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Matt Birk's Weight Loss Sets Bar for Recently Retired Athletes
October 18, 2013
Matt Birk—the poster child of professional sports retirement.
Eight months ago, the 37-year-old was anchoring a Super Bowl-winning offensive line for the Baltimore Ravens and pushing 310 pounds. A swift 75-pound subtraction later, he's pursuing quite a different post-retirement path.
Per BaltimoreRavens.com staff writer Ryan Mink:
It wasn’t long ago that Matt Birk was a 310-pound NFL center sporting a cut on the bridge of his nose and varicose veins.
Now just about eight months into his retirement, Birk is trying to become a model.
He’s lost an incredible 75 pounds and 10 inches from his waist. Frankly, he looks like he’s ready for an episode of “Baywatch.”
Birk is in the running to be the next Vi Model, which would feature him on the cover of The Challenge Magazine 2014 and turn him into the poster boy for Body By Visalus, a company that has the ultimate mission of ending obesity.
Sporting News has a picture of the transformed Birk:
A former Super Bowl-winning center going after male modeling? File that under "things I never thought I'd write about."
Many of the world's greatest athletes put on a few after hanging it up. It seems like a mere formality that a person who makes money being in shape would add some extra padding after stepping away. After all, a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts sound a lot better when they're immediately followed by a glass of milk and a nap, instead of running sprints and pumping iron.
Birk doesn't believe in formalities, apparently. He doesn't believe that winning a Super Bowl and retiring immediately after is cause for a few extra plates, or drinks or afternoons on the couch with your feet up, reminiscing over the glory days.
Then again, the now-235-pounder—yes, you read that right—probably spent much of his NFL days choking down a ridiculous amount of calories. ESPN The Magazine wrote a captivating piece on Vikings lineman Matt Kalil, stating he consumes more than 7,000 calories a day.
After trimming down, Birk looks like he could return to his former team and help out a depleted group—the receiving corps. But per Mink, his dropped pounds haven't given him an extra gear.
“I’ve lost all that weight, but I’m still slow as molasses,” Birk said with a laugh, via Mink. “For some reason, my speed didn’t go up.”
Formerly over 300 pounds and now looking like a new man, Birk's sights are now set on dominating the runway. Here's to hoping his male modeling career goes more smoothly than Derek Zoolander's:
You can vote for Birk in the Visalus contest here.
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