"I Want My Body Back"

[AR Husker Fan]

An article in the recent Sports Illustrated. It describes what happens to those 300 pounders after football. What makes it more interesting is the Husker tie-in in the three page story.

 

LINK

[HuskerTrucker]

This was a good read...thanks.

[rawhide]

Great article.

 

 

GBR

[holvy83]

Good read. It is astounding to what these guys put their bodies through. I have a buddy who was a D lineman in Div II and both his knees are shot and has had numerous surgeries on his ankles and feet years after football to go along with his yo-yo weight.

[TXHSKR]

It's good to see more programs across the country are taking an interest in helping their athletes out after their eligibility is done.

[Cy the Cyclone]

I think the biggest guy I can remember playing with in the 80's was maybe 270 and the most I ever got up to was 235...wasn't hard to drop down to where I am now and stay there...but never got much help from the coaching staff or the AD on what to eat or how much...

 

Players are a whole lot bigger than they used to be...and a lot of that looks to be genuine fat, not muscle. Back in the day, you would see a lot of linemen 270-280 who had guns...and knew how to use them. Now, it appears that most linemen are being taught that a thorough belly-bucking session is all that you need to keep the DL off your quarterback.

[macroboy]

Awesome article.

 

I thnk more schools should be looking at post-sports transition programs, especially in the big sports. The way its done now is kind of exploitive. You go from being famous (but not rich), to being out of eligibility and nobody.

 

For some reason I couldn't help but think of Tommy Frazier while reading this.......

[DJR313]

That was quite the crash diet Byford went on. I remember seeing something similar in regards to NFL linemen once they retired. Brad Culpepper(formerly of the Vikes and Bucs) lost nearly 90 lbs and was an avid runner, but most become obese because they are accustomed to eating so much.

[AR Husker Fan]

That was quite the crash diet Byford went on. I remember seeing something similar in regards to NFL linemen once they retired. Brad Culpepper(formerly of the Vikes and Bucs) lost nearly 90 lbs and was an avid runner, but most become obese because they are accustomed to eating so much.

I think I know the article you are remembering. The one I'm thinking of was also in Sports Illustrated. It addressed the "super-sized" guys in the NFL, and spoke of how difficult it was for some to control their weight (citing Bubba Paris and William "The Refrigerator" Perry as two examples) during their careers and the effects after their playing days were over. As I recall, it also cited Bruce Smith as the anthesis of that - a guy who weighed over 300 lbs in college, but quickly realized he needed to tone up. It described how on a plane trip Smith opened a package of nuts, ate a single nut, then put it aside. He then described how he hadn't had a McDonalds or Burger King in months, and lamented that some guys didn't have the will power to control their weight - and what that would mean after the NFL.

 

Same article you were thinking of?

[DJR313]

That was quite the crash diet Byford went on. I remember seeing something similar in regards to NFL linemen once they retired. Brad Culpepper(formerly of the Vikes and Bucs) lost nearly 90 lbs and was an avid runner, but most become obese because they are accustomed to eating so much.

I think I know the article you are remembering. The one I'm thinking of was also in Sports Illustrated. It addressed the "super-sized" guys in the NFL, and spoke of how difficult it was for some to control their weight (citing Bubba Paris and William "The Refrigerator" Perry as two examples) during their careers and the effects after their playing days were over. As I recall, it also cited Bruce Smith as the anthesis of that - a guy who weighed over 300 lbs in college, but quickly realized he needed to tone up. It described how on a plane trip Smith opened a package of nuts, ate a single nut, then put it aside. He then described how he hadn't had a McDonalds or Burger King in months, and lamented that some guys didn't have the will power to control their weight - and what that would mean after the NFL.

 

Same article you were thinking of?

 

I believe so. I think it was an article in SI and it was on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel as well, I seem to remember. They talked about 1 dude who played DL in the 80s-90s, and is now 500 lbs. Kinda sad. Once these guys are done, the NFL kind of turns their back on them, with no regard for their future health.

[I am I]

i weighed 230 my senior year in college at DII school as an outside linebacker/rush end...i weigh 185 now and see my brothers and some of my old buddies and they aren't HUGE but most are pretty flabby. Losing all the weight was the best thing and not having to lift so much weight during training is just awesome on my joints and back, which are pretty beat up from 17 yrs of football