Interesting Buffalo News article on Dawkins

[BuffaloRebound]

Dawkins looked huge at the Pro Bowl in february.  I give him credit for identifying his problem and doing something about it well before the season started.  I hope he has a great year.  He’s arguably the 3rd most important player on the team behind Allen and Diggs.  

[4th&long]

An offensive linemen gaining weight early in the off season and losing wrist before the season starts? How many times you think that has happened in the nfl? Are you kidding me? And people are losing the mind over it?  That’s the problem, people with no life hating on Dawkins for getting in shape before the season started.

Edited September 8, 2023 by 4th&long

[Beck Water]

23 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Lineman carry a lot of water weight

Some lineman lose five pounds a day in training camp

 

All of us are approximately 60% water

Runner friend was telling me the new guideline for hydration in distance running is no longer trying not to lose weight, but try not to lose more than 5% of body weight

For a 300 lb dude, 5 lbs is a mere 1.67% of their weight - easy come, easy go

[Roundybout]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:57 AM, BillsPride12 said:

The Schnowman is melting 

 

[BillsShredder83]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:16 AM, Toledo Bill said:

I have been very critical of Dion Dawkins  due to what looks like a heavier, out of shape player. I have also questioned his commitment to being a serious top level player.

I was really happy to read today’s article discussing his weight loss and commitment to having a great year.

Was this a “fluff” piece or something to be appreciative of?

Not sure, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt,,, a good year from Dion could have a huge impact on our season .

I slightly lean towards glass half full, but Dion has great PR Skills, and doesn't pass eyeball test.

 

If he plays great, I'd be ecstatic, but he's not someone I'm giving the full benefit of doubt too, unfortunately.

 

None of this is me taking a shot at him, love the dude, but he admitted to coasting year 2 after the fact. He writes awesome pieces for players union, I think his dorky personality is cool in a macho environment... but I wanna see him not look like a balloon, and well conditioned before I even read this 🤷‍♂️

[BillsShredder83]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:57 AM, Fan in Chicago said:

This is excellent news to start the morning. The loss of weight is an indication of his commitment - both mind and body have to be in concert. The team really needs him to play well. 

Again, usually half full kinda guy, but GD! I can't jump up and down and praise his commitment if he gained 40lbs in 2mos! That's absurd.

 

Dudes having to crash diet to hit his calorie mark for 4-5months? 1200-1800 calories in salad?

 

You know what other lineman are doing? Staying within a healthy range and then those 4-5mos they can weight train like an animal and FEED THEIR BODY.

 

This dude did his strength no favors. On paper he's likely weaker. Can't gain strength in a huge deficit like that. Everyone else got stronger, while his weight rollercoastered, and he gained no strength or lost it at best. 

 

Kinda infuriating to admit. Smfh

On 9/7/2023 at 8:44 AM, 4BillsintheBurgh said:

Ya gotta wanna, from a player standpoint

And he doesn't. Openly admitting for the 2nd time that basically he's cool with staying around where he's at.... cause a player who wanted to get better, ISNT doing this.

 

Draft LT next year. Free up some $$ and let him hit FA before his body dumps on him. Article is damning

[BillsShredder83]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:07 AM, Warriorspikes51 said:

Yes, I'm sure you know more than the coaching staff strength, conditioning, nutrition people....who specifically put him on a plan to lose the weight   FOR FOOTBALL

0.00% chance staff said, "Hey get fat as **** for 2 months, so instead of focusing on getting stronger, you can live in a deficit and hope to play exactly the same as last year (at best).

 

Staff was NOT happy about what they saw, delusional to think otherwise 

[PBF81]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:45 AM, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

He gained an added 40 pounds from his 330-pound playing weight during late January and February.

 

Did he finish the season at 330?  

 

If so, how TF does someone gain 40 lbs. in a few months like that.  

 

Dang!  

 

He seems like a consummate professional however, I'm sure he knows what needs to be done.  Not sure gaining that much weight and then trying to lose it quickly weeks later is the smart route, but he seems like the kind of person that when he puts his mind to it he'll get it done.  

 

 

[BillsShredder83]

On 9/7/2023 at 11:48 AM, ddaryl said:

The issue with waiting till Voluntary Workouts to realize you need to lose weight, you are obviously not strength training nor are you getting cardio training in at a high enough level. Those calories would be made into muscle, and Cardio is always beneficial. Now that he is desperately trying to shed weight he doesn't have the benefit of the offseason to turn those calories into more lean muscle mass etc...

 

This story is the equivalent of saying, hey for 2mos all I did was cocaine and alcohol, but TC rolled around and I'm 4months sober, LOOK AT MY COMMITMENT!!!

