{"id":12430,"date":"2024-11-18T22:06:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T15:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=12430"},"modified":"2024-11-18T22:06:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T15:06:30","slug":"former-nfl-player-devale-ellis-is-netflixs-new-breakout-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=12430","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL Player Devale Ellis Is Netflix&#8217;s New Breakout Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Devale Ellis has a lot to celebrate these days. Within 24 hours of its release, his latest film,<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81392060\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meet Me Next Christmas<\/a>,<\/em> shot to No. 1 on Netflix. As a former NFL wide receiver, Ellis has traded in touchdowns for leading roles, proving that the transition from the field to the screen isn\u2019t as big a leap as it might seem. \u201cI wanted to captivate people since I was 5,\u201d Ellis says with undeniable passion. \u201cAnd here I am, at 40, with two No. 1 shows [<em>Sistas, Zatima<\/em>] and a hit movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But for Devale Ellis, this success is far from overnight. His career is a result of a never-ending drive to \u201cbuild a legacy, not to be defined by my greatness, but by the masses I inspire to be greater than myself,\u201d he shares. Growing up in Brooklyn, he didn\u2019t have many paths to pursue his love for performance arts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack in the \u201990s, you didn\u2019t see a lot of young black men doing theater or acting,\u201d he recalls, so he leaned on sports. \u201cSports was a means to an end for me.\u201d Football was a bridge out of Brooklyn and into college. It led him to the NFL, where he spent time with the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions. But football was never the final goal: Acting was always his first love. \u201cSports gave me the foundation I needed to learn discipline and pretty much made me the man I am today, but it wasn\u2019t my end goal. Art was always my end goal and I utilized sports to get this,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n<p>The stamina Ellis built through sports came in handy in acting too. It\u2019s a different kind of endurance, but reps matter in both. Whether you\u2019re perfecting a route or preparing for a role, it\u2019s repetition that gets you there, as he puts it: \u201cAs a professional athlete, you learn early that it takes a 1,000 reps to become muscle memory, which means I have to do the same thing over and over and over again before I can become a master at it.\u201d So for Ellis, every new acting project is yet another rep that helps him master the craft.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:55.36519386835%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Devale-Ellis-on-stage-at-the-Apollo.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" alt=\"Devale Ellis on stage at the Apollo\" width=\"1109\" height=\"614\" data-fallback-img=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Devale-Ellis-on-stage-at-the-Apollo.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"credit\">@joshua_dwain<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Devale Ellis Is Training for a New, Long-term Position<\/h3>\n<p>As for his training, it\u2019s evolved. \u201cNow, I train for life,\u201d he explains. His workouts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/flexonline\/training\/8-compound-moves-building-functional-strength\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prioritize functional strength<\/a>, hip mobility, and explosive power\u2014the same principles that kept him performing at peak levels during his life as an NFL player. Plus, weighted jumps, hand cleans, and deadlifts are still on for leg day. The goal, however, has shifted from physical power to aesthetic finesse. \u201cFit dad\u201d has become a familiar term he hears a lot.<\/p>\n<p>He says he\u2019s at a point in his life where the aesthetic is more important than how much he can bench press. \u201cI have to get leaner, so I\u2019ve changed my diet, I\u2019ve changed even the way I lift. I do a lot more high-intensity, compound, fully functional lifts. I\u2019ve got down to about 190 pounds, and my body fat is down to about 5%. I\u2019m trying to get it to about 3%,\u201d he explains, knowing that all that may have to change depending on a role.<\/p>\n<p>And, one practice is key to achieving that goal: his morning fasted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/workouts\/workout-routines\/top-10-high-intensity-interval-workouts-burn-fat-and-enhance-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">high-incline sprints cardio<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a non-negotiable for me because it gets my heart moving, it gets my brain moving, I get a sweat in,\u201d he adds with excitement.<\/p>\n<p>Most of his other workouts are not done alone. His family remains the core of his journey, and they\u2019re not just cheering from the sidelines. Ellis has crafted a life where family time and fitness overlap. \u201cWe train like elite athletes five days a week,\u201d he says, adding they work on hip mobility, explosive power, ground contact, and core strength. For Ellis, workouts with his wife Khadeen and their four sons have \u201cbecome a part of the fabric of who we are as a family.\u201d Plus, keeping up with his four boys for the next couple of decades is a motivation for him to stay in shape.<\/p>\n<p>Recovery is another non-negotiable for Ellis, both physically and mentally. He swears by sleep, clocking seven to eight hours a night no matter how late he goes to bed. \u201cI prioritize sleep,\u201d he emphasizes, and pairs it with morning meditation to center his mental and emotional fitness too. \u201cIt\u2019s quiet, I have no distractions,\u201d he adds. He uses that time to keep himself focused on what his tasks are so that he wouldn\u2019t lose himself outside of that. To help his muscles recover, he relies on an e-stim machine, a scraper, and cold plunges.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:55.36519386835%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Devale-Ellis-netflix-and-chilling-with-his-family.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" alt=\"Devale Ellis netflix and chilling with his family\" width=\"1109\" height=\"614\" data-fallback-img=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Devale-Ellis-netflix-and-chilling-with-his-family.jpg?quality=86&amp;strip=all\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"credit\">iamdevale<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Success Is All in the Devale Ellis Family<\/h3>\n<p>His family, his team and as he puts it his \u201cvillage\u201d around him are no strangers to the public either. Ellis frequently shares about their life on social media to his 2.4 million followers. His commitment to family and real talk shines through his and his wife\u2019s podcast <em><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/dead-ass-with-khadeen-and-devale-ellis\/id1460329478\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dead Ass with K&amp;E<\/a><\/em>, which he admits \u201chas become a form of therapy\u201d as he continues to learn things about her he didn\u2019t know, even after more than 20 years of being together. \u201cWe have those revelations live, and then we work on them together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Devale Ellis is just getting started. He\u2019s got more films lined up, a book in the works dedicated to his sons, and a co-producer credit on a Broadway production of <em>Othello<\/em> starring Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal in early 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Showing up physically and mentally is important to him because that\u2019s how he sets a standard for his boys. \u201cIt feels good to test my body and my will and see what my body can do because that\u2019s an example for my kids,\u201d Ellis reflects. And if his boys can look at him and think, \u201cif Dad can do it, so can I,\u201d then every step of his journey has been worth it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/athletes-celebrities\/news\/former-nfl-player-devale-ellis-is-netflixs-new-breakout-star\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Devale Ellis has a lot to celebrate these days. Within 24 hours of its release, his latest film, Meet Me Next Christmas, shot to No. 1 on Netflix. As a former NFL wide receiver, Ellis has traded in touchdowns for leading roles, proving that the transition from the field to the screen isn\u2019t as big &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}