Jordy Nelson Says He Works 12-Hour Days on Family Farm During Offseason

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Taking a page straight out of the Danny Woodhead playbook of 10-knuckled grittery, Jordy Nelson recently revealed he routinely spends long days during the NFL offseason hard at work on his family's farm.

In an interview with ESPN The Magazine (h/t Business Insider's Cork Gaines), Nelson said when he returns to the family farm in Riley, Kansas, he sees himself as a ranch hand, not the guy who signed a $39 million contract with the Green Bay Packers in 2014.

"Working cattle is my favorite farm duty," Nelson said. "I probably identify more as a farmer [than a football player]."

Nelson told ESPN he spends as much as 12 hours a day working the farm when he visits during the offseason. In Riley, he says, people still see him as "just the farm kid they have always known."

Some of Nelson's typical duties include cutting wheat and rounding up the Nelson family farm's 1,000 cows—a number that outstrips Riley's human population of 992. He drives the combine, he herds from dawn 'til dusk. He attacks the day at near-subterranean pad level, essentially.

Nelson's comments piggyback nicely on an interview the 30-year-old wideout gave to The 700 Club in January, where he explained how being raised on a farm shaped his overall work ethic.

"Growing up on a family farm, that's where our income came from...we relied on everyone to do their parts," Nelson said. "You're running some very valuable machinery, working with animals...you have to be disciplined."

Indeed. Lapses in discipline on the farm are rewarded with hooves to the sternum, just as lazy route running generally ends in spine realignment via free safety.

In either field, if you mess around, you're liable to ruin some valuable equipment.

Dan is on Twitter. He works 12-hour days herding GIFs.