Villani thought he was prepared mentally, but he was still stunned—
An entire day of yoga and swimming, and Lance still managed to wake up earlier than Watt today?
Devil.
Villani was genuinely taken aback. "JJ, this isn't funny."
Watt just spread his hands.
Villani immediately realized that Watt wasn't joking. He didn't hide his surprise. "Guys, if you keep this up, we really need to charge more. Sleep deprivation is real."
Haha.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Everyone except Hopkins, who stood there deep in thought: Where did things go wrong?
Deep breath. Another deep breath. Hopkins finally managed to calm down.
It's fine. There's no need to make a big deal about who shows up earlier. After all, this isn't a morning game; it's just offseason training. The real test is the quality of the training, not who arrives first.
Heh, he was going to be part of the Breakfast Club today, for sure.
Hopkins shot a sharp glare at Lance, and the tension in the air thickened.
But—
Things weren't that simple, because Hopkins forgot to consider Watt.
Watt wasn't paying attention to Hopkins. His eyes were still on Lance.
Before the offseason training even started, Watt had already been watching Lance for a long time. He respected Lance, admired him even—that's why he sent the invitation. Watt truly believed that training with Lance would push them both to their limits.
His expectations were already high.
But reality was even more surprising.
This made Watt rub his hands together with excitement, eagerly anticipating the next five days of training.
Because Watt and the private trainers got together and discussed increasing the training volume:
A slight 10% increase.
Some might scoff at just 10%. That's too modest, right? Isn't Watt supposed to be intense? It almost sounded embarrassing to admit.
Not really.
Given the baseline of their current training load, a 10% increase was already massive. After the first five-day cycle, they had already been pushing their limits; to go even further meant that physically and mentally, the impact would be exponential.
Sure enough—
Jordan, Robinson, Kelce, and the others, all seasoned veterans of the league, had just started to adapt to the first cycle's intensity. They assumed the second cycle would be tougher but still manageable.
But Watt cranked up the intensity, and they found themselves gritting their teeth to keep up once again.
Watt was indeed Watt. Even in the grand history of the NFL, his madness index would rank near the top. No wonder he had won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
The real surprise was today's training. Lance and Watt ran neck and neck, finishing the session with less than a ten-second difference, and both beat the seven o'clock Breakfast Club deadline by three minutes.
And even more shocking—Lance finished first.
Everyone was stunned.
Then came TJ, followed by Mahomes, and then Kelce. But unfortunately, only TJ made it before the seven o'clock cutoff.
As fierce as Watt was, those who joined Watt's training camp were no slackers either.
Huff, huff.
Mahomes sat there catching his breath. It had been three minutes since he finished, and he still looked completely zoned out—like he couldn't move even if he wanted to.
When he finally regained his composure, he saw the breakfast buffet laid out before him. His competitive spirit reignited—
The motivation was there.
Mahomes scooted closer to Lance and whispered, "Thanks for yesterday."
To be honest, yesterday, all Mahomes wanted to do was sleep. Sleep all day. And he wasn't sure if swimming and yoga would help.
Football, after all, is a contact sport. Swimming and yoga might help with flexibility and coordination, but the impact seemed minimal. That's why very few NFL players practice yoga regularly.
But Mahomes trusted Lance. Since Lance specifically trained on the rest day, he had to have a reason.
So, Mahomes resisted the temptation of his cozy bed and joined Lance for training.
Unexpectedly, it paid off immediately. Today, he felt lighter, more fluid, and his movements were smoother. Naturally, his speed increased too.
Especially compared to Hopkins.
Today, Hopkins looked like a clump of seaweed fished out of the ocean—completely tangled up.
Lance looked at Mahomes and said, "No need to keep it a secret. It's not exactly classified information."
Mahomes instantly understood. Even if people knew about Lance's yoga and swimming routines, it didn't mean they'd be willing to do it themselves.
Mahomes couldn't help but grin.
Lance gestured to the breakfast plate. "Breakfast is important. We've got a whole day of training ahead of us. Before noon, JJ's not going to hand out snacks."
Mahomes chuckled.
Blerrrgh.
Before he could laugh, a retching sound interrupted—
It was Hopkins.
Hopkins was hunched over the table, dry heaving. His body convulsed, and all that came out was stomach acid. His entire body curled up like a shrimp.
Everyone around couldn't help but look away in pity.
Hopkins: I want to die. Leave me alone. Thanks.
It wasn't just Hopkins—Watt hadn't expected this scene either.
Watt turned to Lance. "Sorry, I'm going to check on him. Hope it's nothing serious."
After Watt left, Kelce crept over to Lance and whispered, "Dude, it seems like your catfish isn't doing so well."
Pfft.
Although it wasn't really the time to laugh, Lance couldn't help but chuckle.
Meanwhile, Lance's offseason training was steadily progressing.
On the other hand, back at the Kansas City Chiefs' camp, they had returned to work after a short break.
Winning the Super Bowl was now in the past. The 2017 season had officially ended; now, they had to start preparing for the 2018 season—
Free agency; contract negotiations; the draft.
To be precise, the busyness of the offseason was no less than that of the regular season.
It had been mentioned before that the NFL uses a hard salary cap, which is different from the NBA. That means if you exceed the salary cap, there's no wiggle room—there are no exceptions.
To avoid being caught off-guard, teams usually compress contract totals and guarantee portions. On the flip side, players always strive to secure as much guaranteed money as possible. It's a constant tug-of-war.
Every year, the Super Bowl champions face the same story. Key players, core players, and heroes from the championship run come up for contract extensions, demanding higher salaries. Some players, even if they're not up for renewal yet, want to renegotiate for higher average annual earnings.
But the team has to deal with the hard salary cap.
If negotiations fall apart, players might demand trades.
Because of this, Super Bowl-winning teams always face severe challenges in the offseason. Defending the championship becomes almost impossible.
Clearly, the Chiefs didn't expect to win the Super Bowl last season, so they weren't fully prepared to handle this offseason's contract adjustments. It caught them by surprise—what you could call "the joys of success."
But now, Veach had to face the first big challenge of the post-Super Bowl offseason.
The first issue: the quarterback position. Should Smith stay?
----------
Powerstones?
For 20 advance chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates