Carolina Panthers
Off the Field and with the Family
by Julie Tache
September 06

Football players – you think they’re different from the rest of us? Perhaps not as much as you may think! Well, maybe there is that one difference…for these pro athletes, success is not an accident. Their ability to play a physically demanding game for a living depends on their level of conditioning over the long haul. While many professional athletes were born with their extraordinary talents, most of them start training at a very early age, determined to create the shape their position demands.

But what about when they have some free time? We already know that regimented daily workouts are part of an athlete’s life, but how does that fit in with quality time with friends and family? Or having a functioning social life? And what about wives and kids… how hard an act is Dad to follow up? And really, how important is “fitness and wellness” to today’s pros?

When you’re a single guy in the NFL, a great thing is the flexibility to enjoy your off hours. The tough thing is doing it in a way that doesn’t negate all that hard work you’ve put in all week!

Carolina Panthers Long Snapper Jason Kyle is one example of someone who’s learned how to make it work. Kyle’s regimen has “turned into a year round deal as far as maintaining my fitness level”. Kyle spends much of his off time in Phoenix, and has developed a routine involving group motivation. Kyle runs with a group 3 days a week, and then on weekends it’s off to spin class. Says Kyle, “I haven’t decided whether I like it or not, but it works, it gets you sweating, and you get more of a workout being motivated by others in the class. Plus, it forces you to do more with others than you usually would on a day off”.

Another class in which Kyle has found significant benefits is Yoga. During his time off in the winter he does “flow” yoga since “it’s low impact, it gets me really stretching out”. Diet? Kyle gives his grill a lot of use. “I cook all the time, nothing real exciting, but real clean”. He says it’s tough to eat healthy eating out – which he does for lunch most days. It’s a lot of chicken and salmon, but he “eats for nutritional value rather than for taste”. And as far as alcohol, a nemesis to many a training regimen, during the season it’s “maybe a glass of wine with dinner, but for the most part it’s not worth the price you pay catching up the next day”!

Wide Receiver Drew Carter has Panthers fans excited this season, and for him, being athletic seems to come naturally. He prefers “non-contact” sports: tennis, swimming, and like so many of us, golf. He says those sports are more relaxing – and they also keep him active.

However, unlike many of us who struggle to eat “right”, Carter had a great role model growing up who taught him about good choices. Carter’s mother is a dentist, so there were no sweets around the house. He also inherited his mother’s great genetics, but reminds us that although she doesn’t work out, she eats healthy and that made the difference. Says Carter, “I don’t like candy at all – I never learned to like sugary cereals – it’s just what you’re taught”.

Role models like this are important, stresses Angela Gallo, Licensed Sports Nutritionist and President of Total Nutrition Technology. “The parent is a role model, so living a healthy lifestyle and being active helps. Plus it’s quality time for the family, and they’re teaching their children”. But she cautions, “don’t preach – just indirectly make is part of their lives, and it’s the same with food choices”. She says “kids are picky”, so by finding quick and easy things at the store or better choices at fast food places, parents can help their children learn early.

She also recommends parents make activity a family event, not just something looked on as a daily chore for the parents. She suggests swimming, going to the park, and rollerblading as great ways to have fun while the entire family gets a workout.

Panthers Defensive End Mike Rucker, a client of Gallo’s, concurs. He says fitness is very much a part of his family’s life, especially his wife Kristina, “Even now that she’s pregnant (with their third child due in December), she still gets her half-hour walk around the neighborhood”.

And if it seems that many athletes have fit, athletic wives, Rucker says that’s not really a coincidence! Since players must train all the time, they often gravitate towards women who enjoy the same interests; it’s one more thing they have in common. “It’s a sense of you need to understand this is what I do, a daily workout. Or come with me! We go run together when we’re on vacation – anything you can do together, it’s just a plus”. Kristina believes “if you’re in good shape, then you would want to be with someone who’s into that too”!

Rucker jokes, “with kids every day is aerobics – they’re so young and active”. He says athletes don’t like to be still, so he’s always in the backyard playing baseball or basketball, taking a short hike in the woods or riding trikes in the house with 4 year old Lexie and 2 year old Mason.

Rucker’s wife Kristina says since her kids are young, there is no pressure to be like their Dad, but she does see big expectations for other players children. If a child is successful athletically “people will say, well, she got that from her dad”.

One famous father who can address that topic is Panthers Kicker Jon Kasay. Each of Kasay’s children has their own special abilities, and he and wife Laura try to foster those individually. While 4-year old Christopher is into soccer, 6-year old Savannah is pursuing swimming, 9-year old Caroline loves dance, and his oldest, Steven, at 11, is playing, guess what? Yes, football. So does that mean that he’s feeling the “pressure” of his father’s career? Kasay says that pressure may be something his kids will feel with their continued involvement in sports.

Up until now, Kasay says people don’t always know at first who their kids’ famous dad is, but that there is sometimes added attention due to the public nature of his career. They try to shield their children from it, but actually it may create what he calls “teachable moments we can talk about…we only ask for their best effort”.

The Kasays enjoy doing things as a family, like riding bikes or skiing (stressing that he definitely did not take to the slopes)! He says that “keeping up with the kids makes me feel old but keeps me young. The funny thing is, I’m 36, but there are all these 21, 22 year old guys coming into the league – I’m a very old man”! And the other benefit is that the kids’ “behavior is better and they are more content” when they do activities that tire them out.

Another fan of the grill, Kasay finds cooking therapeutic while his wife cooks more out of necessity. They try to make good food choices but “sometimes you have to give in – it’s just give and take”!

Former Panthers Tight End Wesley Walls retired from football 3 years ago, but is still one of the most popular players in team history. But even in retirement, Walls says fitness has always been “very important” to his family. He met his wife Christy when he was playing football at Ole Miss and she ran cross country. Like so many pro sports marriages, it was having something in common that helped bring them together. Says Walls, “Definitely, you have to be somewhat compatible to go out and run five miles together. It’s something very important to how I felt… I respected her. She trained and she knows how hard it is. By the same example, you have to have respect for her. She ran a marathon and I could barely run two miles”!

Walls stays fit these days with workouts that are much tamer than in his playing days, joking that he’s “trying to preserve now…my body is all beat up” after a decade and a half of pro ball. He keeps his workouts to 2 days a week of jogging and weights – and lots of golf.

He does believe that children of football players face added pressure to succeed, including his 13 year old son, Colton who is active in football, lacrosse and wrestling. “The first day of practice, you sit around and as the other kids and coaches and parents show up, they recognize you. Your children sense this and feel pressured to instantly impress. But you deal with it before you get on the field; you have to deal with it at home.” Walls continues with a philosophy that, “My kids aren’t measured in my eyes by athletic success, but it should be something they enjoy. It builds character, and teaches them an attitude of work, but they’re not judged by us on whether or not they’re successful as an athlete”.

Julie Taché has been covering the Carolina Panthers since their inception, and can be heard on Fox Sports Radio and NFL Network on Sirius. She is also a Broker with Mike Rucker’s Vision Group Realty, and can be heard as the Host of “Hot Properties” every Sunday morning at 10 on 1079 the Link.