Former Ravens Lineman Matt Birk Drops 75 Pounds, Gets Ripped, Enters Modeling Contest

Sometimes, dropping the extra baggage and moving forward with your life is the only way to go. For Matt Birk, that “baggage” was 75 additional pounds on his frame.

In a span of eight months, the former Ravens center dropped 75 pounds, 10 inches from his weight and altered his diet on the way to achieving a goal — to become a model, according to baltimoreravens.com. After the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII, Birk announced on Feb. 22, 2013 that he was retiring from football and he never looked back.

Birk is in the running to become the next Vi Model, where he would be featured on the cover of The Challenge Magazine 2014, turning him into the the face of  Body By Visalus, a company that has the ultimate mission of ending obesity.

“I don’t really think of myself as a model. Maybe a glove model,” Birk joked.

“I never thought I would pose for a picture with my shirt off. But I wanted to show people that it can be done and that we’re all in this together.”

The 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year said that he felt destined to be overweight during his younger years, when he was relegated to the life of a lineman. After 15 years in the NFL, Birk says he decided to change his diet and lifestyle to maintain a more healthy physique.

“I wasn’t going to go to Chipotle and get two burrito bowls at 9:30 at night anymore,” he said.

Birk said he took on the endeavor to become the Vi Model so he can spread the message about the importance of better nutrition and ways of losing weight. After going from 310 pounds to 235 pounds, he knows a thing or two about how it’s done.

“All I knew was being big. Now I’m not so big and I’m loving it,” Birk said. “I think I’ve really developed a lifestyle that I can sustain now. I feel great physically, and I’ve got tons of energy. It really has changed my life that I used to know.”

Photo via Facebook/Matt Birk’s Vi Fitness Movement

Photo of the night

Muggsy Bogues and Yao Ming.

[protected-iframe id=”89cc88330c6d0cb2b7bab6593d19bb7f-38215605-47183501″ info=”//instagram.com/p/fjN07ZIydA/embed/” width=”612″ height=”710″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

tweet of the night

Makes sense.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BenjeeBallgame/status/391042273473228800 align=’center’]

video of the night

Goalkeeper fail.

GIF via For The Win