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Most Ivy Leaguers aren’t associated with smelling salts or taking cannonball plunges into cold tanks in the training room.
Then again, Florida football defensive tackle Joey Slackman isn’t your typical Ivy Leaguer.
Sure, Slackman enrolled at Penn, where he earned a wresting scholarship before transitioning into football his final two years on campus. But after earning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 and a bachelor’s degree from Penn in political science, the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Slackman accepted a new challenge — playing football in the SEC with the Florida Gators.
Slackman arrived at UF as a grad transfer in January and has won teammates over with his energy and personality.
“Rambo headband, face paint, smelling salts, cannonballs … the biggest thing on Joey is you think about football and how football should be played and it’s an intense game and it requires intensity 24/7,” Florida quarterback Graham Mertz said. “That’s something that Joey brings in any room he’s in. He sets the tone as soon as he walks in.”
Slackman said he first tried smelling salts during his junior year at Penn.
“We were lifting some pretty heavy weight,” Slackman said. “I think we were max power cleaning that day, and I didn’t really feel like I had enough juice on my own, and I took a little whiff. And I don’t want to say I got hooked, but it definitely gave me the juice I needed to lift some more weight. So, I’ve kind of been doing it ever since.”
A couple of bottles of smelling salts remain on hand in Slackman’s locker in case he needs a boost during fall camp.
“I bring it to lift every day, so I kind of just do it there, and sometimes on the sideline, during scrimmages or practices,” Slackman said. “(If) I need a little bit of juice, I feel like I’m lacking a little bit, that’s where I ask somebody to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/smelling-salts-cannonballs-face-pant-080521665.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-08-14 08:05:21
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