How does a 6-4, 285 pound professional football player stay in shape in the offseason?
Tennis.
Jared Crick enjoys heading to his neighborhood tennis court for extra conditioning these days. The Texans starting defensive end prefers to limit heavy lifting in his offseason, opting to keep in shape with cardio activities like running and tennis instead.
"It's a fun game," Crick said Tuesday on Texans Radio. "It's really good as far as keeping the conditioning up and I have a tennis court right down the street so that makes it pretty convenient for me."
Crick didn't start playing tennis at an early age. The first time he ever picked up a racket was when he took a tennis class during his senior year at Nebraska. Although his start was "pretty rough," Crick stuck with the sport and eventually improved.
"I got the hang of it," Crick said. "I ended up winning my tournament at the end of the year. We had some pretty good tennis players and I ended up winning a bunch of tennis balls as the prize."
Crick isn't the only Texan who plays. Last year, he hit the courts with fellow defensive lineman Tim Jamison. Whether or not any of his other teammates are into tennis, Crick is still waiting to find out.
"Somebody might be a closet professional tennis player but I don't know," Crick said, laughing. "I haven't met him yet. Maybe I'll see him on the court one of these days."
