Linemen must have athletic skills in addition to girth

Football players often seem to be lauded as modern-day Norse gods, the strongest, most able-bodied men to shake the earth.

But perhaps, as evidenced by the recent death of San Francisco 49ers lineman Thomas Herrion, that image is truly more myth than fact.

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When does a person, despite bodily strength, simply become too large for life?

Herrion was 23-years-old, only a touch older than the majority of SIU’s football team. Is the recurring issue of obesity in the NFL extending its grasp to college football?

“I just think back 20 years ago, a big man was 6-2, “SIU head coach Jerry Kill said. “Now a big man is 6-6 and 320. People are bigger for whatever reason, and I don’t think we control that.”

HBO’s “Real Sports” with Bryant Gumbel found the numbers of 300-plus pound players in the NFL ballooned from less than 10 in 1998 to more than 300 by 2003.

The Salukis’ offensive and defensive lines are, by comparison, relatively scrawny, if 300 pounds is the new benchmark in lineman weight.

SIU’s starting lines against Southeast Missouri State last Thursday averaged a gaunt 288 pounds. The Salukis do have a handful of players tipping the scales at 300 pounds, though.

Senior defensive tackle Mark Phillipp is one of them, having packed 315 pounds onto a six-foot frame. Maintaining such a playing size is no easy task for Phillip.

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A dinner at Wendy’s consists of three triple classic cheeseburgers and a tasty beverage of High C. It is a lot of food to be consumed by one person.

But Phillipp was quick to point out hard work on the field and in the weight room can quickly turn those calories into energy and muscle.

“We do this seven days a week,” Phillipp said. “We’re not just sitting … watching TV. We’re out here sweating.”

Phillipp said he has naturally been heavy his entire life, and he was never pressured to add mass for competition on the field. As he puts it, some people can handle the bulk and others simply can’t.

Kill looks for athleticism when it comes to his linemen anyway. Speed is paramount, and that is predominantly what he wants from both his offensive and defensive linemen.

“You have to able to run to play,” Kill said. “You have to be able to move and have agility.”

When Phillipp adds weight to his frame, he said he makes sure to retain quick footwork and general rapidness through training exercises. Watching him move during practice, it wouldn’t seem Phillipp weighs more than 300 pounds.

But watching Herrion on the field, a person would be hard-pressed to notice the heart disease that would eventually kill him.

Still, Kill said if an athlete gets on the field with a previous condition that has not been discovered, something could happen. A person never knows everything.

In fact, Kill doesn’t seem concerned about an abundance of weight, but rather, the opposite. Not having the sort of funding professional football does for closely watched diets, Kill is more worried about his Salukis eating enough – and enough of the nutritious foods.

“We actually have more trouble keeping weight on kids because they don’t eat right, “Kill said. “We talk about the proper foods to eat, but we don’t have the money or facilities some other people have.”

Reporter Gabe House can be reached at [email protected]