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NFL's Not the "No Fatso League"
Despite a study that claims 56 percent of NFL players are obese, and with 355 players weighing more than 300 pounds, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue vehemently denied the league is a "bunch of fatsos."
"I don't know where those researchers would ever get the idea that the NFL has any fat players," Tagliabue said. "Just because the pile near the goal line often looks like a herd of cattle grazing over the last piece of grass doesn't mean they're overweight. They're just big-boned.
"Granted, they aren't built like gymnasts, ballerinas or horse jockeys. But football is a rough and tumble sport, a man's game. And they need to be built like men to play."
The commissioner claimed the average player weight, which has skyrocketed over the past 10 years, is a result of proper nutrition and weightlifting - not steroids or human growth hormones or any performance-enhancing drugs.
"We're not like those baseball turkeys," he said. "Major League Baseball has some sluggers who look as though they spent the off-season as a blimp in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I won't name any names, but some of them manage to hit a lot of home runs.
"Our guys are all natural," Tagliabue added. "No chemicals, no drugs and, above all, no fat."
Leonard Davis, an Arizona Cardinals lineman who has the heaviest listed weight in the NFL at 381 pounds, agreed.
"I'm all muscle, solid as a rock - sort of," Davis said, as he downed his fourth 20-ounce steak at an all-you-can-eat dinner buffet, and A-1 sauce dribbled down his chin. "I only eat nutritious food, watch what I eat, drink plenty of water and take vitamins. It was hard work to get this body."
But Dr. Cindy Lowe, who has studied nutrition since 1985, disagreed, saying, "These NFL guys must be living in a dream world. They claim the NFL has no fat players? Right. All you have to do is turn on the television.
"What will they claim next, that the NBA doesn't have players who like bling-bling and fancy cars?" Lowe said, bursting into fits of laughter.
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