No subject matter this offseason has been more prominent than the way the value of running backs in the NFL has tumbled. Not only was the running back franchise tag number the only one that actually went DOWN, but few teams are showing interest in giving them a second contract.
Josh Jacobs is front and center in this discussion with the Raiders slapping the franchise tag on him and the reining rushing champ refusing to sign it and staying away from camp as a result.
Across the league, running backs are seeing their heavy work loads work against them and their perceived expiration dates dropping, sometimes even to their late 20s.
Then there’s Brandon Bolden, who is entering his 11th NFL season at the age of 33.
That kind of staying power for a running back is exceedingly rare. The Adrian Petersons and Frank Gores appear to be a thing of the past.
What’s Bolden’s secret?
“Taking care of your body. Learning,” he said after Friday’s practice. “I had a great vet Vince Wilfork tell me ‘you can never make the club while in the tub’ as we’re both in the hot tub, so it was kind of funny. But you know he told me and kind of watching them take care of their body and how serious they were about what was going in their body and what they put out at practice. That kind of just stuck with me way back in 2012 and to this day just the same. Because we sit in meetings a lot especially during camp. I’ll be that guy who just goes and stands in the back of the room and break out a foam roller or just start stretching against the wall and stuff like that, but that’s because it’s what I’d been seeing Vince do since I’ve been in the league.”
While we all marvel at Bolden’s seeming outlier status in the league, his teammates prefer to give him a load of crap for it.
“I’m glad that Brandon gets so excited to play ball,” said Ameer Abdullah this week of his running back teammate. “He’s going into year 4000, so for a guy that’s been around for that long to still bring the same energy to the game is such a big lift for our team.”
Man when even Abdullah, who is heading into his ninth NFL season at the age of 30, is taking shots, you know the young guys are having a field day. But Bolden said he isn’t bothered by it. He even has a favorite joke.
“There’s a few jabs here and there, a couple of them,” said Bolden. “So, it’s just like, ‘yeah, you got that’. My favorite one to this day was ‘he was in the league when Jesus created the game of football’ (laughs). That’s been my favorite one so far, but yeah the jokes get outrageous more and more.”
Bolden said it was either rookie receiver Tre Tucker or first year back Brittain Brown who made the joke. Two guys who may or may not be among those who draw a blank when Bolden mentions some of the players he played with early in his career.
“When I came into the league — and they laugh at me when I say these names — my first Spring practice, Chad Ochocinco was there, Deion Branch was there,” Bolden continued. “I got a few rookies who are looking at me like ‘who are those guys?’ You know, I’ve been around a long time and I caught a lot of those guys towards the end of their careers and they played a long time. So, it’s kind of almost refreshing to be like ‘yeah, I’ve been in here this long and I’ve got to see a lot of great players play this game and got to watch them actually play and walk away from this game’.”
In case you were wondering, both Chad Johnson/Ochocinco and Deion Branch played 11 seasons in the NFL. While Vince Wilfork played for 13 seasons. If Bolden makes this team, he will have put together a similar career at a position with a typically shorter shelf life.