Top Ten Out of Shape Athletes of All Time

When you think of professional athletes, generally you imagine players in prime physical condition. However, even athletes – whose job almost always calls upon fitness – get lazy and out of shape. Below is a list of the most egregiously out of shape, fat, and/or slovenly of all time.

10. Jerome Bettis – He was still effective as a goal line back late in his career, but I’m sure the coaches wouldn’t have minded him getting a little svelter.

9. Babe Ruth – You could have called him the Sultan of Salt, too. He loved to eat and drink and it showed.

8. Charles Barkley – He was an athletic freak in his prime. In the twilight of his career, he was slowed considerably by his fat.

7. Lendale White – Lendale actually lost 20 lbs this past summer but prior to that he was so slow, he was ineffective for the Titans on everything except short yardage power plays.

6. Jamarcus Russell – Russell’s work ethic is always questioned and for good reason. Not only is he not improving as a QB but he repeatedly shows up to camp out of shape.

5. Vin Baker – You’d never know it by watching his last years play out but Baker was a superstar power forward for the Bucks for a handful of years. Then, he hit the bottle and one too many buffets and lost all of the strength and athletic ability that made him a star.

4. Shaquille O’Neal – O’Neal is a difficult pick because even when he was at his heaviest, he was still a dominant force in the NBA. Quite simply he was too tall, too heavy, and too aggressive to guard. Still, when you hit the nether regions of the 350-400 club playing in the NBA, you belong on this list.

3. David Ortiz – Big Papi translates roughly to fat father. He can sure hit the baseball, but don’t ask him to leg out a triple. In fact, this guy makes an automatic double a close call.

2. Jared Lorenzen – Lorenzen isn’t particularly well known but he was Eli Manning’s backup at one point. I’m not sure how Lorenzen ever made the squad because he was so out of shape and slow, he could barely run fast enough just to throw the ball away.

1. Cecil Fielder – This guy was the epitome of fat in sports. Even though he hit 95 home runs in 1990 and 1991, it would be hard to suggest steroids were the culprit. 1) The guy probably had enough power in his massive stomach to belt those homers. 2) He looked like he was made of goo.

Image: Cecil Fielder (Zuma Press)

Worthy of mention are Shawn Kemp, Patrick Ewing, Manny Ramirez, David Wells, John Kruk, Sebastian Janikowski, many NFL lineman, and other players who I couldn’t remember when making this list. I avoided golfers, race car drivers, bowlers, and other less physically demanding sports. I also tried to list more well known players.

This post goes to show that even pro athletes succumb to getting out of shape. It’s a lot easier to stay out of shape than to get in shape so keep that in mind as you stay motivated and strive to reach your goals.