The National Football League offseason is quite an interesting time. Players have a six week period where they have free reign to do whatever they want without having to report to the facility.
Players will often take vacations over that time and get away before they get back to the grind of the grueling season. When they do that, sometimes things go awry.
Former Buffalo Bills running back Nyheim Hynes was sitting on a jet ski fueling up when he got hit from the side and tore his ACL and MCL in the process. That not just cost him the season, but also put a major dent into his two-year, $9 million contract, as jet skiing was in his contract as a prohibited activity.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell used to be a player in the NFL and tried to use the prohibited activities clause to get out of dancing at his own wedding. As he told ESPN's Marc Raimondi, that didn't work.
"I tried to use that clause to get out of dancing at my own wedding," O'Connell said with a laugh. "It didn't necessarily work, and I was able to make it through without any injury."
O'Connell understands what the players are going through during this time of year because they often want to get out and be active. That is important for athletes to keep their bodies active, but doing it smart is very important.
"I think you have to [talk about it], just because there's been some examples of guys maybe getting an injury, and sometimes it's taking part in one of those reckless activities," he said. "Sometimes it's not.
"But that whole non-football injury world, that NFI world, it's the last thing you want to see as a coach because you know how impactful this game is already on guys' bodies."
Being smart is the most important thing for the dead period in the offseason and O'Connell has the right approach to handling it with his organization.
