The Real-Life Diet of Orlando Brown Jr., One of the Biggest Men in the NFL

Photograph: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte

Currently listed at 6’8” and 345 pounds, Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is one of the biggest men in a league full of giants. As the son of Orlando “Zeus” Brown, himself an offensive lineman, Jr. knew from an early age that his size would always be the first thing people noticed about him. As he continued to sprout during his childhood, Brown says he struggled with weight, at one point tipping the scales at over 400 pounds.

He’s slimmed down since then, and carved a very successful career because of it. Brown began his career with the Ravens, where he was named a Pro Bowler twice. Following their Super Bowl loss at the end of the 2020 season, the Kansas City Chiefs identified him as a potential upgrade to their offensive line and swung a trade with Baltimore to acquire him. Lo and behold, Brown helped KC win a ring while protecting Patrick Mahomes during the 2022 season—experience that he parlayed into a $64 million contract with the Bengals in free agency.

Throughout it all, Brown has been very candid about his weight, dietary habits (both good and bad) and his desire for everyone to get tested for diabetes, which affected several members of his family.

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

GQ: At this stage of your career, what is your preferred playing weight? What makes you feel your best?

Orlando Brown Jr.: I know everyone varies, but for me it's a ten-pound swing between 345 and 355. The closer to 350, the better I feel. I feel like myself and I feel very comfortable. This year, I pretty much played at 351-353 all season. That’s really where I think I play my best ball.

So you’re very aware of this. 351 is a very specific number!

[laughing] It really is! It’s something that I had to grow accustomed to. Weight was something that I always really struggled with. Being able to keep it down or maintain a certain weight was always difficult for me. In the last two years I’ve been able to handle up and do what I need to do. Through trial and error, it helped me find a specific area. That 351 is where I like to be.

When did your initial growth spurt happen?

My whole life—my dad was huge! I can run you through everything, because I do remember. In kindergarten, I was the biggest kid in fifth grade. Second-biggest kid, actually. There was a kid named Kelsey that was bigger than me. By the time I was in third grade I was 5’7”. Fourth grade I was 5’9”, fifth grade I was 6’0”. In eighth grade, going into high school, I was 6’4”. I left high school at 6’6” and left college at 6’8”.

I’m one of those people that just never stopped growing. I remember being in high school and my joints would hurt so bad. My wrists, my elbows, my hips, my knees, my ankles especially were so tight. My body was changing so much, and on top of that, freshman year of high school I was like 450 pounds. I’ve always been a very large individual.

And you could just eat whatever you wanted back then?

Hell yeah. That’s the thing about my lifestyle that was somewhat unique. My dad played in the league for 13 years, and he was a pro in terms of his approach to diet. His biggest thing for me growing up was, he didn’t want me to play ball! He just allowed me to be a kid. I truly was on my ass playing video games, eating whatever cereal I wanted for the first 12 years of my life, I would say.

In eighth grade, I dove into ball and started taking it serious. That’s when I got a better understanding of diet and hydration.

What were the keys to you shedding the weight?

My second and third year—third year for sure, the COVID season—I played closer to 415. I was successful and able to play my game, but there was a lot of stuff I wasn’t able to do in terms of natural movements and functional strength. I really had to focus on stepping away from the table! Not only that, but applying time to my diet to understand the foods that I need to eat, when I need to eat, and when I need to stop snacking.

You had to get comfortable with going to bed hungry.

That shit works, bro. Intermittent fasting, for me, is the best and most successful way that I lose weight. That shit fucking sucks, yeah, but eating from 2:00-6:30—[starting with a] small lunch, finishing my dinner around 5:30-6:00, and then a snack by 6:30 if I’m still hungry after that—that helped me get in the right shape, and weirdly, without losing a ton of muscle mass. I was really just losing fat.

You’re not eating breakfast at all?

I don’t. I’ll do a smoothie in the mornings, super simple. Vegan Thorne protein, a little bit of cinnamon, some ice, and that’s really it, with a water or almond milk mixed in there. I might eat an apple with that depending on how hungry I am before my workout. After the workout I’ll do another smoothie. Then for lunch, I might have a smaller salad with some type of protein. I’m not eating a ton of calories, even when I’m maintaining [weight]. Then I’ll have a normal, regular-sized dinner.

Are you vegan?

It’s just the smoothie. I’m not vegan. I got my own opinion on that type of stuff. There are benefits to it, but my body needs protein. There’s a few dudes. I think [offensive lineman] Billy Turner, who played for Green Bay for a little bit, and I could be wrong, but I believe [11-time Pro Bowl tackle] Trent Williams is a vegan. [Note: Williams was vegan, but has tweaked his diet since.]

What are you normally eating for dinner?

My girl does all the cooking in our house. She’s the shit, straight up. Last night was a simple meal. I wish I could tell you how she marinated the chicken, but it was grilled chicken with butter beans. If we are going to do a carb it’s brown rice or quinoa. There’ll be some arugula in there. I know that a lot of what we do is anti-inflammatory based, in-season especially.

You’re saving a lot of money on the personal chef.

Seriously! She’s on it in terms of education and understanding. She’s really helped me in my career.

What foods that you never had as a kid are a big part of your diet now?

There’s a lot. I have a great palate. I love anchovies, you know what I mean? I’ll eat pretty much anything now. I was not into raw fish, but that as something that I got into when I went down to train in Miami—sashimi, staying away from the rice and carbs.

Another one? My girl makes carrots. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was four years old. I never really ate carrots! But we eat them all the time. When they’re cooked a certain way, I really like them.

What about the flip side? What foods from childhood do you find yourself missing the most?

