Where drive and enthusiasm collide

DANVERS — Take three steps into the new Gridiron Training facility on Liberty Street, and you'll notice almost immediately that it's most definitely not your typical weight room.

The 700-pound tires, sledgehammers, sandbags and ropes that are more than 20 yards in length and a foot in diameter are just some of the trinkets that have given Gridiron Training founder and former National Football League player Pat Downey the amped-up atmosphere he wants.

After all, Downey isn't looking for your typical athlete.

"Only the best can train here. You can't just show up and walk in; you have to have an appointment to see me. At the end of the day, you have to be selected to be here," explained Downey, wearing a black T-shirt with the Gridiron Training symbol: a gray skull and crossbones.

"You're training with the pros. Gridiron is a warehouse gym, not one of these sports fitness places or a fancy gym with all the gadgets."

Gridiron Training's motto, "Turning Athletes Into Freaks," is as straightforward as Downey's demeanor. It's a message delivered with conviction as one of Downey's specimens, Merrimack College linebacker Tony Johnson of Lynn, bench-presses 500 pounds for three smooth reps.

Sure, the facility has the typical benches, barbells and dumbbells. But this new, 11,000-square-foot gym with more than 800 feet of wide-open training area is totally different from when Downey began his business two years ago and ran it out of his alma mater, Bishop Fenwick High School.

Six months ago, the 37-year-old Downey teamed up with longtime friend Dave Picardy, who owns North Shore CrossFit, combining fitness forces for the ultimate workout center.

"CrossFit is the best general fitness program on the planet. We spend a lot of time teaching mechanics and fundamentals that apply to fitness, and this facility is built specifically for CrossFit. Everything in here is meant to be dropped or thrown. Nothing breaks," Picardy said.

"CrossFit is general fitness, a base for sports training. Gridiron is sports-specific training that takes it a step further. That's why it's such a great fit."

Picardy used to have locations in Topsfield and Beverly but decided to combine them into one big gym and join forces with Downey. Two separate entities, providing premier athletes and adults looking to get in shape anything they need to achieve their goals.

"We're both doing our own things in a state-of-the-art facility and have everything we need. And the culture, the energy in here, it all sets the tone," Downey said.

"We're two separate entities, but we both get after it."

Professional pieces

So what exactly does training with the pros entail?

For starters, there's Downey. He was born in Salem and went to Fenwick before moving on to Worcester Academy for a year of prep school and then the University of New Hampshire, where he was a standout offensive lineman and captain of the football team.

From there, he spent seven years in professional football learning different techniques for working out and motivation. He said he learned from the best trainers like John Hastings, a former Navy Seal under whom Downey worked out when he was with the San Diego Chargers and again with the Washington Redskins.

It's from Hastings that Downey learned some of his less conventional strength-and-conditioning methods. Now, along with his right-hand man and former UNH roommate, Dan Curran (who also played in the NFL with New Orleans and Seattle), Downey is teaching the next generation of committed athletes.

Every member of the GT staff spent time in the NFL, including Joe Flemming (one year each with the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears), former Patriot Vernon Crawford, and 11-year NFL veteran Mike Flynn, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens.

"Being a former NFL player, it brings credibility and respect. The kids know they're learning from guys who walked the walk," said Downey, down a bit from his playing days as a 6-foot-2 315-pounder. "The way we separate ourselves is that we are former NFL guys, and we bring that knowledge and skill set.

"These kids coming in here are premier athletes, and they respect you because you've got the crooked fingers and know all these things I learned from the best in the NFL. There's got to be a method to the madness. They buy in and love it; this is their home."

Downey's not kidding. Step out into the parking lot, and nearly every car has the skull-and-crossbones sticker on its rear windshield.

Step into his back office, and see testimonials from the best athletes at all different levels. Signed photos hang on the walls of his office like thank-you cards, from guys like WWE championship wrestler and celebrity John Cena, Chicago Bears guard Roberto Garza, former Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers, Swampscott High football stars Rich Sullivan and A.J. Baker, and former Big Blue star center Brian Palangi, now starring at Division 1-AA Northern Iowa. All worked with Downey and swear by his methods. "I've done a bunch of different programs with different NFL guys, and this is the only one that is this intense. He pushes you," said Palangi, home for only a few weeks during the summer but who says his first call is to Downey, not his parents.

"He's the nicest guy you'll ever meet, but he'll push you the hardest you've ever been pushed. It's a big mental edge versus my opponents. They might be benching and squatting, but I'm moving chains and pulling ropes and doing exercises no one ever does. It definitely works."

"When I was a senior in high school, I went to (former NFL star wide receiver) Chris Carter's fast camp and worked out with a bunch of NFL players. Now I no longer have to travel to Florida, because I can get the work done here," noted St. Anslem's wide receiver Marc Wilson, who is training for next year's NFL Combine. "(Downey) never lets you quit on yourself; he gets everything out of you."

Don't let the name Gridiron fool you, either; Downey welcomes athletes of any ilk. From lacrosse players to collegiate water polo athletes, all are welcome as long as you share Downey's drive and enthusiasm. In fact, his new program designed specifically for hockey players is about to begin and Downey brought in NHL veteran Mark Mowers of UNH to offer his expertise to a group that has players as young as the youth level participating.

"What (Downey) has is exactly what you want ... and I've been through a lot of strength-and-conditioning coaches. I've taken a little of this and a little of that; things I like, things guys talk about in the locker room, what's useful, what's useless, and over the years I've jotted it all down," explained the 37-year-old Mowers.

Strength and conditioning mecca

Downey's ultimate goal is for Gridiron Training and North Shore CrossFit to be the training mecca for the elite athletes not only from the North Shore, but all over New England.

For those thinking his eyes may be too big for his appetite, consider the distances some of his current athletes commute just to work out under Downey's wing. UMass Amherst quarterback Mike Wegzyn left his home in Tennessee for summer workouts at Gridiron Training.

There's also Chris Chapman, a wide receiver who travels every week from the Bronx to stay in a hotel and work out three days a week with Downey.

Ian Dickey and his father commute from Rhode Island three times a week. And Merrimack linebacker Shawn Loiseau, who already has the school record in career tackles and was second in the country in tackles last season, travels from Worcester.

It's the weight-room version of "Field of Dreams." Downey's built it; now they come running.

"I've worked out at a bunch of different places, and Gridiron Training is unmatched, not only the atmosphere in here but what (Downey) brings every single day. He's a guy who's been there and done it," said Loiseau, who Downey assures will play in the NFL. "It's always different, always high energy and he pushes you to the maximum limit and to perform at whatever level you want."

Downey calls it football energy system training. The average play in a game lasts about 5.7 seconds with about 35 seconds of rest in between, and the training he does with football players is designed to correlate to those numbers. Defensive backs do specific drills designed to help ball tracking, while linemen focus more on things pertinent to the battle in the trenches.

Former Peabody lineman Jeff Egitto, who hopes to earn a spot on the line and as a long snapper at Stonehill College, said it's the type of lifts he does that set Gridiron Training apart.

"Not just the conventional bench and squat stuff," said Egitto, "but the tire flips, sledgehammer, chain pulls, sled pulls and battling ropes. It's those next level lifts that really separate his program."

Local leaders welcome

Downey said he isn't looking for young men simply aiming to make their respective high school varsity squads, but those determined to lead them. Like Bishop Fenwick sophomore-to-be Nick Bona, whose inner drive was on display during one of Downey's recent modified shuttle runs.

He picked up and put down bags of sand as he ran on the brand-new Tiger turf field that occupies a 40-yard strip inside the warehouse.

"There is a reason why the Nick Bonas are here; the kid is an animal," Downey said. "There's is a reason he is a captain as only a sophomore."

Former Lynn English quarterback Jessie Fowler also works out with Downey, recently completing a 60-inch box jump — something Downey says he has only heard of being done once: by Aeneas Williams, a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals.

After Downey uploaded the video on his website, YouTube contacted him looking to buy the rights to Fowler's impressive feat.

One of the newest wrinkles to his program is leadership development. Downey will work with entire teams, most recently Peabody High and quarterback Jason Hiou. He empowers the young men, and forces them to motivate each other and meet their own standards. Downey has also worked with Salem and last year's signal caller Brad Skeffington, along with Ipswich, Everett, Salem, Swampscott, Bishop Fenwick and Central Catholic.

"Leadership is really lacking in today's society, especially with adolescent boys," Downey said. "When faced with adversity on the field, kids want to turn to their coach. What we do is tell them, 'No, you figure it out. It's your huddle and your team; you take control.' The more you empower them, the more confident they get."

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