The IFBB and the NFL don’t have much in common outside of the fact that they both have rabid tribal fanbases who are willing to die or die for their favorite teams and athletes. But I love to draw links to cross sport and cross-cultural comparisons that connect to bodybuilding in obscure ways. While I was diving into NFL training camp updates last weekend and sifting through the responses to Andrew Jacked racking up his third career win at the Texas Pro, I found myself wondering if he was the bodybuilding equivalent of Buffalo Bills All-Pro Quarterback Josh Allen.
For those of you who aren’t NFL fans, there are a few things you need to understand about the Bills’ QB1. First, at 6’5 and nearly 240lbs, he’s one of the most physically imposing, and athletically gifted athletes to ever take snaps under center. He also happens to be the face of the franchise for one of the most notoriously rabid fan bases in the NFL – the Bills Mafia – who believe wholeheartedly that he’s the savior who’s going to deliver them their first Lombardi Trophy and rescue them from a wretched decades long Super Bowl drought.
Aside from their obvious God-given physical talents for their respective sports, both Andrew and Allen came into their pro careers with giant question marks surrounding their readiness for the level of competition because they both cut their teeth against comparatively lesser talented opponents at the amateur level – the IFBB Elite Pro League and a fledgling D1 football program at the University of Wyoming. However, despite the initial skepticism, they both also managed to find success relatively quickly, and establish themselves as two truly powerful forces who can go toe-to-toe with their best in the world on a given night.
However, despite their early success, and the fact that they both appear to be at the peak of their powers, there are still questions as to whether either of them have what it takes to raise their game up another notch to bring home their sport’s ultimate title.
To a certain extent, Andrew may have a leg up on Allen in that regard. Although it may take a small team to help prep an elite bodybuilder for an Olympia run, bodybuilding competitions are still a solo endeavor. Whereas in the case of Allen, no matter how great his individual performance is, football is still a team sport that requires complimentary play in all three phases of the game – offense, defense, and special teams – as we saw in his heartbreaking 2020 AFC Championship game loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs when his team still managed to come up short in overtime despite his virtuoso effort.
Could Andrew “dominate the Olympia” this year as Chris Aceto predicted during an RxMuscle interview on Sunday? Yes, absolutely. He might be the most genetically gifted bodybuilder in the world today, and anyone with that inherent level of talent will always have a chance to hold the sport’s highest title. Similarly, Josh Allen and the Bills could easily win the AFC East this season, secure home field in the playoffs, and set themselves up for a Super Bowl run where they’re all but guaranteed to have the most talented player on the field.
However, as we’ve seen time and again in both bodybuilding and the NFL, the most talented athletes don’t always find themselves as the last man standing. If that were the case, Flex Wheeler would be renting a storage place to house all of his Sandow Trophies; and former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick, would have a half-dozen Lombardi Trophies lining his walls. But, as fate would have it, despite their otherworldly talents, neither Wheeler or Vick ever managed to make it over the final hump.
Andrew and Allen are certainly both more than capable of being crowned world champion, but that’s a high mountain to climb in either case, and history in both sports would indicate that the odds aren’t in their favor.
