Rashard Mendenhall wanted to step up his game in 2009 after his 2008 season was cut short. If you don’t remember, Ray Lewis stole his soul and broke his scapula with a huge hit in week 4. With time on his hands, Rashard decided to take an unconventional route to improve his conditioning. The former Illinois running back began taking hip-hop dance classes. Mendenhall says that he’s more cut, in better shape, and has added more muscle. Ray Lewis is unfazed.
If Rashard Mendenhall starts to dance through holes this season, maybe he can attribute it to part of his offseason workout program.
Who knows? He might even land a spot on “Dancing With The Stars.”
Mendenhall, last year’s No. 1 pick, began taking a hip-hop dance class last season after a season-ending shoulder injury and eventually took part in a dance performance before about 1,000 people, including some of his teammates, at Chartiers Valley Intermediate School.
He said the dancing helped with his conditioning and he “definitely” is in better shape than he was last year when he came to training camp. Mendenhall said he is more cut and has added more muscle since last season.
“It’s a lot different,” he said. “It’s tough to be able to move like that for a period of time. You get a newfound respect going through that.”
Mendenhall began taking the classes at the Bella School of Dance in Wexford shortly after his injury — a broken scapula Sept. 29 when he was hit by Baltimore’s Ray Lewis — began to feel better.
He continued the classes through the spring, culminating with the performance in June that was attended by free agent running back Stefan Logan, free agent wide receiver Brandon Williams and director of player development Ray Jackson.
“I like it, it was something to do,” Mendenhall said.
Asked if the hip-hop classes will help him as a running back, Mendenhall said, “I would think being able to move, the creativity of making guys miss, it probably can.”
Then he added, “I have been dancing since I was little, but this was the first time I took a class, so it was exciting, it was new.”
Is his dance career over?
“I don’t see myself being done with it, but I don’t know if I can do it if I’m around the whole season,” Mendenhall said.
Tags: football, hip hop dance, NFL, pittsburgh steelers, rashard mendenhall
