# Is any professional sportsperson as large as Pat Hurst? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126 "2006-07-04T03:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/21 "2006-07-04T16:37:42Z")
George Foreman won the heavyweight title (for the second time) when he was at least 40 pounds overweight and admittedly not in the greatest shape. Compare the 1974 ripped intimidating monster who lost to Ali to the pudgy, affable uncle who beat Moorer 20 years later. And even though there’s no weight cap _per se_ for heavyweight boxing, it does strongly tend to reward those who are lean and in good shape. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/22 "2006-07-04T16:45:22Z")
This is too [easy.](http://images.scotsman.com/2006/06/28/2006-06-28T100942Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_2_OUKTP-UK-SOCCER-WORLD-BRAZIL.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Gene\_Frenkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gene\_Frenkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gene_Frenkle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/23 "2006-07-04T16:54:12Z")
The post regarding Ronaldo aka El Guardito just shows why soccer is the ultimate sport- he is probably the only guy in the entire world who plays in a top league that is even a little bit pudgy! You simply cannot be even mariginally overweight and be a top soccer player. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/24 "2006-07-04T17:01:39Z")
> [@Gene Frenkle](#): > > The post regarding Ronaldo aka El Guardito just shows why soccer is the ultimate sport- he is probably the only guy in the entire world who plays in a top league that is even a little bit pudgy! You simply cannot be even mariginally overweight and be a top soccer player. ARGGHH no. If “must be in insanely good shape and not even a little bit fat” is the indicator of the ultimate sport, may I direct your attention to the ongoing Tour de France? What, boring as shit, you say? But those guys are all _skinny and in great shape_! …and what’s more, they don’t have to flop and writhe on the ground, in order to try and get the referee to call a foul on their opponent, as part and parcel of the game. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gene\_Frenkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gene\_Frenkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gene_Frenkle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/25 "2006-07-04T17:37:14Z")
**OneCentStamp** - touche 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/26 "2006-07-04T18:00:48Z")
Tony Kronheiser stuck a former NBA Bullet with the GREATEST. NICKNAME. EVAR. [John “Hot Plate” Williams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sam_Williams) (there was a John"Hot Rod" Williams contemporary in the NBA). Hot Plate actually had a pretty good NBA career, lasting about 7 seasons - but he certainly was 6’8 350ish by the end there. [“Dinner Bell” Mel Turpin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Turpin) was another NBA player who struggled with his weight. I think though he suffers more from comparision to his draft class (Jordan, Barkley, Akeem and Stockton) than trully his weight - he certainly never looked to me like Williams did at the end. To the OP toward the end - Williams looked every bit as proportionally fat as Hurst to me (based on my subjective eyesight through TV) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/27 "2006-07-04T18:30:39Z")
Two men that ate themselves out of the NBA. I give to you… Your starting [center](http://clayvision.net/nbalinks/udgr/omillerudgr00.jpg)…[Oliiiiiverrrrrrr Miiiiiiillllerrrrrrrrrr](http://www.hognation.net/baskpics/bigo.jpg) Your starting power forward…the Reign Man…[Shaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sports.tom.com/uimg/2005/12/7/shaojinrong/ShawnKemp05120701_35352.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sports.tom.com/2005-12-07/0426/80389771.html&h=537&w=500&sz=35&hl=en&start=69&tbnid=0DLy1SvfKJoioM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshawn%2Bkemp%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN) [Kemmmmmmmp](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020331/LocalSports/137282-44416.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020331/LocalSports/137282.shtml&h=397&w=269&sz=33&hl=en&start=102&tbnid=4T3oMj8GUFllUM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshawn%2Bkemp%26start%3D100%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN) I’d also like to add [Laura](http://www.golftoday.co.uk/news/yeartodate/images/davies.jpg) [Davies](http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040305/sp.jpg) if we wish to keep this to just ladies’ golf. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/28 "2006-07-04T19:26:05Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > Does darts count? [Andy Fordham](http://www.topfp.nl/new%20shots/images/andy.jpg) could give anyone a run for their money. Well, a very short, breathless trot for their money, anyway. He’s had to withdraw from competitions a couple of times from exhaustion because he was so out of shape he couldn’t stand up under the lights for the duration of a match. This would be #47 on the list of why you should go on a diet. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/29 "2006-07-04T19:27:21Z")
There was the famous Sheffield goalkeeper William “fatty” Foulke(s), who played at the beginning of the 20th. century. He was about 6 foot 3 inches in height, and weighed about 22 stone (308 pounds). Here is his [biog](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3641708) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/30 "2006-07-04T23:46:43Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > Two men that ate themselves out of the NBA. I give to you… > > Your starting [center](http://clayvision.net/nbalinks/udgr/omillerudgr00.jpg)…[Oliiiiiverrrrrrr Miiiiiiillllerrrrrrrrrr](http://www.hognation.net/baskpics/bigo.jpg) > > Your starting power forward…the Reign Man…[Shaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sports.tom.com/uimg/2005/12/7/shaojinrong/ShawnKemp05120701_35352.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sports.tom.com/2005-12-07/0426/80389771.html&h=537&w=500&sz=35&hl=en&start=69&tbnid=0DLy1SvfKJoioM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshawn%2Bkemp%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN) [Kemmmmmmmp](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020331/LocalSports/137282-44416.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020331/LocalSports/137282.shtml&h=397&w=269&sz=33&hl=en&start=102&tbnid=4T3oMj8GUFllUM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshawn%2Bkemp%26start%3D100%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN) > > I’d also like to add [Laura](http://www.golftoday.co.uk/news/yeartodate/images/davies.jpg) [Davies](http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040305/sp.jpg) if we wish to keep this to just ladies’ golf. Shawn Kemp in particular was a sad case because, in his twenties, he was probably the most explosive athlete of that size (6’10", 245) the NBA had _ever_ seen. Guys like Oliver Miller and Stanley Roberts and Kevin Duckworth were lumbering behemoths to start with, so it’s less tragic that they became _plodding_ lumbering behemoths. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/31 "2006-07-06T03:28:22Z")
