Long-time veterans of the NFL will do whatever they can (in the realm of legality, of course) to rejuvenate their bodies. There are little tricks of the trade that players use to help relieve the toll that they take on the football field. Traditional methods include jacuzzis and ice baths, while some players go to other methods that are a bit more unorthodox.
In the two times that the Cincinnati Bengals have been profiled on HBO's "Hard Knocks", we have seen a couple of these different routes. Lavernues Coles showed us his hyperbaric chamber that he slept in and said it was his secret to keeping his body fresh back in 2009. That same year, linebacker Dhani Jones introduced those of us who hadn't previously been exposed to acupuncture.
Fast forward to 2013 and the team's more recent stint on the program. Newly-acquired linebacker James Harrison showed us that he goes under the same procedures as Jones did back in 2009. However, Harrison is way more extreme with it, as he routinely has his acupuncturist insert over 300 needles into his body.
Cornerback Terence Newman has been appearing on the NFL Network's "NFL AM" program on Wednesdays, after the airing of each episode. When asked by Steve Wyche and Eric Davis about Harrison's treatment, Newman admitted that he wasn't a fan.
ED: "I understand that when you're playing, you do everything you can to get yourself healthy. I did the acupuncture--not 300...so, how so until you get to 300 needles?"
TN: "Not going to happen. I'm going to start calling him "HellRaiser" because all of those pins that he has sticking in there. I've had acupuncture before, but it wasn't even close to 300 needles. I don't know if he's like a glutton for punishment or what, but that's way too much for me."
Newman also said that he thinks that Harrison is "a really intimidating guy", but really enjoys playing with him. Interestingly, when Newman was asked about his favorite part about the rookie talent show, he described a part that wasn't aired on "Hard Knocks". Apparently Hue Jackson and Eric Ball were victims of being hit with pies by the rookies. That would have been an awesome moment to see, indeed.