Once considered potentially career-threatening, the all-encompassing evolution of sports medicine has rendered torn ACLs an injury from which the vast majority of professional athletes make a full recovery. It's even become normal for players to come back from a torn ACL less than a year after initially suffering the injury, and on some occasions closer to six months.
San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Kentavius Street, for instance, needed just nine months from the time he initially tore his ACL during a pre-draft workout to getting in his first NFL practice in December. As he prepares for his debut season, though, Street is doing everything he can to ensure his surgically-repaired knee is as strong as possible.
Street is among a handful of NFL players training this offseason with Aquabred, a water-based strength-and-conditioning program that founder Piankhi Gibson and his clients believe could change the way athletes not only rehab from injury, but how they train altogether.
“These guys are truly thinking outside the box,” Street said, per The Athletic's David Lombardi. “They’re always pushing for something new… Introducing your body to new movements in the water benefits everything you’re doing — new muscles, new joints. It’s something that working outside can’t produce.”
Eight current NFL players, including Street, are working out with Aquabred in Oakland this summer. Oakland Raiders running back Jalen Richard is among six players on his team utilizing Gibson's methods, and Los Angeles Rams cornerback Marcus Peters, an Oakland native, is also among the group.
Street, a fourth-round pick in last year's draft out of North Carolina State, will fight for playing time in training camp along a stacked San Francisco defensive line that includes DeForest Buckner, offseason acquisition Dee Ford, and No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Bosa.
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