Yeah, Shawn Kemp is definitely a sad case. God damn he was so good early in his days… ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/32 "2006-07-06T04:14:48Z")
How about [Konishiki](http://www.konishiki.net/eng/gallery/index.html), the ozeki sumo wrestler? He was great (though never a yokozuna) _at_ that size. I remember seeing him interviewed once, when he had just walked about fifty yards and was terrribly out of breath from the exertion. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/33 "2006-07-06T13:42:34Z")
> [@kevegan](#): > > While watching highlights from the recently concluded U.S. Women’s Open, won for the third time by Annika Sorenstam, I wondered if anyone in modern sports is as large as the person she beat in the play-off, Pat Hurst. England’s Laura Davies is also heavily built, and going back a long time I remember a Canadian snooker player called Bill Werbenuik, who was also big. But snooker isn’t as much as a physical type of sport as golf, so it’s a special case. > > Is there anyone who has made it to the top of their chosen professional sport while being in such poor shape as Pat Hurst? Do you really mean “as large as Pat Hurst” or “in such poor shape as Pat Hurst”? Because I guarantee every single offensive lineman in the NFL and probably every single offensive lineman in division I college football out weighs her. Hundreds and hundreds of athletes are as large as Pat Hurst. Pat Hurst, while heavy, still played 36 damn good holes of golf on Sunday. She probably walked about 8 miles that day, after walking 4 each of the previous 2 days. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/34 "2006-07-06T13:56:31Z")
The Royals’ [Runelvys Hernandez](http://www.ljworld.com/art/apps/pennynews/1110371292_sptscubs.jpg), originally intended to be one of the team’s top two starters was so overweight this year, he didn’t make the team out of spring training. Terry Forster was rather rotund, as I recall, though I can’t find a good image on line to demonstrate it. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/35 "2006-07-06T14:09:25Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Do you really mean “as large as Pat Hurst” or “in such poor shape as Pat Hurst”? … Pat Hurst, while heavy, still played 36 damn good holes of golf on Sunday. She probably walked about 8 miles that day, after walking 4 each of the previous 2 days. Obviously there’s something deceptive about the way she looks – like David Wells or Bobby Jenks, she must be quite strong and have considerable stamina to do what she does. I suppose some extra weight is not going to be the disadvantage it would be for a basketball point guard or a shortstop. She doesn’t need to sprint or jump high or run 26 miles in 2 hours, and clearly she has the strength to walk all day in the sun and smack golf balls father than I could ever hope to. So somehow I doubt she’s also chain-smoking, eating all her meals at Popeye’s, and getting on a Rascal when she goes to Wal-Mart. I know nothing about golf of the non-little-windmill variety – although I do know that Phil Mickelson resembles me more than he does Tiger Woods – but maybe someone here who does can answer: isn’t there a point at which the extra weight is going to hurt her? Or is lugging around 20 or so extra pounds not that huge an issue in a sport that doesn’t put huge stress or ankles and knees? ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/36 "2006-07-06T22:49:39Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > Obviously there’s something deceptive about the way she looks – like David Wells or Bobby Jenks, she must be quite strong and have considerable stamina to do what she does. I suppose some extra weight is not going to be the disadvantage it would be for a basketball point guard or a shortstop. She doesn’t need to sprint or jump high or run 26 miles in 2 hours, and clearly she has the strength to walk all day in the sun and smack golf balls father than I could ever hope to. So somehow I doubt she’s also chain-smoking, eating all her meals at Popeye’s, and getting on a Rascal when she goes to Wal-Mart. I was going to, ahem, “weigh in” along these lines. I admit I know very little about golf, but by looking at the photos I don’t understand why one would assume she’s in “such poor shape.” She’s certainly in good enough shape to be an excellent golfer. What other standard would you apply to her? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126/37 "2006-07-07T01:38:37Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > I know nothing about golf of the non-little-windmill variety… > > …a sport that doesn’t put huge stress or ankles and knees? Actually, golf can put considerable stress on ankles and knees. It’s not because of compression, like in many other sports, but instead in torque. [Cite #1](http://www.drfoot.co.uk/golf%20injuries%20feet.htm). And from [Cite #2](http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/tiger-woods.html): > [@](#): > > Although not the most common cause of injury in golf, the knee can still be a problem. During the back swing, the left knee (for a righthander) is forced into external tibial rotation as the pelvis rotates to the right, and a valgus force is imparted on the knee as the weight transfers on to the medial border of the left foot and the ankle everts. > > On follow-through the weight transfers to the lateral border of the foot and the tibia internally rotates as the femur externally rotates while the trunk and pelvis powerfully uncoil into left rotation. The second cite is actually an interesting read on how such a knee injury has plagued Tiger Woods over the years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-professional-sportsperson-as-large-as-pat-hurst/363126.md?page=1)