Running back Steve Slaton took a month off this offseason to rest and recharge his body. He had earned so much his rookie year, rushing for 1,282 yards and nine touchdowns and adding another 377 yards and a score on 50 pass receptions.
This week, Slaton will hit the Texans' weight room and begin working out with strength and conditioning coach Ray Wright's new program. But on Wednesday, Slaton got to play coach and give children a taste of what it takes to be an athlete.
He visited a local Boys & Girls Club as part of the NFL's "Play 60" campaign, which was established to increase the health of young fans by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Slaton started the session by leading the children through stretching exercises, before taking them through eight training stations. There were cone drills and ladder sprints, to name a few, but his personal favorite was the dice station where the roll of the dice determined how many pushups the children had to complete.
"There were dot blitzes, cone drills, stretching drills," Slaton said. "There were the dice, and I think that was the best and the worst one at the same time because if you roll the dice, you can get pushups a bunch of times. You can do 12 of them or you can do one. The kids were moaning and groaning with that one."
{QUOTE}That groaning didn't last long because most of the children couldn't stop cheering for the Texans star running back.
"You're out here for 60 minutes, working hard and sweating," Slaton said. "But the kids were into it, so I got into it.
"Working out is like a sport. All kids love sports, so the more working out you can do, the more fun you can have."
Aside from the health benefits that are associated with exerciset, Slaton also emphasized the positive impact it can have on the lives of urban youths.
"It's very important to have this (NFL Play 60) because it helps the children become active and not get into trouble in the streets," Slaton said. "It's better for them to be outside and playing instead of just sitting on the street corner.
"A lot of kids are outside, but they are outside for the wrong things. They are in gangs or they're hanging on street corners. To be outside and playing in your neighborhood for the right reasons helps you make friends and keeps you healthy."
