FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was at an Atlanta park digging into his offseason training just before the pandemic began in 2020. An NFL quarterback and another receiver were with him. This was his preference, find a few friends across the league, get work in and get out.
It was happenstance that trainer TJ Brown was at Anderson Park, working out some of his high school and college players. Brown and Ridley knew each other tangentially, having grown up in South Florida. But the workouts caught Ridley's attention. He saw what Brown was having his pupils do and liked it.