FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The brief but terrifying feeling of helplessness still gets Wes Schweitzer every time.
The New York Jets offensive lineman is scaling a rock — hand over hand, foot over foot — when he suddenly loses his grip, slips off the wall and plummets a few feet before landing.
“The rope can hold 20,000 pounds, so you’re totally safe, totally fine,” a smiling Schweitzer told The Associated Press after a recent training camp practice. "But every time I fall on the rope, I scream. I’m like, ‘Ahhh!’ You feel like you’re going to die for a second, you know?
“And people look at you funny, but then you realize other people are screaming, too, because it’s just a natural thing. You’re living in the moment and you’re trying not to fall and then you fall, so it’s surprising. So, yes, I still get scared.”
And Schweitzer loves every sometimes-harrowing moment.
Rock climbing has become a passion over the last several years for the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder — an anomaly in a sport in which the participants are predominantly much smaller.
“I’m kind of in uncharted territory,” Schweitzer acknowledged. “I get messages every day about how much I’m inspiring people. And I’m not trying to do this to be like that for others. But it’s really cool that people are looking to me for that because climbing is, well, really hard.”
Schweitzer has taken on indoor rock walls at gyms. He also enjoys bouldering, a form of climbing on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses and with pads placed on the ground. The big Arizonan who played at San Jose State has also ventured to some of the most popular outdoor climbs, such as Castle Rock in California, Rocktown in Georgia and the Shawangunk Mountains — aka The Gunks — in New York.
He uses climbing to stay in shape in the offseason for football and regularly posts videos and pictures of his rock-scaling adventures on social media.
“I love it,” Jets offensive line coach Keith Carter said. “I don’t have social media, but I hear about them all the time. Just picturing him climbing up a rock wall is impressive.”
Schweitzer has made the team aware of his passion for climbing — “No one's told me to stop quite yet” — and he stresses safety.
“I think the biggest part of it is they can see my performance on the field,” he said. “And they were like, ‘Oh, if it’s working for him, then keep doing what you’re doing, as long as you don’t get hurt, obviously.’ It’s not any more dangerous than anything else, as long as you’re doing it the right way.”
Schweitzer, who turns 31 next month, hyperextended an elbow early in his NFL career after being drafted in the sixth round by Atlanta in 2016. After traditional rehabilitation for a year never fully healed him, Schweitzer turned to a trainer who recommended he try climbing a rock wall.
“And within five minutes, I was pain free,” Schweitzer recalled. “Something that bothered me for a year.”
So, he kept climbing.
“I gained like 15 pounds of muscle and my play started to get better,” he said. “Now I’ve been doing it for years and years and I’m going outside and I’m doing harder and harder stuff. I’m climbing 200-foot routes and it’s built my confidence up because every day you’re going to get challenged to the maximum.
“This sport of climbing challenges everything that football challenges and also has made me such a better player. I can’t recommend it enough to everybody.”
Schweitzer, who signed a two-year deal with the Jets in March 2023, is a versatile member of New York's offensive line as a backup and spot starter who can play both guard spots and center. And climbing is a prominent part of how he prepares for each season.
“The benefits are through the roof,” Schweitzer said. “The most basic thing is that you grab onto holds and they get harder and harder to hold on to. When I grab shoulder pads now, it’s like I’m holding onto handlebars compared to when I was grabbing on something that was much more difficult to hold on to.
"It’s core strength, but I have to produce power through all my limbs. And then you’re on your toes, so it’s also calves, hips, glutes.”
Schweitzer has talked up climbing to his teammates over the years and taken some out with him.
“But usually they’re exhausted in 10 minutes and they don’t come back,” he said with a laugh.
During the season, Schweitzer sticks to climbing indoor rock walls as a supplement to his regular football workouts.
His goal after football is to someday free climb — using your hands and feet to find handholds and footholds while using a rope tied to a harness — El Capitan, a 3,000-foot tall rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California.
“If you’ve been there and you see that thing, it’s a mile tall and you’re like, this is as cool as it gets,” Schweitzer said. "I’m always an ambitious dreamer, but we’ll see. I just want to push the sport. I want to lose weight to 300 (pounds) and then I want to set benchmarks for, like, no other 300-pound person’s going to be able to do what I’ve done.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to be able to do what I’ve done already, but I want to make it so that it is a firm, like, this is the limit. And then I want to cut as much weight as possible and see what I can do.”
Until then, Schweitzer will keep trying to help the playoff-hungry Jets reach new heights on the football field.
“With teammates, climbing's a talking point,” he said. “I think now at this point in my career, it’s like a selling point. It makes me a little bit different. And I’m proud of it.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
FILE- New York Jets offensive guard Wes Schweitzer (71) warms up before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)
In this image provided by Shelby Schweitzer, New York Jets offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer climbs Castle Rock in Castle Rock State Park, Calif., in 2021. (Shelby Schweitzer via AP)
In this image provided by Michael Levy, New York Jets offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer takes a break after scaling the Shawangunk Mountains in New York in 2024. (Michael Levy via AP)
Israeli strikes on Palestinian territories have killed more than two-dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, according to local officials. They say an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and at least 20 people, including 16 women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Tuesday's strike on a tent camp in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone killed at least 19 people.
The Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. They abducted another 250 and are still holding around 100. Around a third of them are believed to be dead.
Here's the latest:
JERUSALEM — A fuel tanker crashed into a bus stop in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seriously injuring one person in what Israeli officials said was an attack.
The Israeli military said the driver was “neutralized” at the scene after the incident on Wednesday. It did not immediately identify the driver or provide evidence that the crash was an attack.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating the man who was injured, saying he is in critical condition.
Palestinians have carried out a number of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years. The army carries out near-daily raids into Palestinian communities in the West Bank that it says are aimed at dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks.
The violence has escalated since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank says an ongoing polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip has reached 82.5% of targeted children.
The ministry said on Wednesday that 527,776 children under the age of 10 have received the first dose of the vaccine across the war-ravaged enclave.
The campaign began earlier this month after the detection of the first confirmed polio case in Gaza in 25 years. It aims at vaccinating about 640,000 children there.
Israel agreed to limited humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign, according to the World Health Organization, and there have been no major disruptions from the ongoing war.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is part of the Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out of Gaza when Hamas seized power there in 2007 and set up its own government.
The two Palestinian health ministries coordinate with one another and exchange information.
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says two Israeli soldiers died and seven were injured when their helicopter crashed in the southern Gaza Strip.
The military said Wednesday that the overnight helicopter crash was not the result of enemy fire and is under investigation. The helicopter was on a mission to evacuate wounded soldiers from Gaza for treatment in Israeli hospitals.
There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom have been killed in accidents within Gaza — not as a result of combat with Palestinian militants, according to the military.
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says dozens of Palestinian patients were expected to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday by way of an Israeli crossing, in order to travel to the United Arab Emirates for medical care.
The official says over 200 people, mostly children, are expected to leave, along with relatives to accompany them. It is the biggest exit of medical patients through Israel since the war erupted nearly a year ago.
Gaza has been completely sealed off since May, when Israeli forces captured the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the coastal strip, leading to its closure. Rafah had been the only entry or exit point for Palestinians, including medical patients, since the start of the war.
Since then, Israel has only allowed a small number of children and accompanying relatives to leave for medical treatment.
Israel’s military offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has gutted Gaza’s already fragile health system. With few exceptions, Israel has barred Gaza’s Palestinians from entering Israel throughout the war.
The official says the patients are leaving through the Kerem Shalom crossing and heading to the Ramon airport in southern Israel, where they will board a flight to the UAE.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement by Israeli authorities.
— By Josef Federman in Jerusalem;
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas released the first public statement from Yahya Sinwar since he was appointed its overall leader in August.
In the written statement late Tuesday, Sinwar congratulated Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on his reelection and thanked the country for its support for the Palestinian cause. Algeria, the Arab representative on the United Nations Security Council, circulated a draft resolution in May demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to Israel’s military operation in the southern city of Rafah.
A hard-liner within Hamas, Sinwar would have to approve any potential agreement for a cease-fire and hostage release. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent most of the year trying to broker such a deal but the negotiations have repeatedly stalled.
Sinwar was one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. He has not been seen since the start of the war and is believed to be alive and hiding inside the territory. Israel has vowed to kill him.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — An Israeli airstrike has killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.
The Israeli military said it targeted a group of militants in the northern city of Tubas early Wednesday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank confirmed the toll but does not say whether those killed by Israeli fire are militants or civilians.
Israel has stepped up its military raids across the territory in recent weeks and says it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent attacks. Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel’s seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people, including 16 women and children.
An airstrike early Wednesday killed 11 people, including six siblings ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to the European Hospital, which received the casualties. The dead from the strike near the southern city of Khan Younis included three other women, a child and a man, according to the hospital.
A strike late Tuesday on a home in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed nine people, including six women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Civil Defense first responders. The Civil Defense says the home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at the al-Quds Open University, who survived the strike.
Israel says it only targets militants, claiming 17,000 militant deaths without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters are embedded in dense residential neighborhoods. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
The Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has killed at least 41,020 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded nearly 95,000. It does not distinguish between fighters and civilians but says more than half of those killed were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7 and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Blindfolded and bounded protesters take part in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
This undated photo released by the Israel Defense Forces shows the Gaza tunnel where it says six Israeli hostages were recently killed by Hamas militants. (Israeli Army via AP)
Mourners pray over the covered bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in the Muwasi, outside the hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. An Israeli strike killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted "significant" Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. An Israeli strike killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted "significant" Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners carry the covered bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in the Muwasi, outside the hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
