The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Isabella becomes certified trainer
Cardinals wide receiver, Mayfield grad maximizes time amid pandemic to advance post-NFL plans
Andy Isabella has plans when his NFL playing days are over.
“My dream is opening up my own sports training complex,” said the second-year Cardinals wide receiver and Mayfield graduate.
It only made sense then that Isabella took a step toward that dream.
While at his parent’s home during the NFL’s and Ohio’s stay-athome order, Isabella became a certified trainer.
His official title is sports performance specialist, and Isabella competed an online course through Exos, a Phoenix-based sports performance facility. He completed the course in about 2 ½ months.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while,” said Isabella. “I knew I wanted to do it, but finding the time to do it was the thing. Well, there was nothing else to do, so I knocked it out in about two months.”
Online videos, tests and tutorials took about three hours of Isabella’s days until he earned a passing test score (at least 80%) to become certified.
Sports training has been a passion for Isabella since his days as an elite football player and sprinter at Mayfield, where he was a standout running back before converting to receiver in college at UMass. Isabella was also the Division I state champion in the 100 dash as a senior.
“I’ve also been into the fitness stuff,” he said. “I love training myself. Always been self-motivated.”
Although he’s had time on his hands during the novel coronavirus pandemic, there has been structure to Isabella’s daily routine. Most days, he’s awake by 5:30 a.m. and puts himself through workouts at an undisclosed location from 6:30 to 9 a.m.
Recently, he and his Cardinals teammates have been conducting Zoom team meetings while discussing the playbook and installing schemes.
“You can tell the guys are ready to return,” said Isabella. “I don’t think any of us are enjoying this.”
That’s the big question for Isabella, his teammates and the rest of the NFL. While free agency, the draft and the release of the 2020 schedule has fans eager for the fall, there are still many unknowns.
All organized team activities (OTAs) have been delayed, and at this point the start of training camps in late summer could be in jeopardy.
“Missing out on those 15 practices is pretty big,” said Isabella.
Isabella said he plans to return to Tempe, Ariz., by May 24 with the hopes of “just going to the facility to work out.”
In the meantime, a purchase Isabella made while prepping for the 2019 NFL draft — during which he was a second-round pick — has definitely come in handy during the lockdown period. He bought a JUGS machine, a feeding machine that spits out perfect spirals for receivers who don’t have someone throwing them the ball.
Isabella catches about 100 balls a day, seven days a week. His younger sister Emily feeds the ball into the machine.
“I pay her 20 bucks a week to do it,” said Isabella. “She loves it on payday,
but it’s great to have it here.”
Anticipation for Year 2 has Isabella excited for the 2020 season. In 2019 as a rookie, he played mostly on special teams and caught nine passes for 189 yards. The highlights were an 88-yard touchdown reception and a 55yard catch.
The Cardinals were active in the offseason on offense, as they acquired AllPro wide receive DeAndre Hopkins from the Texans in a trade to join with future Hall of Famer and veteran Larry Fitzgerald.
“It’s awesome to have another guy like him in our (receivers) room,” said Isabella. “But for me, it’s about finding ways to get on the field and get a better role
with the offense. I’m hoping to stay healthy in camp, be a slot guy for us on third down, and keep contributing on special teams.”
That is, as long as there is a season.
With COVID-19 not going away, the start of the NFL season continues to be a mystery, but for now Arizona’s first scheduled game for 2020 is at San Francisco on Sept. 13.
Isabella is ready for any and everything, and that includes the potential of playing in empty stadiums on game day.
“Everything right now is very strange,” said Isabella. “This is my profession and seems like a while before we’ll get back to normal. It’s really weird — the whole world, not just sports.”