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Former Giants RB Rashad Jennings says ‘DWTS’ changed his game – Metro US

Former Giants RB Rashad Jennings says ‘DWTS’ changed his game

New York Giants running back Rashad Jennings celebrates a touchdown against the Washington Redskins. (Photo: Getty Images)

Rashad Jennings has certainly transformed his image from being just an athlete after winning the recently concluded “Dancing With the Stars.” But the former New York Giants running back said his football game will be significantly different as well due to his ability to dance.

Jennings, released by the Giants this offseason and now a free agent, is currently on tour with several of his fellow contestants on “DWTS.” His fame and notoriety are at an all-time high after his triumph in the competition, but Jennings tells Metro New York that he hopes to continue playing football and that he would bring any NFL team a new dynamic from his time on the dance floor.

He would be a Fred Astaire in the backfield, he says, as dancing has given him a new skill set that will translate to playing on Sundays. He’s already seeing the effect not only of his relentless training for the competition, but the improved footwork that is translating to a noticeable difference in his reps on the field.

He might literally dance out the grasp of opposing defenders, he says.

“My trainer noticed that I’m way quicker and light on my feet,” Jennings. “It is translating [to the field] — the amount of work, I mean I put in 362 hours and two months of dance. My body changed.”

He’s a changed man and endorses this new workout as good for his fellow players.

Most NFL athletes put in work in the gym and on the field to stay in game-shape during the offseason. Jennings has seen first-hand how dancing transformed his body and is “translating” to his reps on the practice field with his trainer and other players in offseason workouts.

Dancing, he says, is the type of workout that can help players. In recent years, they have embraced everything from boxing to spinning to yoga to help prolong their careers and enhance performance.

“It’s not a ‘might,’ it absolutely is and that’s why I’m excited to see what team I land with because they’re going to have a new type of runner. On top of the training I do every day — I train all morning, I dance all night,” Jennings said. “My body is completely different. My weight is somewhere I’ve never been before; my agility is somewhere I’ve never been before; my endurance is somewhere I’ve never been before. So yes, I’d recommend it to anybody.”