In case you didn’t know, Penn State football players (and brothers) Sean and Liam Clifford launched a training program designed to help aspiring quarterbacks. Naturally, our curiosity was piqued.

The program is run through an app called Playbook, which is essentially a subscription-based service through which different creators can create their own fitness programs. The Cliffords’ program is geared toward football players by providing drills, throwing tips, a nutrition plan, yoga courses, talks with the brothers, and workouts. 

Fellow Onward State staffer Mackenna Yount and I are basically Division I athletes already, so we were up for the challenge. We paid the $1 subscription fee (which jumps to $14.99 after the first month) and headed over to our state-of-the-art training facility: Mackenna’s apartment. 

The Clifford Bros have a series of ~talks~ in the program that covers visualizing the ball, synching your timing with your receivers, and training in the offseason, and Sean even does some fun drawings! Before we kicked off, we listened to Liam Clifford give advice on becoming a leader and earning respect from the team.

Inspired and ready to lead our team, Mackenna and I started with some drills to teach throwing and footwork. Sean taught us the importance of stepping with our left foot and the optimal arm position for throwing. We didn’t have a football and needed to improvise with a foam roller, but being the upcoming football stars we are, this was no challenge. 

After a few drills, Mackenna got hungry and made some mid-training mac and cheese. The Clifford Bros don’t have mac and cheese in their nutrition plan, but we think they should reconsider.

Then, it was grind time. The Clifford Bros provide an upper body and a lower body workout. We decided to start with the upper body. Sean and Liam had us do some figure eights and hanging shoulder rotations to develop arm strength. However, we didn’t have weights, so instead, we needed to use a bag of rice and a bag of chocolate chips. But hey, part of being a quarterback is the ability to adapt under pressure. 

We also didn’t have the equipment for bench presses or lifting. We used a broom instead. Whoops!

After the upper body workout, we moved to the lower body. We started on the ground, and the Clifford Bros gave us some dead bugs and glute bridges to do. 

Later, we did what the Clifford Bros called “hip switches,” which we breezed right through because we’re pros. 

Then, we picked up our makeshift weights again and did some single-leg squats. We were really feeling the burn here.

We also completed this maneuver, which is a “DB Single leg RDL.” Whatever that means. 

Following a final core blaster, Mackenna and I were finished with our workout and were officially elite quarterbacks. So, James Franklin, if you’re reading this…Hit us up.