Part of the secret behind Houston Texans running back Phillip Lindsay’s success in the NFL has been his dabbling in the martial arts.
The Pro Bowl running back takes part in Taekwondo to help harness his power as he carries the football.
“Balance, power, everything comes from the core anyway,” Lindsay told reporters on a Zoom call on June 9. “It’s being able to have control of your body as well and to have that control, but the power at the same time.”
The power has been evident as he has tallied 2,550 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 534 carries through 42 career games, all with the Denver Broncos.
Taekwondo also helps Lindsay with the mental aspects of going through the grind of an NFL season.
“Also, with the meditation and everything like that, it relaxes your mind and puts you in a different place where you can focus more and just kind of block out everything else,” said Lindsay. “In this game, you’ve got to be able to have focus.”
Even if Lindsay weren’t in pro football, Taekwondo would still be a part of his life. Lindsay’s father was a dojo and taught classes. All of Lindsay’s siblings participated in the class. Although their father was a master at Taekwondo, football came first.
Said Lindsay: “We didn’t get to do the tournaments and stuff like my sisters and them did because we were in football at that time, but we did a lot of it just for mainly the places we lived was like more of a self-defense to try to help each other out, but also learn about our bodies.”
Lindsay is hoping Taekwondo helps him rebound from a down year with the Broncos. Through 11 games and eight starts, Lindsay rushed 118 times for 502 yards and a touchdown. It was the first time in his three seasons he registered fewer than 1,000 yards rushing.
