CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen pushed down on the jack handle.

The car didn't move.

Members of the pit crew for Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. laughed. Olsen couldn't help but laugh, too.

"You really got to get into that jack," Olsen said later on a video provided by Hendrick Motorsports. "You've really got to sit on it to get the car up."

The two-time Pro Bowl selection got his full body into the jack the next two times, lifting the car high enough that other members of Earnhardt's over-the-wall gang could have changed the tires if this were a real stop.

Greg Olsen (blue shirt) did the same exercises and drills that members of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pit crew go through in preparation for a pit stop. Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

He also developed a newfound appreciation for pit crews after spending a few hours Wednesday going through everything they do.

"The biggest thing through this entire day is just how hard these guys work," Olsen said. "This is a full-time commitment. ... The workouts, the conditioning, the weight room, the lifting. It's a full-time commitment.

"I give these guys a lot of credit. What they do is hard. If you're not used to it, it catches you a little off guard."

Olsen gave every over-the-wall job a try. He struggled the most with placing the tire on the posts, realizing there is an art to it, just as there is an art to what he does on the football field.

He's not ready to do the so-called "money stop" for Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 car, in the May 21 Sprint All-Star race. Olsen, who wears No. 88 for the Panthers, simply will drive the pace car for that event.

Olsen developed a newfound appreciation for pit crews after spending a few hours with Earnhardt's over-the-wall gang. Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

But Olsen showed in doing the exercises and drills the pit crew goes through in preparation for a pit stop that he could have a future here after football.

Many of the exercises and drills are similar to what the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Olsen does in football, minus pushups on a tire. HMS actually puts potential crew members through a tryout similar to the NFL combine.

"He picked it up great," said Chris Krieg, pit crew coach for the HMS teams of Earnhardt and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson. "It was fantastic to see somebody of his athletic caliber come in and give our world a test drive."

This was Olsen's second venture into a world outside of football in a week. Last week, he played golf in the Wells Fargo Championship Pro-Am, with middle linebacker Luke Kuechly serving as his caddie.

Both experiences were challenging and enlightening.

"I give those guys a lot of credit," Olsen said. "It's tough. ... It's a whole other experience when you see it firsthand."