 

Don't hold for applause long, it ain't coming

[BillsShredder83]

On 9/7/2023 at 1:32 PM, gobills404 said:

While we’re on the subject take a look at this fatty too. This just doesn’t look like the body of a pro athlete to me. He’s getting paid $250 million and still can’t get motivated to get in shape??? We need to start having serious discussions about Josh Allen and his commitment to this team.

He plays a mental position, and handles it very well. He's always healthy and he's still doing freak s*** that nobody else on the planet can do.

 

Josh needing to lose 5-8lbs and Dion crash dieting 40 aren't in the same planet 

On 9/7/2023 at 7:03 PM, 4th&long said:

Did anybody actually read the article? He put on 40 pounds by the end of February. Went on an extreme diet, lost all that weight in 5 weeks! That’s like the first week of April. He’s been on a more conventional diet since. Plenty of time to get his strength back. That’s 5 months. And just cause somebody has body fat does not mean they are not strong, in shape or quick and agile! Some people are just freaks of nature.

 

a friend of mine is about 6-3 200lbs and wash board abs, dunk a Bball, quick as a cat. He likes to mess with his brother 6-3 or so also, easily over 300lbs. So skinny ripped guy messes with big bro and takes off running, big bro catches him. Big bro is quick and fast. Freak of nature.

If he's freak athlete enough to do this to just maintain his play. Imagine putting this effort towards improving play. This is indefensible

 

Dude could've made a huge leap, but decided to, at best, tread water with his play

[4th&long]

16 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

He plays a mental position, and handles it very well. He's always healthy and he's still doing freak s*** that nobody else on the planet can do.

 

Josh needing to lose 5-8lbs and Dion crash dieting 40 aren't in the same planet 

If he's freak athlete enough to do this to just maintain his play. Imagine putting this effort towards improving play. This is indefensible

 

Dude could've made a huge leap, but decided to, at best, tread water with his play

Seriously? You think he doesn’t work hard? You think he’d be where he’s at without working hard? You think the bills would give him a second contract if he didn’t work hard? 
 

again, this is a thread about an offensive linemen that came to camp in shape. 
He put weight on which for a man his size was not like it would be for me and you, lost it by the end of the first week of April or so according to the article, and continued for the next 5 months to get ready for this season. 
 

did the article say he was not in shape last season? did the article say he didn’t work hard? Please point this out to me. Where do you get this info? Did you watch him in the weight room? At the closed practices? I didn’t think so!

 

do you people even know where he was ranked last year? 

 

out of 160 starting offensive linemen in the nfl, that’s all guards centers and tackles for those who jumped Thru too many tables and don’t comprehend, he ranged 22nd in run blocking and 38th overall. He gave up 3 sacks. Not bad for a down year. Not great, room for improvement, but not nearly as bad as people are trying to make him out to be.

33 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

This story is the equivalent of saying, hey for 2mos all I did was cocaine and alcohol, but TC rolled around and I'm 4months sober, LOOK AT MY COMMITMENT!!!

 

Don't hold for applause long, it ain't coming

Not even close. You are trying hard and failing. There is a reason he is making millions in the nfl and you are a hater on a message board.

[BillsShredder83]

34 minutes ago, 4th&long said:

Seriously? You think he doesn’t work hard? You think he’d be where he’s at without working hard? You think the bills would give him a second contract if he didn’t work hard? 
 

again, this is a thread about an offensive linemen that came to camp in shape. 
He put weight on which for a man his size was not like it would be for me and you, lost it by the end of the first week of April or so according to the article, and continued for the next 5 months to get ready for this season. 
 

did the article say he was not in shape last season? did the article say he didn’t work hard? Please point this out to me. Where do you get this info? Did you watch him in the weight room? At the closed practices? I didn’t think so!

 

do you people even know where he was ranked last year? 

 

out of 160 starting offensive linemen in the nfl, that’s all guards centers and tackles for those who jumped Thru too many tables and don’t comprehend, he ranged 22nd in run blocking and 38th overall. He gave up 3 sacks. Not bad for a down year. Not great, room for improvement, but not nearly as bad as people are trying to make him out to be.

Not even close. You are trying hard and failing. There is a reason he is making millions in the nfl and you are a hater on a message board.

Doesn't work hard compared to who? Me? Sure.  Other OL? No f'n way. There's proli 3 tackles on Buffalo that are hungrier to push their play than him.

 

Twist it anywsy you want. This is not the work of an OL trying to take the next step.  I don't care if he was #1 in the league, let alone middle of the pack....

U think Trent Williams, bakhtiari, lane j, tonsil etc etc etc are crash dieting when they should be getting their strength up? They aren't 

 

Strength is pretty scientific. If you aren't eating right (and especially if you're in a giant deficit) you're getting weaker... in a league on the razors edge of top performance.

