Football players, and offensive linemen especially, are often pushed consume massive amounts of calories to maintain their playing sizes, developing dangerous habits and disordered eating in the process. When retirement comes, the processs of losing the weight can be just as complicated as gaining it.
But while Okung's methods of achieving a healthier weight were drastic and controversial — experts told USA Today that people shouldn't attempt to fast for that duration without medical supervision — other former NFL players have lost weight in retirement by making simple changes to their diets, like cutting out carbs and swapping red wine in for beer.
Below, a look at 19 players who physically transformed after their careers ended.
Okung last played in 2020. He recently shared a photo of his body transformation with the caption, "Reborn."
"Trophies, accolades, I wanted it all," Okung said. "I would soon find out it was all empty. It didn't matter. It was nothing. I didn't have a relationship with my wife, with my children. I didn't even know who I was. So I prayed. I asked for guidance, for wisdom. And it came to me. I knew at that very moment, there was one answer: fasting. Long-term, water-only fasting. I did it."
"It's scary when people (with large platforms) share this stuff and then everyone's like, 'I'm going to do it,'" Krista Varady, a nutrition professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, told USA Today. "Anything over five days, don't do this on your own and definitely not if you have any kind of medical condition."
10-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas is regarded as one of the best offensive linemen ever.
Joe Thomas
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He spent most of his career playing at 310 pounds and told the NFL Network he was "more eager to lose weight than almost anything in retirement."
He is now an analyst for the NFL Network. It took less than nine months after his final NFL game to lose 50 pounds.
Joe Thomas
NFL Network
When asked how he did it, he chuckled and said, "You just don't eat until you feel like you're gonna throw up at every meal and all of a sudden the weight falls right off."
Thomas told ESPN a typical day of eating during his playing days might have included eight eggs, three pancakes, pasta, meatballs, two protein shakes, an entire pizza, a sleeve of cookies, and a bowl of ice cream. If he went to McDonald's, a typical order would be two double cheeseburgers, two McChickens, a double quarter-pounder with cheese, one large order of fries, and a large soda.
Pro Bowl offensive lineman Marshall Yanda played his final NFL game at 312 pounds and retired after the 2019 season after 13 years in the league, all with the Baltimore Ravens.
Ron Schwane/AP
Five months after retiring, Yanda was down to 248 pounds by working out and eating less.
The Pat McAfee Show
He told "The Pat McAfee Show," "I didn't really realize it at the time how much I was doing to keep that weight on, but obviously, it has come off really fast, and shoot, I feel so much better."
Mike Pouncey, who played 9 seasons as a center for the Dolphins and Chargers, lost 70 pounds after retiring.
He recently told the media that he and his twin brother "ate like pigs" as players, and they now eat like rabbits.
His brother, former Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, was never the biggest lineman, but was still listed at over 300 pounds during his playing days.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Just two years after retiring, he now looks more like a linebacker or safety.
David Pollack weighed as much as 297 pounds as a defensive lineman in college, and last played in the NFL in 2006 as a 260-pound linebacker for the Bengals.
David Pollack
Pat Sullivan/AP
After a career-ending injury, Pollack is now a 220-pound college football commentator for ESPN.
Brad Culpepper (No. 77) was a 275-pound defensive tackle for three different teams and retired after the 2000 season.
Brad Culpepper
Reuters
Here is Brad Culpepper with his wife on the show "Survivor."
CBS/Survivor
Culpepper told the Tampa Bay Times it was pretty easy to lose 80 pounds because he simply stopped eating all the extra food needed to maintain his playing weight.
Will Montgomery was a 305-pound offensive lineman with a size 42 waist who played for 5 teams in 9 seasons.
Will Montgomery
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Montgomery dropped his weight to 225 pounds — his lowest weight since high school — and a 34-inch waist.
Jeff Saturday was a 295-pound center who spent most of his career with the Colts and retired after the 2012 season.
Jeff Saturday
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Saturday, left, now weighs 238 pounds and runs a program to help former players learn about healthy lifestyles.
Darron Cummings/AP
Longtime Patriots star Vince Wilfork was listed at 325 pounds in his playing days, but when he last suited up for the Texans in 2016, he was probably much higher than that.
Bob Levey/Getty Images
But despite being a well-known lover of food and a BBQ ambassador, he's changed his habits post-retirement.
He also credited his lifelong commitment to being disciplined and drinking lots of water.
"My son's little league baseball teams had practice three, four times a week," Wilfork said. "So I would always be in the Houston heat, and I would drink gallons and gallons and gallons of water. That's how I dropped it off. It just kept dropping.
"I love it because I would be getting home at eight o'clock at night and I'd eat a salad or something smaller and I'm going to bed."
Jordan Gross was a 3-time Pro Bowler as a 300-pound offensive lineman with the Panthers.
Jordan Gross
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Seven months after retiring following the 2013 season, Gross looked a lot closer to 200 pounds when he visited training camp.
In an interview with ESPN, Gross called his playing size "artificial," noting people are not meant to be that big. During his career he loaded up on proteins and told the outlet that in one day he might eat six pieces of bacon, six scrambled eggs, two 50-gram protein shakes, four hard-boiled eggs and two chicken breasts" and that was all before 2 pm.
Gross also told ESPN he lost the weight by trying different diets including paelo and being a vegetarian, to the point where he believes he became a little obsessed with losing weight. After getting as low as 225 pounds, he backed off and settled around 240.
Antone Davis (No. 78) was a 330-pound offensive lineman who grew to 475 pounds after he stopped playing in 1997.
Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Davis was a runner-up on NBC's "The Biggest Loser," where he lost more than 200 pounds.
NBC via SportsGeekery
Nate Newton (No. 61), a 320-pound offensive lineman, played most of his 14-year career with the Cowboys before retiring in 1999 and growing to nearly 400 pounds in retirement.
Nate Newton
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He was able to get down to 220 pounds in 2010 after surgery to remove 75% of his stomach.
Tony Bergstrom, an offensive lineman who has played for 5 teams in 10 years, hasn't retired yet, but already has a plan for when he does.
Tony Bergstrom
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
"I have the diet plan already written out," Bergstrom told the Washington Post. "Offensive linemen go one of two ways: You either balloon up or you shrink to nothing. I'd rather shrink to nothing. Three months later, you'll see a whole different person. I'll come walking in and you'll be like, I don't know who that is."
