Kind: captions
Language: en
[Music]
Steve Deassi is made for football.
I am designed and built specifically to
run 5 yards and hit something with a lot
of violence.
So why would an exNFL linebacker want to
run a marathon?
Why am I doing this?
When I thought about it, I realized it
was so ridiculous that it was actually
intriguing. It's sort of a situational
comedy.
Don't think that just because he's an
athlete things were easy.
Marathon training is very different from
what it takes to play football.
I knew very well that if I had to play a
football game for 3 and 1/2 hours uh and
with the high intensity I could do that.
That would not be an issue. Uh could I
focus long enough to run uh 26 miles? I
had no idea. I had no idea whatsoever if
I could. But Steve tried and he trained
and he learned quickly that running
presents a set of challenges that he had
never encountered before as a
professional athlete.
I think the first half of it was
physical. Right around the beginning of
January, it became more mental and all
about uh um tricking myself into
finishing a long run.
But there was one physical obstacle he
couldn't overcome. Severe strain on his
Achilles tendon threatened his
participation in the marathon.
I was concerned. For two weeks, I
couldn't walk.
In the NFL, Steve often fought through
pain and played with injuries, but that
wasn't an option.
This is not the NFL. This is uh this is
the Boston Marathon. You can't fight
your way through uh 26 miles. It's just
not going to happen.
With the big race just 6 weeks away, the
Nova Marathon group was training hard.
But Steve with his injury was forced to
take a break.
Every day was another uh level of
anxiety because I'm falling behind and
and I'm not getting ready and I'm not
doing it doing what it takes to to be
ready for uh for the marathon.