Staley's Rookie Diary: OTAs Over

First-round draft pick Joe Staley checks in again with a Rookie Diary that covers his participation in the off-season conditioning program, OTAs, and life in general. Enjoy hearing from the rookie offensive tackle...

So, I’ll start off talking about our off-season conditioning program which we only got to be part of for 3 weeks. It was a really positive three weeks for the rookies though because we got a lot out of the program.

Coming in, I thought it would be like our conditioning program at Central which was all running, which to be honest I kind of hate doing. I was kind of dreading coming in thinking I’d have to do a whole bunch of sprints, but it was more position specific. For the offensive linemen, that meant doing more explosive drills and really working on things that can translate to the field.

So, I really enjoyed it actually. One day that I can remember in particular was really a pretty fun day. It was just myself, Sean Estrada, Joe Cohen, Zach Anderson and Ray McDonald and we did these drills where it was really competitive. It was essentially Sean and me against the defensive line and we killed them. So, make sure Joe reads this please. The Florida guys were talking all kinds of trash about how us small school guys couldn’t possibly beat them, but we did. We were all wearing resistance belts and basically had to race to touch these cones.

Working with Johnny Parker in the weight room was awesome. He is an excellent guy. I am going to really, really enjoy working with him over the next few years. I’ve never met anyone like him in my entire life. He’s a unique character which I really enjoy. He knows how to motivate you and has a way of saying things that just really makes for an interesting day. I felt like the rookies did a lot of great things in that short period of time.

Heading into the OTAs, I felt like I was in better shape than I was at the mini camp, more football shape definitely. I was 305 when I got drafted. I was 315 on our last day of OTAs so I’ve put on about 10 pounds. My playing weight will be at 319, but Coach Warhop has been telling me they want me to get a little bigger, but they don’t want me getting sloppy. He has confidence I can play around 315 -318 and be successful, so he wants to make sure I’m not just putting on hot dog weight.

On the first day of OTAs Kwame Harris got hurt in the first drill that we did and Coach said I’d be going with the first group then. I thought Kwame would be just out for a few days but he ended up out for the duration. For me, I was happy for that opportunity to go with the ones and really get some good work in. That means I’d work against Bryant Young which is a great challenge. Even though we aren’t in our pads, it really makes me better when we work on our footwork and how we'd set in our pads when you know you have to play against a guy like that.  You have to make sure you are perfect when you face him because he’s so experienced that he’ll exploit anything that you do wrong.

Basically I went into the OTAs hoping to come out of them really knowing that I had my playbook down so that going into training camp, I don’t have to worry about the mental aspect of the game and can just focus in on my fundamentals. I feel like I did a pretty good job with that. I made minimal mental mistakes. My mistakes came from footwork errors and things like that, so I was pretty happy with how everything has gone.

After our last practice, I decided to get a massage. I was feeling pretty good but I thought it might be nice just to get worked on. Well, I went in and got the deep tissue massage. Now, I’ve gotten light massages before, surface stuff that felt good and relaxed you. You know, like the couple massage with your girlfriend or whatever. This one was intense. It really hurt. I was gripping the table and kind of screaming actually, and I was actually very sore afterwards.

All in all, I feel pretty settled here. I just moved into an apartment that is really close to the facility. I rented furniture for now because I’ll probably only live in this place for the season so that I can take my time looking for a place to buy. I didn’t want to jump into anything right away.

I’ve never had to pick out furniture before but it came as a package deal. All I had to do was pick out the colors and the patterns, and personally I think I did a good job. To be honest though, I really didn’t care too much as long as I got a king bed and a big television, both of which I got.

The first weekend we were here, a few of us went into the city to check it out. About six of us got a rental car and headed to San Francisco. We didn’t have a map or anything, we just followed the signs. I didn’t realize how huge San Francisco is. I thought we were in the city already, so I parked but we were at Pier 1. We walked all the way down to Pier 39 which felt like ten miles and by the time we got there we were so tired and cranky, we just went to eat. We saw the sea lions which were hilarious. That made the day, and then we just walked back. We did to catch a cab but they ignored us. I guess they didn’t want a bunch of big guys stuffing into their cab.

Most of our free time, we just chill. Before moving into my place, I was rooming with Ken Parrish before over at the hotel. We were pretty boring actually and never did much, but we didn’t have a whole lot of time. As rookies, our days last the longest at the facility because we have to lift last which means we usually have about an hour and a half break after practice before we get in there.

One thing I did get to do one weekend was a boat tour back in the city with my girlfriend. It was funny because we were in Santa Clara and it was 85 and sunny, but we get to the city and it was 55 degrees and windy. Everyone was bundled up so we went to the souvenir store and bought matching sweatshirts like a cheesy tourist couple. Still, it was freezing on the boat. I’m really interested in Alcatraz and so I plan to go check that out when I come back.

I’m not nervous anymore when I come to work. I don’t feel like I’m going to puke like I did back at mini camp. I thought it was going to be that we’d be excluded for a while, but the offensive line has really included me and Sean. We all went out to dinner last night. They even said I wouldn’t have to pay for dinner since I haven’t gotten my contract yet. They’ve helped us with the playbook and Jonas Jennings will always pull you to the side and give you a helping hand.

Today, a bunch of us plan to hang out and relax before we catch a very early flight tomorrow for the Rookie Symposium in West Palm Beach, Florida. After that is over, I’ll head back to Rockford to see my family. I’m pretty excited because my parents have been planning this party for the 7th of July. It’s kind of a 4th of July gathering/49ers party for me so a lot of family from Pennsylvania is coming over, as well as some friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I’ll workout either at my high school or up at Central and then I’ll be back probably about 10 days before camp to get back in the swing of things.