Ex-49ers tackle Joe Staley already has lost 50 pounds in retirement

NFL offensive lineman are forced to hold onto a lot of excess weight. Given the size of players in today's league, tackles, guards and centers often check in at 300 pounds, many much heavier than that.

Joe Staley announced his retirement from the NFL back in April, and in an interview with ESPN's Emily Caplan, he explained that he's been able to shed off quite a few pounds -- 50 to be exact -- now that he's no longer on the 49ers' active roster.

"As an offensive lineman, you're always known as this big, humongous, unathletic blob," Staley said. "Offensive linemen get casted in a movie, and they're always 500 pounds. Then you get the opportunity to be healthy again, and all of the effort you used to put into football, you put into that. It gives you a focus once you retire. It's a little bit vain, but I'm starting to see abs that I've always wanted. And it's kind of exciting."

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Staley is uniquely familiar with the sometimes grotesque methods utilized to gain weight fast, as the 13-year veteran switched positions while in college at Central Michigan. He initially was a tight end for the Chippewas, but had to add 80 pounds to his 6-foot-5 frame for the transition to offensive tackle.

"I had these premade weight-gainer shakes; they were probably 2,000 calories each," Staley said. "I'd wake myself up in the middle of the night, down that, go back to bed."

The 35-year-old said he already has dropped two pants sizes down to a 36, and has cut out much of the unhealthy items he used to consume to maintain his 300-pound frame.