Weighting game: Messner working to bulk up in hopes of making NFL roster Weighting game: Messner working to bulk up in hopes of making NFL roster
By Jenni Carlson
Published: April 26, 2007
NORMAN — Chris Messner follows the same routine every time, loading his first plate with salad, his second with pizza, then finishing with chewy, gooey cinnamon sticks.
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For most folks, that would be lunch.
For a recently graduated Oklahoma lineman hoping to hear his name during this weekend's NFL Draft, it is training.
Draft hopefuls go to extremes to make over their bodies. Some spend time at specialized training centers. Others stay on campus but turn all of their attention to working out. All lift and drill, chisel and sculpt.
Messner has lifted and drilled, but he has eaten, too. A lot.
"For me to maintain weight,” said Messner, who weighed 282 pounds at OU's pro day, "I have to lift constantly, maybe run a little less and then just eat and eat and eat and eat.”
Weight gain, after all, could lead to a significant monetary gain in the NFL. Players are bigger than ever. When the 1972 Miami Dolphins became the only undefeated team in NFL history, their offensive linemen averaged 255 pounds. Twenty-five years later, the Oakland Raiders could draft JaMarcus Russell with the No. 1 pick.
The quarterback weighs 263 pounds.
Then, there's this: Walter Thomas has played in only two games since Oklahoma State cut him loose two years ago. Despite that and an arrest for conspiracy to commit robbery, the defensive lineman is likely to be drafted because he's 6-foot-5, 370 pounds.
Ken Mendenhall marvels at the size of players nowadays. He weighed 240 pounds when he started on the Baltimore Colts' offensive line for the better part of the '70s.
"During that time, you would hear about a 300 pounder here or there,” the former Oklahoma standout said. "Now, they're all that size.”
The sport celebrates size. Rewards it, too, with college scholarships and million-dollar contracts. It's no surprise, then, that more players are finding ways to add 40, 50, 60 pounds and more.
But at what price?
"Common sense will tell you putting a bunch of extra weight on an individual is not good,” Oklahoma State team doctor Ken Smith said. "I think a lot of sports medicine doctors are concerned about all this added weight these guys are putting on.”
Yet as the salaries grow in the NFL, so do the players.
"And there's not anything I'm going to say,” Smith said, "that's going to stop them.”
Counting calories
Chris Messner trains about five hours a day — an hour or two in the gym, the rest at the table.
Eating is part of his regiment.
A converted high school quarterback, Messner arrived at OU weighing 215 pounds. Lifting weights helped, but he needed more. Tests determined that with his metabolism, Messner needed to eat 3,000 to 3,500 calories a day to gain weight.
"It's just one of those things you've just constantly got to work on,” he said.
The first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does at night is eat. As soon as possible after waking up, Messner eats breakfast.
"And I'm not just talking about cereal or a bagel,” he said. "I'm talking eggs, bacon, just as much as I could.”
Then before working out, he drinks a protein shake and eats a snack.
"Maybe a sandwich or a sandwich and an apple,” he said.
One man's snack is another's lunch.
Messner drinks more weight-gain drinks and protein shakes during and after his workout.
Then, lunch. Buffets are a favorite. Then, more shakes and in the afternoon followed by dinner. Finally right before going to bed, one last snack.
Told you eating is a workout for Messner.
"For me, it's really hard to gain a whole pound throughout a day,” he said. "But I've heard stories of other people doing it. They had their certain way of doing it. I knew it could be done. It still can be done.”
But can it be healthy?
Weighing risks
Steve Glore first watched football as kid.
Now he watches as a dietician.
A nutrition professor at the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Glore believes significant weight gain can be done in a healthy way, one that takes time and effort.
Glore outlines three main components:
•Lifting weights and conditioning.
•Consuming enough calories to support weight gain.
•Consuming enough protein to support muscle gain.
"They really have to do all those things and eat a balanced diet,” Glore said. "Some become so fixated on the protein that other parts of their diet suffer.”
Glore once heard about a Denver-area athlete eating 25 chicken breasts a day in his quest to gain weight.
Weight gain has risks. While some athletes add muscle and keep their body fat low, most add fat. Take Nate Newton, one of the early 300-pound stars of the NFL. The Dallas lineman had a gut that hung over his belt. Being 6-foot-3, 320 pounds put him on the verge of morbid obesity according to the body mass index scale.
BMI is a height-to-weight ratio that determines body fat and obesity.
"Oftentimes, athletes will eat high-fat, high-sugar foods to gain weight,” San Diego State strength and conditioning coach David Ohton said. "Without the luxury of nutritional counseling, the weight gaining process is not only useless, but it can be dangerous.”
One of the immediate threats can be sleep apnea, a condition where the breathing passage temporarily closes and the sleeper stops breathing. Tests on a Texas State defensive lineman last year determined that his breathing stopped more than 200 times per hour.
The condition can lead to heart disease or worse. An autopsy revealed NFL great Reggie White had a severe and untreated case of sleep apnea after he died in his sleep three years ago.
Smith, the team doctor at OSU, is also alarmed at the high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels he sees. He always encourages players to drop extra weight once they stop playing.
Charlie Johnson, a former Cowboy offensive lineman who is preparing for his second season with the Indianapolis Colts, plans to do just that. A converted tight end, he now weighs between 305 and 310 pounds.
"I'm like this out of necessity,” Johnson said. "I want to get down just because I don't want to get to my 30s or 40s being at this weight. Ten or 15 years from now, I don't know if I could carry this weight around.
"I want to be fit to play with my kids and all that.”
Tipping scales
Chris Messner dreams of what he could do with another 10 or 20 pounds.
"Instead of just having a good block, I'd have a great block,” he said. "Or instead of just finishing somebody in a good position, I'd finish them on the ground.
"That's where weight really comes into play.”
How much does weight matter?
It might be the difference between Messner being drafted and being a free agent. A first-team all-conference honoree as a senior, Messner had one of his best outings in the Big 12 Championship game. He helped to practically negate Nebraska pass rusher Adam Carriker. After terrorizing the league all season, Carriker recorded no defensive statistics against OU.
No sacks.
No tackles.
Not even a quarterback hurry.
Carriker is a slam-dunk, sure-thing, first-round draft pick this weekend.
Messner is not.
He suspects having started only the past two years has something to do with his draft stock. He isn't well-known. Yet, Messner knows that his weight is an issue.
"If I was able to start four years, I would have a better chance of being a marquee name,” said Messner, who aspires to weigh 290 but has never been more than 285, "but the whole weight issue has a lot to play into it.”
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More Info
Chris Messner, who weighed 282 pounds at OU's pro day, eats lunch at a Pizza Hut in Norman. Another 10 to 20 pounds for Messner could mean a chance in the NFL. BY Jaconna Aguirre, THE OKLAHOMAN
NFL Draft 2007
•Where: Radio City Music Hall, New York
•When: Saturday and Sunday
•TV:Saturday: 11-7 on ESPN (Cox 29) and 7-9 on ESPN2 (Cox 28); Sunday: 10-5 on ESPN (Cox 29)
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