New England Patriots great Vince Wilfork has lost a ton of weight since retiring from the sport five years ago, and his new slimmed-down physique absolutely stunned his former head coach Bill Belichick after seeing him recently.
Over his 11-year career with the Patriots, Wilfork was the epitome of a run stuffer. If an NFL scout were trying to create the perfect run-stopping nose tackle, the five-time Pro Bowler would be the prototype. At 6-foot-2 and at least 325 pounds, he was an absolute mountain in the middle of the Patriots’ defense line during their reign of terror through the league.
Wilfork’s success during his stint for the team is why he is being inducted into the organization’s Hall-of-Fame this week. Along with the likes of Teddy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and Richard Seymour, the 40-year-old will go down as one of the greatest defensive talents in team history. However, he looks very different than he did during the peak of his playing days.
During a meeting with New England media ahead of his induction, Wilfork showcased his svelt and much healthier figure to the media and informed them of a pretty funny story of the first time his former head coach saw Vince Wilfork 2.0.
- Vince Wilfork stats (career): 560 combined tackles, 16 sacks, 3 interceptions, 39 tackles for loss
“Bill was being Bill. He was on his treadmill working out, and I was like, ‘I want to go see Coach. He’s on the treadmill working out, and I come in and he’s like, ‘What the f—?’ What?’ And I’m trying to talk to him, and the only thing he [could] say was, ‘Oh my gosh, you look good! You look like you can still play.’ And I was like, ‘OK Coach, listen, I just came to see you.’ He couldn’t stop saying how good I looked and everything.”
Wilfork on recent chat with Belichick [h/t yahoo]
Wilfork will be inducted into the Patriots team Hall-of-Fame during their Week 3 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon.
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