to do was run all over the place and hit anything that moved.  When I truly got to where I understood my position and everyobody elses positions around me and where I fit in within the team, I realized that as a young pup I truly had no clue about what I was doing.  And only as I matured and I learned my roll not as only as a linebacker and a leader did my career start to take off.

I am disheartened to hear a bunch of NFL guys have tested positive for water pills.  First of all, if they are taking them to lose weight, there is not a dumber way to lose weight than to drain your body of its most precious element - water.  There is nothing that will hurt athletic performance like being dehydrated. 

Secondly, if they are trying to mask a anabolic with a diuretic, they are playing Russian Roulette with their lives, with their families, and with their integrity.  I’ve said it in my book , I’ve said it on 60 minutes, and I ‘ll say it again right now: that is the wrong way to go about being an athlete.

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With the current state of our economy, it’s obvious alot of people are falling on tough times.  I am an athlete, not an economist, but it’s clear to me that many of these problem came about because people entered agreements they could not honor, for a variety of reasons.

I have a very good friend who runs one of the largest sports nutrition companies in the country right now who told me something in confidence.  Out of excitement for the ideas and opportunities, I slipped and mentioned what he shared with me to someone else. I broke trust with someone who means an awful lot to me. 

I apologized, and I meant it. I paid a major price for mistake, and it was something that meant a lot to me. And I’ve learned from it and truly will try to focus on my integrity, focus on my word when I give it to somebody, and I had to learn this the hard way.  This has happened before and now this has happened again, and I am sure, at one point or another, it is something that has happened to all of us.  This is something I need to put to work in my business life and my personal life with my friends and family. 

We are a society that sometimes gives our word loosely.  I think there was a time when you didn’t go to an attorney everytime you were going to do a deal with someone.  A lot of times you looked someone in the eye, gave them a handshake, and you did business.  Now there is an attorney on every corner looking to screw somebody.  I dno’t mean to give attorney’s a bad name, but I wish we could eliminate suing from our vocabulary and get back to giving words that mean something.  That is something I am giving today.  My word will mean something. 

Take that to the bank. 

My good friend Tracie Bennett is a photographer for Dave Matthews.  Tracie let me know that Dave Matthews would be playing at the outdoor Greek Theater in Berkeley.  He talked to his assistant Brett and they managed to hook me up with back stage tickets to the show. 

For me personally, I did not know much about Dave Matthews prior to the concert.  Maybe that’s part of being absorbed in the NFL so intensely and for so long.  So when we went to the concert, I really didn’t know what to expect.  But his music was so moving, and I was very impressed with meeting him.  He really is a class act.  Julie and I decided to bring Dalton and Alexandra so they could meet Dave and enjoy the concert as well.  We brought him a care package of Neuro1, Sleep1 and Lean1 and left it in his trailer for him to enjoy later.  I am really excited to get some feedback on that.  Having great seats and watching him perform, I can clearly see why Dave Matthews has the reputation he does.  He has a great band and his music is just really cool.  It just puts you in a certain place, I kept saying, “I like this song” to everything he played.  The whole evening was perfect.  Loved the music, had a phenomenal time, then we went and got some frozen yogurt in downtown Berkeley.

So my first of hopefully several Dave Matthews concerts was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to see him again.  Thanks Brett and Dave for sharing your show with me and my family.  We will always be grateful and look forward to taking care of you with Nutrition53 products to make your life even better.

I recently started coaching freshman football for Piedmont High School this year.  My son is on the team and I have coached a lot of these kids in flag football for the last two years, but I didn’t really know what to expect from them now that they have full pads on. 

We started with 28 guys when our Two-a-Days started.  After the first week, we were down to 18 and yesterday there were only 14 due to injuries.  At this point I don’t know if we will be able to field a team in the next couple weeks.  I think some of the boys don’t know the difference between an ache ‘n pain versus an injury.  Of course, I want all the boys to stay healthy but Football is a really really hard sport.  It’s not for everybody.

We have a name for the “injured” players: Cupcakes.  When they go to the training room, they get “frosted.” 

One of the boys came out to the field with his nice watch on.  The other coach says to him, “Hey Sunny, for the next two hours I don’t think you are going to need to worry about what time it is out here on the field.”

