Long-time Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis – lovingly nicknamed “The Bus” – had an official playing weight of 252 pounds.
Sure he did.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer looked like this in 2006:
Bettis got his iconic nickname from carrying defenders around the field. But there’s a new type of bus parking at the station these days.
A.J. Dillon was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2020 draft. The rookie running back is listed by the Packers at 247 pounds, making him one of the heftiest running backs in football.
Here is what Dillon looks like:
— AJ “The Sauce” Dillon (@ajdillon7) June 11, 2020
Dillon is less bus and more bulldozer. Nearly 250 pounds, he is muscular and chiseled, a far cry from the portly appearance of Bettis, who rumbled his way to almost 14,000 rushing yards and 91 touchdowns during his 13-year NFL career.
At the combine, Dillon ran the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds and hit 41″ in the vertical jump and 10-11 in the broad jump, incredible numbers for a man of Dillon’s size.
Boston College coach Brian White told Mike Spofford of Packers.com that Dillon has just 5 percent body fat.
“It’s amazing, when you see him with his shirt off, he’s got this little skinny waist and these huge shoulders, and these legs of tree trunks that are beyond anything you’ve ever seen,” White told Spofford.
It’s hard to believe Dillon and former Packers running back Eddie Lacy – listed during his playing days at 5-11 and 253 pounds – are almost identical in size.
In fact, only Derrick Henry, the Tennessee Titans’ 247-pound shredder of a runner, truly compares to Dillon among active running backs.
One of Dillon’s collegiate teammates called him a “freak athlete.”
“People look at him and they say, ‘Oh, he must be slow. He can’t be that fast,’” Eddy Fish told Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “But then when you watch him run, he’s very fluid. He’s fast and he is shifty. He can move as well as anybody that I’ve seen. He’s a freak athlete. I can’t stress that enough.”
[vertical-gallery id=43976]