 

Nutrition + proper weights = strength

 

Take one or both of those out and it doesn't balance out. There's no room for opinion on this, you're anabolic or catabolic.

 

Spend 4months catabolic and in a nitrogen deficit, you're going to be weaker.

 

(Not to mention the opportunity lost of running 4mos anabolic, its a 2pt swing here)

 

Cardio and strength are the pillars of OL play, and both spent a third of the year in the dumpster. Polar opposite of taking the next step.

 

Find me a strength coach/powerlifter who goes catabolic for 4mos and I'll show you someone at the bottom of his sport.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

Theres are the numbers Dion needs to be at:

 

Based on his own admission of 600-800cals, 2x's per day..... he's eating at 62% calorie deficit for 4months LOL

Muscle tissue is being dissolved like Arnold lowered into the steam mill at the end of Terminator2

That's infuriating. I can't imagine how angry the staff was. 

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by BillsShredder83

[cd1]

18 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Beck - I am definitely flattered.   I've written that a couple of times, but I don't think anytime in the past couple of years.  It was a hockey game.

 

Yes, it was an epiphany.   It was so clear that those women were really focused on their bodies and how they looked, and suddenly it dawned on that of course they would be because their partners were also focused on their bodies.  

 

Think about what Dawkins did.   It was, apparently, five or six weeks, 35 or 40 days, where EVERY DAY he:  (1) drank 100 ounces of water before he ate anything.   Think about that.  Eight glasses of water before eating anything.  (2)  Ate a salad for lunch.  (3) Ate a salad for dinner.  (4)  Maybe had a protein bar.   That's it.   Every day.  I couldn't eat my favorite food every day for six weeks, but that diet?   

 

These guys are focused on their performance in ways that, to be honest, aren't normal.  

Many Pro athletes are very focused on their performance and live a lifestyle dedicated to that purpose.

 

Dawkins is not in that category because he trashed his body so bad that he had to Crash Diet (not healthy) just to undo the damage he had caused in 6 or 7 weeks time. A dedicated professional would not have trashed their body to begin with.

 

What Dawkins did was his own version of Binge and Purge - not healthy!

[4BillsintheBurgh]

11 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Doesn't work hard compared to who? Me? Sure.  Other OL? No f'n way. There's proli 3 tackles on Buffalo that are hungrier to push their play than him.

 

Twist it anywsy you want. This is not the work of an OL trying to take the next step.  I don't care if he was #1 in the league, let alone middle of the pack....

U think Trent Williams, bakhtiari, lane j, tonsil etc etc etc are crash dieting when they should be getting their strength up? They aren't 

 

Strength is pretty scientific. If you aren't eating right (and especially if you're in a giant deficit) you're getting weaker... in a league on the razors edge of top performance.

 

Nutrition + proper weights = strength

 

Take one or both of those out and it doesn't balance out. There's no room for opinion on this, you're anabolic or catabolic.

 

Spend 4months catabolic and in a nitrogen deficit, you're going to be weaker.

 

(Not to mention the opportunity lost of running 4mos anabolic, its a 2pt swing here)

 

Cardio and strength are the pillars of OL play, and both spent a third of the year in the dumpster. Polar opposite of taking the next step.

 

Find me a strength coach/powerlifter who goes catabolic for 4mos and I'll show you someone at the bottom of his sport.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

Theres are the numbers Dion needs to be at:

 

Based on his own admission of 600-800cals, 2x's per day..... he's eating at 62% calorie deficit for 4months LOL

Muscle tissue is being dissolved like Arnold lowered into the steam mill at the end of Terminator2

That's infuriating. I can't imagine how angry the staff was. 

 

I hate to say this, but from what I read he was low on calories 4-5 weeks, not months. I'm also thinking he was sneaking more than a couple of salads and some water in a day. In the end I don't know if gaining 12% body weight is that awful in 2 months, although I agree it's not optimal. I don't know what he does normally in the offseason, but it may not be much. Some of these guys don't have to work that hard to compete,they just have most of it naturally. 

 

My thought is he was depressed after the season between how he played, the team did and what happened to Demar and let himself go. So he got back on track and went from there.

1 hour ago, cd1 said:

Many Pro athletes are very focused on their performance and live a lifestyle dedicated to that purpose.

 

Dawkins is not in that category because he trashed his body so bad that he had to Crash Diet (not healthy) just to undo the damage he had caused in 6 or 7 weeks time. A dedicated professional would not have trashed their body to begin with.

 

What Dawkins did was his own version of Binge and Purge - not healthy!

Being an offensive lineman in the NFL is not a study on healthy living.

Edited September 9, 2023 by 4BillsintheBurgh

[Mr. WEO]

On 9/7/2023 at 2:14 PM, Mango said:

Tagging this just to see my post above. Check the Performance Science team out for the Bills. 
 