Cereal. Seriously, I think in our house, we had every selection you could think of. My brother was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was eight years old and I was nine. So, we didn’t just leave these things out, but we had Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Cap’n Crunch, Apple Jacks. It was great!

Now you do a lot of work to raise awareness about diabetes, right?

It’s a cause that hits home for me. I was able to see firsthand with his experience, and both of my grandparents on my dad’s side passed away from complications with Type 1 diabetes. My dad passed away from ketoacidosis, which is a form of diabetic coma. In the last two years, I entered a trial that draws your blood and lets you know if you have the antibodies for Type 1. I don’t, I tested negative. But the same trial has found positives in kids, parents, aunties, uncles. The science and research for diabetes has come so far, and there’s so much more information now in terms of nutrition.

I remember when my brother was young, we would have to look through nutritional books to see how many calories were in a Big Mac. Now, if you go on DoorDash or look at any menu, they’ve got the calorie intake right there. Things are a lot easier to find, but I want to raise awareness to help those in need. [Former college and Baltimore Ravens teammate] Mark Andrews, [a Type 1 diabetic] that’s my brother. He’s another guy who I’ve learned a lot from as well. It’s crazy how the world works.

Do you have a go-to pregame meal?

This is another weird thing about me. I don’t eat on game day. At all! I have an amino complex, like a calcium-magnesium situation that I make pregame. I shake it up in a bottle with some BeetElite [pre workout], some C4, and some other supplements that I take. But I have to play—and practice—on an empty stomach. I won’t eat lunch in-season. If we practice at 2:00, I’ll have breakfast and leave it at that. I can’t have that sitting on my stomach going out on the field. I don’t feel right. I feel tired, sluggish, lazier.

Now, if we have an 8:30 game, I’ll eat breakfast. Omelet with spinach, mushrooms, some kind of protein in there, half a bowl of grits, call it a day! I can’t eat after the game either. I probably spend close to 24 hours without eating anything.

During the offseason, do you allow yourself to cheat? Or are you still pretty diligent about your diet?

In the past, when the season ended, I would take a full month and just live like a regular person. I legitimately would be like, Hey, if I’m hungry at 12:30 at night, I’m gonna get after it. This offseason has been different. I only took about nine days off and then went right back to work. For those nine days, I ate what the fuck I wanted to eat, when I wanted to eat it!

My biggest issue—obviously, one of the reasons I’m so damn big—is sweets. I’m a sucker for anything sugar. Name something: milkshakes, cake, Reese’s. Oh my gosh, that's the worst stuff for you. Sugar intake, carbs, processed foods, that’s the stuff we stay away from when I really crack down on everything. I’m not really crazy about candy, to be honest with you, but I just had Milk Duds for the first time. Those are so damn good! If I were to choose my late night, most unhealthy snack you can find? It’d be a milkshake.

How does your weight room routine change during the offseason?

The thing about football—or any professional sport—your body is so important. I take this time of year to beat myself up. I’m doing all the traditional lifts: deadlifts, back squats, heavy benches, hang cleans, power cleans, pushing crazy amounts of weight on the sled. I use this time to re-shape the foundation of my body. Everything is pretty much sketched out in that area. Once I get in-season, things are a lot different. It’s slower paced, and I’m still benching, but I’m not doing most of the traditional lifts. We’re leg pressing as opposed to squatting, stuff like that.

Which workout do you dread the most?

I just got to the point of my career where I’m like, I love this shit. I’m gonna wake up every day and go get it. For a long time—probably up until last year—I did not. That was the one part of the game that I really struggled buying into, for whatever reason. Laziness, immaturity, lack of success in that area. I really struggled in the weight room, period!

But in the last year, I’ve fallen in love with it and the benefits it’s had for my body. Prior to that, I was training on my own at the University of Oklahoma. It was an immature approach. It didn’t necessarily alter my natural ability on the field, but there were times where I think back to my first year in Kansas City, and I was not able to perform the way I wanted to. I was not the guy I needed to be in those pivotal moments for us: third down in the AFC Championship Game, those big primetime games. I was getting beat in those moments. I had to humble myself.

Andy Reid made a comment to me after that [2021] season, my fourth year. He said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever had a real offseason.” I told him, straight up, “I don’t feel like I have either.” I just finished up year six, and I feel like that was the first season I really took this weight room shit, my body, and my diet seriously.

What’s the worst part about being as big as you are?

I love clothes, and it’s somewhat hard to find clothes. I think I still do a pretty good job, but they’re hard to find. Some of the other obvious things: sleeping in hotel beds is always weird for me, I have to duck under almost every doorway. The average doorway is 6’8”, and I’m right there. That’s really it, though. I love my size and I’m very thankful I was given it. It’s done so much for me in my life that I really can’t complain.

How often do you talk about this stuff—diet, training, shedding or maintaining weight—with other guys around the league, whether they’re teammates or people from other teams?

All the time. With my position, it’s very rare that a guy struggles to lose weight. We have to eat so many calories to maintain this, which is why when offensive linemen get done, they’re down to 250. It’s the exact opposite for me. I don’t really come from those genetics. My dad stopped playing and put on 30 pounds! It’s very rare that I run into someone with my similar metabolism or body type, but when I do, I’m always able to get or give great advice.

You’re also in a line of work where it’s totally normal to talk about weight with your coworkers. Have you just become numb to that, because it’d be a very uncomfortable conversation for most people.

You know, I did struggle with that. When I got to college, that was the first time where there was a set weight for me that I had to be at. That was somewhat of a shock. As a 19-year-old, it was hard to wrap my mind around the difference between 360 and 340. Once I understood the importance of my health—I’ve got two kids now, that factors into it—I got no issues talking about it today.

Originally Appeared on GQ