Jerome Bettis, Fred Funk hit road for good cause

Professional athletes come in all different shapes and sizes. Jerome Bettis and Fred Funk are living proof.

Bettis is an old-school power back from a rough neighborhood of Detroit; Funk is a sprightly 5-foot-9 golfer from a small town in Maryland. But despite their differences, they're setting forth with a shared mission: To help people live a healthier life.

"When you're young, you think you're bionic," Bettis, 45, told USA TODAY Sports. "Your body holds up better, so you push it harder and harder. Then you get a little older and you start feeling the result of all those years."

In partnership with Stryker Orthopaedics, the pair went on a "Road Trip to a Healthier Lifestyle" around the country for a three-part video series broadcast on the company's website. They tried yoga — "I felt like a dry twig surrounded by pretzels," Funk joked.  — and a spin class, pausing only briefly to admire each other's unique skill sets.

"He was done. He was torn up. It beat me up as well, but I had the edge on that one," Bettis said of the pair's spin class. Baseball, on the other hand?

"That guy can hit a baseball," Bettis said. "I had no idea he would be so good. ... Fred's hand-eye coordination is off the charts."

Elite athleticism never was Funk's specialty. He'll go down, instead, as one of the most accurate drivers in the history of golf. He led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy seven times and finished in the top five in 13 of 14 consecutive seasons. He has a combined total of 17 wins on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour.

It's only more recently, after a needing a total knee replacement in 2009, that Funk, 60, began thinking more about his health.

"A lot of people try to ignore the pain, then pretty soon everything starts hurting," Funk said.

"When I was younger, I never thought about flexibility and range of motion. That hurt me in the long run, but after I got my knee replaced, I feel like I got my career back. My life back."

And now, he's forged a new friendship because of it.

"You know, Jerome is really just a big teddy bear," Funk said. "Which is good, because he's a really big guy."