Donald Driver - The 3D Body Revolution: The Ultimate Workout + Nutrition Blueprint to Get Healthy and Lean

YOU SEE THAT HANDSOME DEVIL ON THE COVER? He looks pretty good now, but a few years ago he was in danger of becoming just another pudgy, out-of-shape former athletea guy who once relied on his body for his livelihood, but when that time passed, he started taking it for granted. I looked at my retirement from pro football as an opportunity to start a new career in easy living. After so many years of a strict diet and intensive training, I felt I had earned the right to kick my feet up and hit cruise control. No more puddles of sweat at the gym; no more denying myself at the dinner table. I thought exercising less and eating more would make me happy.

MAN, WAS I WRONG.

All I became was heavier, softer, and less energized. I quickly realized that when I stopped taking my training seriously, it wasnt just my body that suffered, it was my entire life. I felt like a shell of my former self. The spring in my step was gone. The thousand-watt smile that accompanied me everywhere wasnt nearly as bright. My mind and bodyeven my soulfelt depressed. I was simply a poorer version of myself.

When you look in the mirror youve got to be content with who you see. It doesnt matter what anyone else thinkspositive or negativeits only your opinion that counts. After I retired I wasnt satisfied with the guy I was looking at. Because it wasnt me. Not my true self. I had blessingswork I enjoyed; a great, healthy familybut something was missing. I needed a change. I needed to overthrow the lifestyle I had embraced and rediscover the drive, determination, and discipline that had allowed me to flourish and succeed as an athlete.

LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE STORY OF HOW I ARRIVED AT THE 3D BODY REVOLUTION.

Everyone loves an underdog, and there was no bigger long shot than me. I grew up poor in Texas, and at times I was even homeless, so my future wasnt lined with open doors. My parents divorced when I was two years old, my dad spent time in prison, and my mom was constantly on the move, never letting grass grow beneath her feet. If you judged my prospects based on the accomplishments of the kids who grew up in my neighborhood, lets just say nobody wouldve bet on my success. And I did my part to buy into the broke black kid narrative: selling drugs and running the street to make it from day to day. People who see the scars on my hands assume theyre from my long career in the NFL, but theyre actually from punching the windows out of cars before stealing them.

But I realized the road I was going down would eventually lead to a dead end. I vowed not to be limited by my surroundings. I convinced myself that I would find an avenue that would fill my life with opportunity for me and my family. I was driven to find that better path, and I decided it would be paved by football.

Most kids dream of playing professional sports, and I had the advantage of coming from athletes. My father wasnt much in the way of a provider, but the man earned his stripes playing Texas high school football. Legend has it he could throw the ball nearly 80 yards in the air. My mothers family also had its share of local sports stars. I was faster and jumped higher than all my peersmy nickname was Quickie because I ran everywhereso basketball became my first love. It was also the passion of my older brother, and I wanted to do everything he did. But as I got older, and the competition improved, my ordinary ball-handling skills established a ceiling, and football became my best chance at a college scholarship. At that point, the NFL was just a dream. Dreams dont always come true, but no one could take away a great education. I was determined to become the best I could be in the sporta blur on the field and a beast in the weight roomand to be the first child on my fathers side to attend college.

Football managed to take me to Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi. I had gotten a scholarship and the opportunity to show what I could do on the playing field. That was when I first started thinking of my body as a race carI wanted to make it fast, sleek, and powerful, because even though Alcorn State is a small school, its part of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and the SWAC is no joke. To compete at this level I had to bulk up my toothpick-lean 170-pound physique, and I had to do it fast.

Lorman was a country town that didnt even have any fast-food chains. No McDonalds. No KFC. Nothing. Other than the fact that too much sugar rots your teeth, I knew nothing of nutrition. Where I came from, those chain restaurants constituted good eats. So I had to put on weight by turning myself into a human garbage disposalchips, pizza, ice cream, even gizzardif it had calories, I was swallowing it. I developed a unique brand of discipline: eat as much as I can, work out as hard as I can. I had poor dietary habits, to be surewhich would catch up with me laterbut thanks to a rigorous training schedule and an overactive metabolism, it worked. I was a five-time Athlete of the Year in the conference in both football and track.

My two-sport abilitiesI qualified for the 1996 Olympic field trials with a high jump of 7 feet, 6.5 inchesare what made NFL teams curious enough to come to the little, out-of-the-way town to scout me. Of the sixteen, it was the Green Bay Packers who wanted a private workout. Alonzo Highsmith, a former running back in the league, was a first-year scout for the team. He immediately picked up on my desire and enthusiasm. After working out we sat down to talk about my lifewhere Id been and where I wanted to go. I told him: If you pick me, you wont be sorry.

I made good on that promise. Other teams had promised to draft me earlier, but the Packers waited until the seventh roundthe 213th pickof the 1999 NFL draft to call my name. But that didnt deter my belief in myself. It only served as motivation to prove the doubters wrong. There were players who were bigger, stronger, and faster, but nobody could say they worked harder. I had an insatiable desire to succeed. This was what I had dreamed about during those bleak nights of my childhood. I had the drive, discipline, and determination to do whatever it took to make the team and have a lasting career. After playing fourteen seasons, all with the Packers, I retired as the franchise leader in receptions and receiving yards.