After the season, the Jaguars told defensive tackle Terrance Knighton that he was too fat. Knighton took that to heart, and slimmed down considerably over the last couple months.
“I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since reporting as a rookie,” Knighton told Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union. “The number is a lot … lower than checking in last year when I came back during camp the high [360s], maybe even low [370s]. I’m 20 pounds less than that. They’re happy where I am.”
There aren’t many people who can be happy with their weight loss and still weigh 350 pounds, but that does represent progress for Knighton, who has been listed at 336 pounds but weighed much more for most of his career. But Knighton said he can feel the difference in his body.
“A lot of guys, you see it around the league with the big stomachs, it really doesn’t affect them,” Knighton said. “Mine’s in the lower body, so that slows down my foot quickness and that’s one of my areas that I’m really good at. . . . If I’m playing slow, there’s no reason for me to be out there.”
Knighton, who is going into the final year of his contract, said he thinks there will be rewards to losing weight next year, and for the rest of his life.
“Going into my last year of my contract, that’s obviously important to me,” Knighton said. “If guys will tell you the money wasn’t important, they’re lying to you. But really I care about my health and longevity after football. I don’t want to be remembered for the guy who had weight problems, I want to be remembered for the guy who turned it around.”