Collins, Beanland, and Dziedzic didn’t recommend it. Guaranteed. The EIS (lottery funded) and AIS are two of the premier sports science institutions in the world. They’re in the range of being the Cleveland Clinics of sports science.
 

This was a S&C coach operating out of bounds. 

 

Why wouldn't the Performance Science team be involved with Dawkins then?  Isn't he the guy they should be spending much of their effort on?  Why would they stand by as he drank water and ate fast food "salads"?

 

Doesn't make sense.

[mrags]

On 9/7/2023 at 8:37 AM, boyst said:

i honestly don't understand how these NFL players are not able to stay under a diet regime, especially during the season. they have individual meals for them daily, vitamins per pplayer, an entire nutrition program and they can follow it in the offseason.

 

hell, college programs do this for their players year round - it's amazing nfl players/teams don't do this.

My guess is the teams do do this. Or at least offer it. But when your sloppy fat LT wants to eat 3 and 4 dinners a night to comfort himself I guess it doesn’t bode well. 
 

for everyone that opposed some of us for getting on Dion for being fat. Making excuses, saying we were being ridiculous and he wasn’t fat. This thread is for you. Even Dion admitting he was getting bad. 40lbs in an off season is a lot of weight. 

[Shaw66]

4 hours ago, cd1 said:

Many Pro athletes are very focused on their performance and live a lifestyle dedicated to that purpose.

 

Dawkins is not in that category because he trashed his body so bad that he had to Crash Diet (not healthy) just to undo the damage he had caused in 6 or 7 weeks time. A dedicated professional would not have trashed their body to begin with.

 

What Dawkins did was his own version of Binge and Purge - not healthy!

I agree.  It used to be much more common for guys to do what he did - let himself go and then diet like crazy to get ready for the season.  I was surprised to see him so overweight.  

 

Still, his diet was pretty incredible.

 

The flip side is I heard a retired offensive lineman interviewed on the radio, and the interviewer commented about how fit the guy looked.  The retired player said he weighed 190, and that he had eaten enormous quantities of food to maintain a playing weight around 300.  When the season ended, he would drop to "only 260" or something in the off-season, then eat his way back up to his playing weight.  Once he retired, he started running and returned to really was his normal weight under 200.  He said there are a lot of pro football players like him, which means they are "dedicated professional" athletes who are trashing their bodies to carry the weight to play the game.   Cuts both ways.  

 

 

[Don Otreply]

I’ve got no dog in this hunt, but coming into each season / training camp forty plus pounds overweight pretty much annually is not leading by example…, 

[cd1]

7 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I agree.  It used to be much more common for guys to do what he did - let himself go and then diet like crazy to get ready for the season.  I was surprised to see him so overweight.  

 

Still, his diet was pretty incredible.

 

The flip side is I heard a retired offensive lineman interviewed on the radio, and the interviewer commented about how fit the guy looked.  The retired player said he weighed 190, and that he had eaten enormous quantities of food to maintain a playing weight around 300.  When the season ended, he would drop to "only 260" or something in the off-season, then eat his way back up to his playing weight.  Once he retired, he started running and returned to really was his normal weight under 200.  He said there are a lot of pro football players like him, which means they are "dedicated professional" athletes who are trashing their bodies to carry the weight to play the game.   Cuts both ways.  

 

 

There is a big difference between your example and Dawkins.

 

In your example players work hard and ate to carry extra weight. When season was over they did not eat the extra calories and thus their weigh went down normally.

 

What Dawkins did was over eat and added 40 pounds of fat. Then went on a water and salad diet, basically a starvation diet, to lose weight but THAT way of dieting usually results in the lose of muscle. 

Quote

Starvation diets have far-reaching negative effects on the body. Starving to lose weight changes the metabolism, reduces lean muscle, reduces bone density, and decreases strength

 

[Shaw66]

40 minutes ago, cd1 said:

There is a big difference between your example and Dawkins.

 

In your example players work hard and ate to carry extra weight. When season was over they did not eat the extra calories and thus their weigh went down normally.

 

What Dawkins did was over eat and added 40 pounds of fat. Then went on a water and salad diet, basically a starvation diet, to lose weight but THAT way of dieting usually results in the lose of muscle. 

 

Actually, it's not such a big difference.  Both guys are abusing their bodies.  

 

The offensive lineman I heard was talking about eating 6000 calories a day for months in order to maintain his playing weight.  He said for his entire playing career, he couldn't roll around on the floor with his kids because he had no flexibility, and because all of his joints ached from carrying the weight.  

 

I'm not defending Dawkins, at all.  I'm disappointed he didn't have the discipline the modern game requires.  I'm just saying that it's naive to think that guys going on crash diets are the only guys abusing their bodies in the NFL.   A lot of them are, from their brains to their toes.