Josh Allen reaction to being the Madden 24 cover athlete
Mackenzie Salmon asks Josh Allen what it’s like to be the first Bill on the cover of Madden, the most popular NFL game in the world.
Sports Seriously
Russell Okung won Super Bowl 48 with the Seattle Seahawks and a playing weight of 310 pounds.
Earlier this month, Okung posted on Twitter how he lost more than 100 pounds by doing a 40-day water fast.
The Pro Bowl offensive tackle left the NFL after the 2020 season and embarked on a health and spiritual journey. In a video, he spoke on how he found new purpose after he hit rock bottom when he found football to be unfulfilling.
“I committed my life ‒ 30 years ‒ to a craft, honing it, shaping it, attempting to be the best,” he said. “Trophies, accolades, I wanted it all. I would soon find out it was all empty. It didn’t matter. It was nothing. I didn’t have a relationship with my wife, with my children. I didn’t even know who I was. So I prayed. I asked for guidance, for wisdom. And it came to me.
“I knew at that very moment, there was one answer: fasting. Long-term, water-only fasting. I did it.”
Okung said he is preparing to fast again in hopes of finding deeper spiritual truth.
“There’s more. I know there’s more,” he said. “There’s more for this society, for the world, for our families. Everything can be different.”
Former NFL star Ricky Williams has also discussed how fasting is part of his spirituality. Several athletes fast during Ramadan, including Connecticut’s Adama Sanogo, who observed the holiday during the Huskies’ national championship run.
Okung, on his website, walks through some of his reflections while on his journey and matches days of the fast with the 10 Commandments. His blog post for Day 1 reads, “Thou shalt have no gods before me” — starts with the declaration, “Pete Carroll brainwashed me.” Okung describes his first team meeting as an NFL rookie and how the esteemed coach held up a football and told his players to commit their all to the pigskin.
While Okung no longer lives for football, he said he does value the commitment to a singular object and said he is embracing his role as a leader in a new way.
“In that transformative moment, I understood that someday, I would be the one defining the culture for my family and the teams I would eventually lead. That day has come,” he said. “And while I don’t elevate a metaphorical football, I uplift a concept of more lasting significance. A truth that binds countless generations, asserting the existence of the God who created all things, and, importantly, crafted men and women to assume their divine roles as caretakers of the world.”
