$86 million NFL player practicing MMA

6′ 4″ 315-pound defensive end for the New York Jets Muhammad Wilkerson is the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. In July he signed a five-year deal worth $86 million, with $53 million guaranteed and a $15 million signing bonus. It was the largest contract in New York Jets’ history.

Wilkerson is looking for still more ways to cause headaches for NFL offenses, and so has now taken up MMA to be quicker with his hands and feet. He is training at the UFC Gym – Hoboken, on, of course, Sinatra Drive.

While the glimpses of Wilkerson’s pummelling looked decent, his striking was not so much. Striking, of course, has little relevance to football. Indeed, the NFL frowns on it – in 2014 Wilkerson was fined $20,000 for his role in an on-field brawl vs. Green Bay. So he can’t punch much, and it doesn’t matter at all – Wilkerson’s career NFL stats include 334 tackles and 39 sacks.

Wilkerson also speaks movingly of a hard childhood, with his father incarcerated and his mother working three jobs to support the family. A practicing Muslim, Wilkerson remains proud to be a gritty New Jersey native.

Vice Sports has the story in a video short.

The Jets play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, December 11, at 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.