Some athletes use their downtime to train or go on vacation to the beach.
Aaron Rodgers, the star quarterback, adopted a different strategy, emerging this week after spending four days in a cramped, dark underground room.
According to the owner of Sky Cave Retreats, Mr. Rodgers stayed in a room measuring 300 square feet (28 square meters), which is a bit smaller than the typical American hotel room.
It has a queen bed, a bathroom, and a floor-mounted meditation mat.
Owner Scott Berman told the network that the room has a queen bed, a bathroom, and a meditation mat even though there isn't any natural light. In southern Oregon, visitors are free to come and go and roam the nearby woods.
The retreat's dark rooms are fully booked for the upcoming 18 months, according to Mr. Berman, who claims to check on guests once per day.
Online listings for these retreats cost $1,400 (£1,160) per week.
There have been rumors that 39-year-old Aaron Rodgers, who has won one Super Bowl and played 18 seasons for the Packers, will retire or be traded to another team.
He hasn't said whether he plans to keep playing, but he gave his justification on a podcast before entering the retreat.
He said on The Pat McAfee Show, "I think we all could use a dose of unplugging from society and occasionally turning off our phones.".
"I feel like I'll be a lot closer to that final, final decision after that," he said. "It's an opportunity to do a little self-reflection in some isolation.". "I have a lot of friends who have done it and had life-changing experiences. ".
The quarterback is known for holding outlandish, occasionally divisive, views on wellness and health.
After the NFL season in 2020, he traveled to Peru to consume the hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca.
He was the most well-known American football player to decline the Covid-19 vaccine, at one point asserting that he had already been "immunised" against the illness. Later, he admitted that he had consumed a weakened virus but that he had an allergy to a component of some Covid vaccines.
In one interview, he attributed the controversy surrounding his vaccination status to a "woke mob" and a "cancel culture.".
He stated in a 2017 interview that he is in favor of addressing climate change, civil liberties, and human rights. He has also stood up for NFL players who have knelt in protest of racial injustice.
On the field, Rodgers won the league's MVP award in 2020 and 2021, but his performance in 2022 was somewhat disappointing as the Packers missed the NFL playoffs.
