RENTON, Wash. -- On 18 separate occasions this month, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has offered up the same message on his Twitter account.
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) December 21, 2015
Wilson takes training and recovery seriously. He said earlier this season that he spends 10 hours a week getting massages. But sleep apparently is not something Wilson concerns himself with.
"Do you think I pay attention to the sleep hours? No, I don’t pay attention," Wilson said. "That’s definitely something I don’t pay attention to. I actually go the opposite way. My philosophy is that the less sleep you get -- kids, don’t listen to this -- the less sleep you get, in terms of as long as you’re using those sleepless hours for a purpose, I think it gives you a good chance."
Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB recently wrote about how more and more people in the NFL -- coaches and players -- are paying attention to sleep. The recommended amount for a professional football player is eight or nine hours per night.
But Wilson said he survives on five or six during the week before upping the number on the weekends.
"I think about the military guys. I think about all the people that fight for our country and stuff and have to go to Afghanistan, have to go to all these places," Wilson said. "The Navy Seals, all those kinds of stuff and all the crazy hours. The training and the focus that they have to put into critical hours and critical moments with all the pressure that’s packed into that. You think about all that, and they can still perform at a high level. That’s what I think about.
"So for me, I think getting five, six hours is plenty. I think that during the week, Monday through Friday pretty much, I try to get five hours. If I get five hours, I’m good. ...I think that my attention can be alert then, and I can be alert in practice and be in tune with every moment, every little detail and all that. Then come game time, on Friday nights and Saturday nights, I get 10 hours of sleep. So come Sunday, I’m very alert. ...So that’s just kind of my crazy philosophy. But that’s why I always say there’s no time to sleep."
The regimen might be a bit unconventional, but it's served Wilson well. He's never missed a game in his four-year NFL career.