Overall, my experience during the last two weeks has been amazing.  I’ve noticed a phenomenon which baffles me: an intelligent freshman boy can put on a helment and instantly turn dumb.  I don’t know why this happens, but as I remember back to my days in highschool, college, and even in the NFL, there were players who came from Stanford, Northwestern, and Ivy League schools who turned dumb as soon as they put their helmets on.  I attribute atleast part of this phenomenon to the overwhelming situation of playing defensive football: lining up, thinking about your responsibility in the play, reading whether its a run or a pass, trying to make a tackle, taking on blocks . . . all the different scenarios that can play out.

My goals for these young players are, by the end of the year, for them to truly understand hard work, dedication, and true commitment.  LIke I said before, Football is really really hard.  It’s not for everybody.  But sometimes just knowing that you have 27 other boys counting on you to make it out to practice is enough to get you out there to be tough and work through the pain and.  I know at the end of the year, how ever many guys we have standing on the field, will have learned what it takes to be a good, if not a great, defense.  I hope they will know who they can count on and who they can’t, and how important it is to, even if you make a mistake, make that mistake at 100% effort.  It takes zero talent to make effort so I expect balls to the wall at all times.

Hopefully we will have very few Cupcakes come game time.

It’s been a month now since we started our basic summer training for developing football players.  If you are playing ball this fall, I hope you have been following my training advice and incorporating your own workouts as well. 

We have about a month until the high school and college seasons start, which means its really crunch time now to sharpen your speed, fitness, and strength.  Here is my running program to develop the speed and power you need to be a Linebacker:

Monday - Acceleration Day 
30 x 20 meter sprint at FULL SPEED, with 1 minute of recovery  between repetitions

Tuesday - Speed  Day
20 x 40 meter sprint at FULL SPEED, with 2 minutes of recovery between repetitions

Wednesday - Speed Endurance Day
15 x 60 yards sprint at FULL SPEED, with 3 minutes of recovery between repetitions

Thursday - Recovery Day
Easy spin on exercise bike, or easy walk, swim, or yoga.  The goal of the day is to recover from the week’s training, increase circulation to the muscles you are repairing, and stretch. 

Friday - Acceleration Day
30 x 20 meter sprint at FULL SPEED, with 1 minute of recovery between repetitions 

Saturday - Endurance Run Day
12 x 150 meter “strides” at 90% effort.  Run one direction, then walk back the other direction for your recovery.  Your recovery should be about 3 minutes in between these repetitions.

Be sure to warm up for at least 15 minutes and cool down for at least 15 minutes before and after every workout.

There are some things to keep in mind when  executing or preparing for these workouts.  First off, how often do you see an professional football player “jogging” in a game?  If he did, he sure wouldn’t make my football team.  When I say “sprint”, I mean FULL SPEED, all-out, as fast as you can get down the field! 

Secondly, always be prepared for your workout.  That means getting a good night of sleep, being well fueled, and mentally focused.  For my mental focus, I know Neuro1 gets me in the zone.  You also need to eat a solid meal one to two hours before your workout.

Finally, remember that your fitness and strength gains happen during your recovery, not during your workout.  So make these workouts as hard and fast as you can, but never forget to focus on your recovery after your workout.  That means eating a meal or shake with lean proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats very soon after your workout.  I will always recommend Lean1 as the best recovery formula out there. 

Keep up your weight training program and be prepared to start this speed program on Monday.  When you do this, you will be faster than your competition this fall.

After a very busy summer in the offices and a whirlwind of media, I have been lucky to spend a few days on in Hawaii with my family.  The rest and relaxation has been very rejuvenating, but I have also had time to see some special Hawaii sites, surf, and get in some training.

Yesterday, Julie and I hiked the Koko Head Stairs, along the side of the Koko Crater.  The Hawaiian Islands were formed by volcanoes erupting from the sea floor.  Consequently, the islands have impressive geological features and high peaks, such as Koko Head, just west of Honolulu. 

1200 steps later, we reached the very top.  A tough workout, but the view of O’ahu and Hanauma Bay was well worth every step.