Life With Powertrain

Jamie Silva

Since leaving the NFL combine in Indianapolis 2 weeks ago I have been in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That’s the home of Powertrain Sports and it’s head trainer Steve Saunders.

Powertrain works with numerous current NFL players from the Steelers, Eagles and Ravens. There are a group of athletes here who are also preparing for the NFL draft. That includes a fellow East Providence native, Matt Sherry. Matt was a tight end at Villanova.

Powertrain is located in Amish country. I am staying a farmhouse on the Powertrain property with 6 other athletes.

Everybody is pretty focused on the task at hand. In this house, we are all preparing for the NFL draft. And our preparation is very regimented and strict.

For example, our diet: Most days we are on a Carb free diet. Occasionally we do a day of carb loading.

Carb Free Diet:

Breakfast
8 Eggs, 4 pieces of turkey bacon

Lunch
1 pound of steak or chicken, Greens and Vegetables

Dinner
1 pound of fish, chicken or steak, greens and vegetables.

The only beverage I drink on these days is water

On a Carb load day my typical diet consists of:

• Orange juice
• 6 bagels
• Potatoes
• Oatmeal
• Pasta
• Applesauce
• Wheat thins
• Quart of white rice
• Apples
• Grapes
• Sweet potatoes

There are no personal shoppers or cooks in our house.

All the guys living in the house are responsible for all the shopping and cooking. We are advised on what to buy. I don’t mind doing the shopping or the cooking We know that we’re here for a common goal, so we do what we got to do.

The owner has turned one of the chicken coops into a place to train…it is 50 yards long….there are 2 goal posts. This is the space where we do our football drills

When we aren’t doing the football drills in the converted chicken coop we are either running or lifting weights. There is a personal trainer with us every step of the way

The workouts are grueling…..they really try to get the most out of your body….the workouts are very muscle specific and I get fatigued pretty fast.

As for the evenings, I’ve been watching a lot of movies in the living room of our farmhouse…..

There are 6 guys living in the house…I’ve been lucky to have my own room….most share a room.

This weekend I will be returning home. Tuesday is pro day at Boston College. It’s another audition for the pro scouts. After that it’s back to Lancaster for more training.

That’s again for your emails and good wishes. Keep them coming!

Hi Jamie~ Wow! I just saw you on TV again. I first saw you on channel 10 when you were teaching football across the street here at hendricken this past summer. I love football. In your free time if you read books, a couple of good ones are: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.  Follow your dream, don’t let anything or anyone stop you or get in your way. I wish you the best of luck! After reading this, which this is great that they have allowed you this opportunity to keep people informed, one would never know that you would have to go through all of this. 
U make Rhode Island proud.
Susan

Its good to know out of the hundreds of us that played football in riverside and east providence that one of us had what it takes to make it. we all dreamed about it for a long time and now you’re gonna live it. we’ll be keeping track of where you going and i personally think you’re the biggest sleeper in the draft. Good luck the city is behind you.