“I’m doing what’s best for Jason, and in the long run, isn’t what’s best for Jason what’s best for the team?”JASON SEHORN
The player dubbed “Species” by teammates because of his seemingly other-worldly athletic prowess is at it again. Adhering to an exhausting and scientifically engineered workout regime, Jason Sehorn is more than on the mend from a surgically repaired right knee.
The Giants cornerback has approached his rehabilitation with uncommon zeal and will unveil the new, heavier, stronger version of himself next week during a veteran minicamp at Giants Stadium.
All it takes is a description of his daily grind to conjure up images of Sehorn as Robo-Jason.
“No,” he said yesterday from his home in Newport Coast, Calif. “‘I’m going to be like Super Jason.”
It’s what the Giants want to hear, even if they have not always been thrilled with how Sehorn has tended to his recovery. Not long after that moment at the start of an Aug. 20 pre-season game, when his ill-fated first career kickoff return resulted in torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, Sehorn physically and emotionally divorced himself from the team.
The Giants were surprised to learn that in early April he not only participated in the Superstars Competition in Montego Bay, Jamaica, but that he also won the event for the second straight year. The Giants also are wondering about Sehorn’s weight, which is up to a rock-hard 227 pounds, nearly 15 above the weight he played at during the 1997 season.
There is no concern, though, that Sehorn has shirked his responsibilities, not after hearing what this world-class athlete had put his knee and entire body through to get back on the field after missing all of last season. The fruits of his labor will be revealed on Tuesday, when he takes part in a football workout for the first time in more than eight months.
“It’s easy to feel good when you’re not playing football,” Sehorn said. “This is a stepping-stone, definitely. Just one more step until game time.”
While many of the Giants attend the off-season workout program at the stadium, Sehorn remains on the West Coast, deep in private self-improvement. The regiment leaves Sehorn with little idle time and plenty of individual attention.
In the morning, he works out for two hours with Marv Marinovich, the fitness guru whose son, Todd, had a brief fling at quarterback in the NFL. After relaxing for about an hour, Sehorn next visits with Kevin McNair, a speed coach who puts him through about 90 minutes of running drills, keeping a watchful eye in case Sehorn ever favors his right knee.
Once he returns home, Sehorn unwinds by hitting the bicycle, skateboard or his rollerblades. In the afternoon, Sehorn heads for the Met-RX gym in Costa Mesa, where he spends two hours working on his cardio-vascular conditioning and his strength and also consults about his diet with Dr. A. Scott Connelly, the founder of the Met-RX engineered nutrition program.
His eating habits have changed, not that he was ever a junk-food junkie, but he hasn’t stepped foot in a fast-food restaurant in 1999.
“I’m doing what’s best for Jason, and in the long run, isn’t what’s best for Jason what’s best for the team?” Sehorn said. “My theory is, I’ve got the next seven months to be around the guys. They’d get sick of me anyway.”
There is no brace on his right knee and the only hint of the injury comes with some fatigue in the afternoon. Sehorn sees no reason why he will not return to peak form and he expects to slip back into his starting job, which was held a year ago by Conrad Hamilton.
As for the added weight, Sehorn tells the Giants not to worry about his unusual size at cornerback – “It’s stereotyping, the box they place people in,” – and says he’s stronger than ever and that in the past, his upper body was underdeveloped.
“If I don’t feel as fluid, once I get back on the field I’ll know what adjustments to make,” he said. “I’m going to go out there and let my body tell me what I can and can’t do. But I’m not going to place any limitations on myself beforehand.”