Over the course of the last three seasons, Cory Littleton has developed into one of the best linebackers in the NFL. He’ll be paid as such this offseason when he hits free agency, likely cashing in as one of the top-paid players at his position.
Coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, Littleton didn’t have a starting job handed to him. He carved out a role on special teams before becoming a starter on defense. He’s obviously put in a lot of hard work, but that’s not reflected in his pre-game routine.
Rams nose tackle Greg Gaines shed some light on Littleton’s game prep, and it involves two things: Netflix and Cheetos. Gaines, who also played at Washington like Littleton, shared this nugget in an interview with TheRams.com.
“I guess I got some funny stuff about Cory. I don’t know, people have probably said it before, but that guy, before games, he just eats like two bags of hot Cheetos, and like watches Netflix. And they’re like, ‘Hey, Cory, you got to get ready. The game starts in like two minutes.’ He’s like, ‘Okay.’ Puts his pads on, and then goes and gets 15 tackles, an interception, force fumble, touchdown. It’s like, ‘Well, you do you, man.’”
Littleton was arguably the Rams’ second-most valuable player on defense last season, behind only Aaron Donald. He racked up 134 tackles, five QB hits, six tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. He played 94% of the defensive snaps, as well as 105 snaps on special teams.
For a guy who hardly ever comes off the field, you wouldn’t think his pre-game routine would involve Netflix and Cheetos. But hey, whatever gets the job done – and Littleton certainly does his job extremely well.
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