It started out as a joke, of sorts. Rams linebacker Jared Verse found out that former Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald was dead serious.
The duo worked out at Donald’s house in June. On Thursday, Verse was asked about the experience.
Here’s his version, from the transcript distributed by the Rams.
“I’ll tell you exactly what we did,” Verse said. “I show up, it’s like 11 in the morning. I’m thinking we’ve got like an hour [long] workout. I got plans after. I have things I have to do throughout the day. I was planning on watching film and everything like that.
“We show up, he doesn’t say ‘hi’ or anything like that. He sees me and he’s like, ‘Come on.’ He does a little dap up. We walk inside, he’s says, ‘Stretch how you have to.’ I stretch. Everything he does is a circuit. We do four workouts. It’s all cardio. Versa climber, bike, lunges and core. Four rounds each. You do all that. You’re already tired. You’re like, ‘Oh my God,’ whatever.
“Then you do four sets of core, two different workouts. So it’s eight different workouts, four sets each. You do all that for four sets. You go through these and he says ‘All right, you ready for the real workout?’
“I’m like, ‘I’ve been here for 45 minutes. What are you talking about?’
“We go to the weight room. It’s all arms, that’s why he’s big as hell. We go to the weight room. It’s eight different circuits. All arms, four sets each. I’m there for an hour and a half. His wife came in laughing at me. I told her to call the police. I’m dead serious. I’m not even joking. I’m dead serious. I told her to call the police. She wouldn’t do it. I tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let her in. He told me to give my keys to his management or assistant and that they would go let my mom in. So I wasn’t leaving.
“Finished the workout. I’m dead tired, I’m exhausted. I had a plan to go jump in the sauna afterwards, didn’t happen. I had plans to watch film, didn’t happen. Went home and I didn’t work out for another day and a half because I couldn’t move my body.”
Through it all, Verse got the point. Hard workouts prepare players for the most important part of every game — the fourth quarter.
“The one thing he kept saying throughout the whole workout . . . was, ‘Think of the fourth quarter,’” Verse said. “‘Everyone’s good, the first, second and third, but what about the fourth? That’s where you make your money.’ He’s saying it loud and proud. . . . I was like, ‘Damn, OK.’”
It’s a glimpse into what made Donald so great. And if he can get Verse to think and act the same way, the Rams could be hoisting another Lombardi Trophy, sooner than later.
