Keith Willis, former NFL tight end, on how coronavirus has changed his daily routine

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Quarantine Routine is a regular feature that asks political, business, sports and entertainment power brokers how their daily lives have changed -- and how they're still doing their jobs -- during the coronavirus crisis.

Keith Willis went through adversity while trying to make the cut on an NFL team.

Now, Willis faces more obstacles in his daily life, but on a much larger scale

The former tight end, who played for Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and in NFL Europe, is now dealing with the struggle of managing life as a venture capitalist and navigating the murky waters of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 39-year-old former pro told Fox News on Tuesday the pandemic has changed almost everything in his life.

Willis went into more detail about his life in a Q&A with Fox News.

How has your daily routine changed since social distancing measures began?

Keith Willis shared his experiences with how he's handling the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Willis: A lot has changed, obviously. From the way I’m going to the gym, from interacting at business meetings, how to get deals done and just the normalcy of life; the way we shop and engage our friends. So now with my daily routine, everything is in-house — all of my meetings either via phone or Zoom.

And as far as my workouts, I’m working out in front of my house or in the backyard or around the corner down the street. There’s no gym. I’m working out by myself instead of working out with a group of people. So that’s definitely different.

And also, as far as my daily routine, going out to eat and interacting. Of course, there’s no going out to eat right now. So right now I’ve had to pick up a couple new habits of cooking and I’m paying more attention to my cooking now. It definitely has changed a lot. It’s definitely been quite a shift, to say the least.

What are the biggest challenges in doing your job during this crisis?

Willis: The challenges are being able to get more creative in the house. Take workouts, for example. Usually, you want to go play basketball or do different things to get your cardio in, and weight training and all that stuff. A lot of people don’t have that...

And probably just the motivation to get around your house and being self-motivated to do that.

When it comes to the business, especially being a venture capitalist, a lot of my business is amongst groups of people and interactions like one-on-ones and meeting up at places and coffee shops and doing presentations in front of groups of people — that’s a big part of my business. Not being able to do that is definitely tough. I’m doing business on Zoom now.

Being a public speaker, as well, a lot of stuff I want to do as far as public speaking, those events have all been canceled naturally. So now I got to figure out a creative way of doing public speaking online. It’s definitely a different time, different feel and I believe all entrepreneurs have a challenge ahead of them as far as redoing their business plan … if you don’t adjust, you’ll get left behind.

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What do you miss the most about how you did your job before this began?

Willis: The positive impact I can have on people … You can’t trade that energy you have when you’re in the midst of somebody. I miss that. I miss putting my hands on people to really impact their lives as far as being face-to-face with them.

Also, I travel a lot. I do a lot of traveling. I miss that a lot.

What surprised you most about how life has changed?

Willis: What surprised me the most is how the whole world has changed so quickly and abruptly. It reminds me that we’re not in control of this thing. We can just control our actions and our responses. Seeing how everything changed so quickly… What I do love is the fact that, is how the human race … a lot of us are coming together to pull each other through this thing and things are being exposed for the best.

People who are fighters are putting up a fight for each other’s families with this virus. We are fighting for each other’s businesses to keep our businesses up and going — which is pretty awesome. It’s surprising to see that but at the same time it’s good to see.

How do you blow off steam?

Willis: The big thing for me is prayer and meditation. I actually have a coach right now that’s helping me with that as far as learning how to meditate, and to deal and to rechannel my energy. Her name is Erica Nicholson …. she’s literally teaching me the practice of breathing and the parts of breathing and everything, so I’m very grateful for her because without her it would really be hard to get through this time. Being a venture capitalist, you have to handle businesses and everything, and you need that workout to blow off everything you’re dealing with.

And also a big adjustment I’ve had to make is just my intake of food and just making sure I’m putting the right food in my body so that’s been a huge adjustment as well.