When Steve McLendon is training at the performance gym he opened a little more than a year ago, he’s often the oldest person in the room. At 35 years old, McLendon often trains with younger NFL athletes and easily keeping up through every single workout. Although he’s not old by any stretch of the imagination, the age difference with his younger peers has proven to be a motivating factor for everyone involved.
Those younger look at McLendon, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ veteran defensive tackle set to play in Super Bowl LV on Sunday, as someone who has maintained a strong work ethic to go drill for drill during his 12-year career. McLendon wants to give those younger players the chance to pursue their professional path with the right training and techniques.
Ultimately, passing on the workouts that made him successful is why McLendon opened Team MVP Gym in Flowery Branch, located near his offseason Buford residence. And as McLendon said, Team MVP Gym’s incarnation was something nearly a decade in the making.
“To be honest, it took eight or nine years to build this,” McLendon said. “Financially, mentally and physically, it took time. I didn’t want to jump into it and not know what I was doing. The biggest thing for me is I wanted to help people. I wanted people to be taught the right way. A lot of times in this industry, a lot of stuff isn’t taught the right way.
“For me to be able to play this game well, and being around sports all my life, this was a great opportunity for me to teach people, to help people and also a way to give back all the knowledge I have gained over the years.”
Being in Flowery Branch, McLendon has welcomed Falcons players such as Foye Oluokun, Younghoe Koo, Mykal Walker, LaRoy Reynolds and Deadrin Senat to the gym. Other NFL players, such as former New York Jets teammates Chris Herndon and Jordan Jenkins, as well as Lions running back D’Andre Swift, have worked out there too. (Jenkins and Swift played at Georgia.)
McLendon’s performance gym is open to anyone of all ages and has plans to offer NFL scouting combine training when the event returns in 2022. McLendon also has offered a Friday night kids event, where he divides them into two teams to play a variation of capture the flag with laser tag and blazepods.
An undrafted free agent out of Troy, McLendon began his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009 and was a part of the team that reached Super Bowl XLV before losing to the Green Bay Packers. He remained with the Steelers through the 2015 season before joining the New York Jets. After six games in 2020, the Jets traded McLendon to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which admittedly caught him by surprise. As someone who likes to “finish what I started,” it was tough to leave the Jets, even amid the 0-6 start.
But once he got to Tampa Bay, the excitement started to sink in.
“At the end of the day, when I walked into the locker room, I could see the culture difference,” McLendon said. “I could see there were a lot of veterans compared to New York. That was the biggest difference, the veterans. I felt I wasn’t alone -- that I had to motivate the guys alone, push the guys alone. For me, to be able to see Tom (Brady) on the other side, it was an amazing feeling. You know he’s going to put in the work every single day and will do what it takes to win a championship. You know he’s going to give you an opportunity to play in the postseason and that’s all you can ever ask for, an opportunity.”
Following Pittsburgh’s loss in Super Bowl XLV, it hit McLendon just how hard it is to get to the NFL’s title game. Entering the week, he felt like this would be something he’d easily experience again in his career. Seeing the anguish from his Steelers’ teammates after the loss, McLendon realized not many get the opportunity to play in two Super Bowls, let alone one.
Proof of that is the fact it has taken McLendon 10 years to have another shot.
“I listened to those (Pittsburgh teammates) and from that day on all I ever strived for was to have an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl again,” McLendon said. “Not just for me, but for my friends and my mentors, those guys who molded me in Pittsburgh. I wanted to be able to show them that they were my motivation. After I saw them cry after that game, they were my motivation to do whatever it took to get back here. I never wanted to let them down.”
McLendon, who has 31 total tackles with 15 going for a loss for the season, has his sole focus on the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. Soon enough, he’ll be back at his gym, coordinating efforts to train athletes.
Given his passion for fitness, McLendon will have a seamless career transition when it’s time to retire from football, whenever that time may be.
“When I leave this game, I want to be able to give all of this knowledge, this gift I was given, I want to be able to give away,” McLendon said. “When it’s all said and done I can’t take it with me.”
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