Sat, Aug 14, 2010 page18

• FEATURE : Number of NFL lineman weighing 135kg-plus balloons

  • AP
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  Ten or 20 years ago, Nate Newton and William “The Refrigerator” Perry were on a short list of larger-than-life rarities in the NFL.

  The 135kg-plus behemoths made headlines simply for existing. Their every move shook the field and made people take notice.

  However, these days players their size hardly make a dent. Such is life in the ever-expanding world of the NFL.

  An analysis of league rosters shows the number of 135kg players has risen dramatically over the decades: From a single player (Gene Ferguson of the San Diego Chargers) in 1970, to three in 1980, 94 in 1990, 301 in 2000 and 394 in 2009.

  “Amazing, if you think about it,” said Michele Macedonio, who has worked as a nutritionist for the Cincinnati Bengals for most of the past decade, when told of that figure. “The question they have to ask is: ‘How big is big enough and when do we stop getting bigger and think more about getting stronger and healthier and better?’”

  Like workers in any competitive business, NFL linemen know what they have to do to keep their jobs, and in this case that means staying big. So, this month is once again littered with scenes of 135kg players sweating through hot training camp practices. The dangers of the combination of heat, sweat and weight were brought to the fore in 2001, when 152kg Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings died of heat stroke during camp.

  There have not been any heat-related deaths in the NFL since, which in turn has dulled the debate over whether the NFL is becoming an overweight league.

  However, the biggest players never forget the perilous edge they are on. They live with it every day.

  UPHILL BATTLE

  “It’s been a struggle, but it’s something you’ve got to work through,” said Washington Redskins nose tackle Ma’ake Kemoeatu, who was in the 180kg range last season when he tore his Achilles while playing with the Carolina Panthers.

  A struggle how?

  “Eating right, getting back in shape. I have a weakness — food. My weakness is a piece of steak,” Kemoeatu said.

  There were 532 players in the 135kg-plus club heading into this season’s training camps. Certainly, it is possible some use — or have used — performance-enhancing drugs and slipped through the NFL’s ­testing system to get to where they are. And some of this season’s weights may be inflated now that a bright light has been shined on products such as StarCaps — the banned weight-loss supplement that led to the suspensions of a handful of players.

  For the most part, though, the big players come by their girth honestly and are forced to walk a tightrope.

  They spend the offseason in the weight room, trying to build muscle to bring their weight up. They sweat through practices, sometimes in conditions that are not conducive to anyone, let alone a 135kg player, running around in full pads.

  CALORIE COUNT

  Then they eat. They often eat between 5,000 and 8,000 calories a day, much of it in training-table meals the teams try to make low-fat and healthy. The goal is to keep the weight on in a healthy way — if there is such a thing as a healthy 160kg man — lest they be pushed around, either by a teammate in practice or another team’s player when games start for real.

  As the players get older, the work gets tougher. Of the dozen-or-so players interviewed for this story, almost all acknowledged that they have either had to become more disciplined as the years have passed, or are seeing the day when the “eat anything you like” method will have to go away.

  “I don’t want to get any higher than [154kg],” said Bengals 11-year veteran guard Bobbie Williams. “As you get older, you don’t want to get the weight on you. You want to be able to move and keep up. You don’t want to feel burdened down by your weight.”

  NEARING OBESITY

  The heights and weights listed on rosters show, 97 percent of 2,168 NFL players had body-mass indexes (a formula that considers weight and height) of 25 or greater, which is considered the threshold for the “overweight” category.

  The index is often considered an unfair gauge for NFL players because they lift weights extensively and have naturally large frames. Still, it is notable that 56 percent have indexes of more than 30, which is the threshold for obesity, and 26 percent are at 35 or greater.

  It is a recipe for problems, whether in the midst of a career or after, in a sport that beats up players like no other.

  “Your joints are going to be aching,” said Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Max Starks, who by almost every account, carries his 157kgs quite well. “Your joints aren’t going to be able to take all that pressure because they’ve been taking all that abuse from playing the sport, because it is barbaric at times, it’s a grueling sport and you’re going to have injuries.”

  There is no sign of things lightening in the university ranks.

  Macedonio cited another study that showed a sampling of university offensive lineman averaged 27.4 percent body fat — the healthy range is 8 percent to 19 percent — and that 69 of 70 players already had at least one condition — high blood pressure, waist circumference of 102 centimeters or greater — that predicted they would be susceptible to heart disease later in life.

  “There’s no question there are some health risks,” said Dan Wathen, longtime athletic trainer at Youngstown State University who remembers the day when a 112kg player was considered huge. “It’s manageable when they’re playing. It’s greater when their playing days are over. If they continue with the same caloric consumption, the health risk is going to go up significantly at that point.”

  Most of the big players see that day coming. They hear news about Perry — who has been battling a nerve disorder, his weight bouncing between the 160kg to 90kg at one point, then back up again. And about Newton, who recently had a gastric sleeve put on to shrink the size of his stomach and now bops around at a svelte 112 kg.

  “I keep making a joke around here, I say, ‘I’m getting a surgery,’” said Miami Dolphins tackle Vernon Carey, whose weight goes from 152kg in season to 162kg out of season, talking about his retirement plans.

  A notorious victim of fines for being overweight when he played for Jimmy Johnson and the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, Newton says the biggest he ever got was 186kg. He was at an unhealthy 178kg as recently as April. Since the surgery, his waist size has gone from 142cm to 102cm.

  Despite the progress, he is still faced with issues most 48-year-old men do not face until later in life.

  “I didn’t want to die because of fat-related or because I got diabetes or I got high blood pressure,” Newton said. “I don’t want a heart attack because I’m [more than 180kg]. If I die, let it be something else, not something I can do something about.”
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