Landon Dickerson: All-Time Football Guy
Former Alabama center, Landon Dickerson, joined NFL Network to discuss the upcoming draft and his collegiate career, revealing some quite interesting information about his final season at Alabama along the way.
Dickerson revealed to the panel of hosts that during the shutdown of all facilities within the conference due to COVID-19, he was able to set up an elaborate home gym for himself and his teammates with equipment he purchased himself, featuring things like a 300 gallon cold tub for recovery and a jugs machine for wide receivers to work on their hands.
While what he did may not have been specifically against the rules, it had to have been bending them. Clearly though, as Dickerson explained, no players ever contracted COVID-19 despite many of them attending the home gym regularly and no problems stemmed from the senior's ingenuity.
Dickerson, making sure to be very clear he is no longer under the watchful eye of the NCAA, happily opened up further about the situation, explaining how he and all of his teammates were sent home during the pivotal period of spring football and were in need of a place to train.
Alabama's facilities were closed as well as most local gyms, forcing Dickerson to get creative.
"Spring ball is a time for development and guys to get bigger, faster, stronger. We didn't have a place to work out. Not only was the facility shut down but local gyms and everywhere, so I actually went and bought a ton of gym equipment and, in my carport, set up a gym."
Dickerson shared some photos and videos from the heyday of the gym on his Twitter page.
The posts feature various photos and videos of players ranging from fellow draft prospects, DeVonta Smith and Alex Leatherwood, to current Crimson Tide players like Bryce Young who can be seen recovering from a tough workout in the cold tub here.
Dickerson told NFL network that, at its peak, the gym was seeing somewhere close to 40 guys a day, with an entire schedule being fleshed out with players having to reserve time slots.
Stories like this are what show fans and scouts why Dickerson was so loved by his teammates at Alabama. He was a clear leader, taking initiative himself and providing an opportunity the team would have missed out on otherwise.
Dickerson projects as a late first rounder by many, with a lot of the praise coming from his leadership ability. It is impossible to deny his love and drive the game and he is, without a doubt, an all-time football guy.