Patrick Willis is a stud.
For evidence, see the photo above. The guy's huge, can move super fast, and strikes fear into opposing running backs. Add all that together, and you've got one of the premier linebackers in the NFL. For Willis, the trip from San Francisco 49er headquarters to Electronic Arts' Redwood City HQ is a short one, so he stopped by EA's 2011 video game launch day to add some realism to the company's new title, "NFL Training Camp."
Like the long-running "Madden" series, "Training Camp" lets you prepare for the NFL. But by strapping sensors onto yourself, you can test your fitness as you make your way down the virtual field, through virtual tires, and across virtual tackling dummies. It looks cool, and several EA employees ran through it, and they seemed to feel pretty good about themselves. Until they saw Patrick Willis running through the paces - for real - on the EA lawn.
The knee, if you're wondering, seems fine. Willis is fast, and destroyed the tackling dummies. His performance led to a hilarious line-up of EA employees and reporters who gave the gauntlet a try. The guess here is that the the next time they face a training camp, it'll be a virtual one.
Scott scoped out dozens of upcoming EA titles. He'll report on them as they roll out. He's on Twitter @scottbudman.
