Professor

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/14671523.htm

Andrews trying to scale back
Eagles guard has healthy appreciation of the problems of being overweight
By LES BOWEN

SOME GUYS HAVE to bulk up to play on the line in the NFL. Defensive tackle Paul Grasmanis, whose retirement from the Eagles became official earlier this week, said he's lost 60 pounds over the past few months. Grasmanis, listed at 6-3, 298, never had the widebody frame of a typical modern-day lineman; he hopes to lose 20 more pounds, which would put him in the 220 range.

"That's what makes me mad," Shawn Andrews said yesterday. "That's not my case, obviously. Those guys are my idols."

Andrews, the Eagles' third-year right guard, is never going to weigh 220, unless he saws off some prominent body parts. Yesterday he was proud to take off his shirt for the cameras during a publicity demonstration with two sumo wrestlers, promoting the June 3 World Sumo Challenge at the Wachovia Center; Andrews, listed at 6-4, has lost about 35 pounds since February, he said, bringing him down to the 355 range.

At 358 yesterday (after drinking a couple bottles of water, he said), Andrews has almost no belly. He is just a man built on a large, broad scale, from his size 17-wide feet on up. He knows he is always going to be fighting his weight, but he hopes he can stay ahead in that fight from now on.

"I just want to give you guys something different to talk about when you talk about me," said Andrews, who probably has never been interviewed without being asked how much he weighs, since the Eagles traded up to draft him 16th overall in 2004. The big story that day was that Andrews might have been a top-10 choice had some teams not been scared off by the fact he ballooned to 400 pounds his final year at Arkansas.

Andrews lost weight that spring, reported to training camp in great shape, then broke his right fibula the opening game of his rookie year. He missed the Super Bowl run and gained weight that never really came off last season. Though coaches felt he had a strong year, plans to move him to tackle to replace Jon Runyan were indefinitely shelved; maybe you can take on defensive tackles at 390, but you aren't going to move outside and pass block a speedy defensive end at that weight.

This spring, Andrews faced the ultimate fear of the overweight. He went home to Arkansas and spent an afternoon shooting baskets and talking with a 23-year-old friend, another big guy, whom he had known since the third grade. That night the friend, whom Andrews wishes to identify only as "Willie," passed away from a heart attack, Andrews said.

"We were hanging out at the park and he went home. He was found deceased," Andrews said. "It was tough... I don't want to die because I'm too fat... It's just one of those things I've been faced with for a long time. Hopefully, I can keep it under control."

Andrews and most NFL linemen are familiar with studies, such as the one in a March 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that classified more than a quarter of the NFL as "severely obese," and the Scripps Howard News Service study earlier this year that found obese pro football players were more than twice as likely to die by age 50 as players classified merely "overweight" or "normal." Such studies are why Grasmanis lost those 60 pounds; it wasn't just because he wanted to look good on the beach.

Last August, 49ers offensive lineman Thomas Herrion, listed at 315 pounds, died from heart problems following an exhibition game in Denver.

Andrews said his friend never played football and wasn't severely overweight until the past few years.

"He was just too big. His blood pressure was extremely high," Andrews said.

Andrews said he has come to realize he is the only one who can permanently change the weight situation.

"You're a grown man, you have responsibilities. Still a mama's boy, but... that's a thing I've got to do by myself. I've had nutritionists, I've had chefs and whatnot. I made up my mind this offseason, change your eating habits and work out more," Andrews said. "I'm really proud of myself. The food here, to me, is awesome. For me to be able to go through the line here [at the NovaCare cafeteria] and pass up the cheesesteaks and the pizza and the baked macaroni they had today, that's a great accomplishment for me. Last year, it was all bad. Every day it was pancakes, I have to drown 'em in syrup, like you can't even see the pancake anymore. That's not good."

Yesterday, Andrews was working out at NovaCare, but like other veterans, he was not participating in the rookie minicamp that continues today. His lunch, he said, was a half a tuna wrap and a Caesar salad "with exactly four olives. Four. Olives."

Andrews knows that for someone his size, the benefits of losing weight definitely carry over onto the field.

"I definitely have more energy. I can get in my stance without my stomach being in the way, and huffing and puffing," Andrews said. "I can fire off the ball like the old me. I can go, right now if I had to, six or seven quarters... [Last year] there were times when I'd get extremely winded. Going back to the huddle, I'd be hoping the other team would get a penalty so I could get some wind."

Andrews likes to envision how quick he will be on sweeps and screens this season.

"It's going to be great, man, you'll see," he said. "It's going to be exciting."

Birdseed

During yesterday's sumo demonstration, 460-pound wrestler Casey Burns picked 358-pound Shawn Andrews up off the mat. "I was impressed," said Andrews, who received an autographed mawashi (that sumo belt-diaper thingy) from Burns and 340-pound Sidney Carty. The wrestlers and Andrews also exchanged weight-loss tips...