Jake Long retired from the NFL after the 2016 season. Eight years later, he is almost unrecognizable from his playing days due to a surprising weight loss.
Long was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Thursday for his achievements at the University of Michigan. During his five seasons, Long was a two-time Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and a two-time All-American. After his college career, he was the first overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft for the Miami Dolphins and played nine professional seasons.
As a professional, Long weighed 315 pounds. But the man who showed up at the induction ceremony at Detroit’s MotorCity Casino Hotel was more than 70 pounds lighter, according to tThe Detroit News’ Tony Paulwho posted a photo of a noticeably slimmer Long on social media.
Holy shit, UM football legend Jake Long, member of the @MSHOF The class of 2024 has lost a lot of weight. Over 70 pounds in the last two years. The secret, he said: Platoon and therapy. pic.twitter.com/6AbruWHJyL
— Tony Pablo | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) October 17, 2024
Long’s secret to losing more than a quarter of his body weight since his NFL days is “Peloton and therapy,” according to Paul.
Perhaps Long has an endorsement deal with Peloton in his future after mentioning the popular exercise bike. How many cardio machines could you sell while showing a loss of over 70 pounds?
However, the therapy portion is the most serious and compelling aspect of Long’s body transformation. After years of trying to keep your weight up By the standards of NFL offensive linemen, slimming down to a more conventional, healthy weight and physique was probably difficult.
However, Long’s weight remained constant throughout his NFL career. dropped to 308 pounds after the 2015 season. But before his junior season at Michigan, he lost 22 pounds to improve his agility, conditioning and speed. Obviously, that paid off for Long, who had two All-Big Ten and All-American seasons from there and moved on to the NFL.
Add Long to a list of former NFL giants who lost weight to called normal size after their playing careers, including Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Russell Okung, Joe Thomas, Mike Golic, Jeff Saturday, Alan Faneca and Brad Culpepper.
Has Netflix considered making a docuseries about these guys and their stories?
