Eddie Lacy has heard the jokes. He may not have seen all the mean tweets, myriad stories or unflattering pictures, but he knows we've laughed at him. He's aware of the robust and rotund "Fat Eddie" subculture.
And he's resolved to do something about it. As has been detailed ad nauseum, Lacy – after being called out by coach Mike McCarthy at the end of last year – overhauled his offseason exercise regimen and diet to (hopefully) get in better shape for the Packers' 2016 campaign. His workouts reportedly included plyometrics, cardio, basketball, boxing and yoga. He's listed at 234 pounds, but that's been his official weight since he entered the NFL as a rookie in 2013 and most observers estimate he's currently around 240 or 245.
On Monday, after the Packers' 27-23 Week 1 victory over the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Lacy posted a photo to Facebook showing him doing a yoga video, thus demonstrating his fitness diligence.
Three of the four hashtags reference the Beachbody On Demand workout program, though it doesn't appear that Lacy has an official endorsement deal with the company.
His bent right leg doesn't exactly resemble the perfectly straight form of the people on the television, but since my last experience trying yoga resulted in slipping in a pool of my own sweat on the mat, and also I wasn't physically crushed by 300-pound football players yesterday (#Sore), who am I to judge? Looking great, Eddie!
Against the Jaguars on Sunday, Lacy rushed 14 times for 61 yards, a healthy 4.4-yard average, and his performance included a 28-yard gain in which he made two nice cuts and showed some impressive burst. Last season was Lacy's worst as a pro; dealing with injuries, ineffectiveness and being overweight, he finished with a career-low 758 yards on 187 attempts (4.1 average). But perhaps he's on his weigh (sorry) back to being one of the better running backs in the league. We shall see.
Anyway, Packers fans, unsurprisingly, were overwhelmingly positive, supportive and encouraging in the comments of the photo. What do you think? Will Lacy, at 26, have his best season yet?
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
