Alabama Defensive Lineman Benches 600 Pounds

Submitted by MJ14 on

That's not your mother, it's a MAN BABY!

Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams has made waves since arriving in Tuscaloosa from his homeland of Australia, standing out with his unique look and big personality as well as his performance on the field.

The latest feat from Williams that has fans buzzing came in the weight room on Thursday when the 320-pound lineman reportedly bench pressed 600 pounds.

To give that achievement some perspective, former Memphis star Dontari Poe, the top bench press performer at this year's NFL Combine, maxed out at 500 pounds on the bench press.

This was all over twitter recently, and I didn't see it posted anywhere. That's one strong dude. It's going to be one heck of a trench battle for the Michigan offensive lineman.

TheDirtyD

July 30th, 2012 at 8:16 AM ^

Yea if you can't drive anyone with your legs it's kinda pointless. Or if your pad level is too high. Or if you can't shed blocks. Or if you were a former defensive end who is now gonna play NT. Or a lot of other things Sure bench is important but uh there's a lot of other things that are too. I wouldn't worry about a dude who benches 600 lbs. What i would worry about is that he has a track record of being a good football player. Barnum isn't exactly a small weak guy himself or a slouch. I don't think this guy is any better than the good linemen that Michigan has faced over the years. Plus Michigan is used to a guy like this since Mike Martin lined up every m-f in the fall against our o-line the last 4 years.

Monocle Smile

July 30th, 2012 at 1:54 AM ^

Dontari Poe had a great combine, but he's a mediocre football player at best. Being a first-round pick was a joke. Williams is probably pretty good, but this doesn't make him an unstoppable Suh type.

Magnus

July 30th, 2012 at 6:59 AM ^

They play different positions.  Jesse Williams is going to be a nose tackle.  He might not be Ndamukong Suh, but can he handle a first-year starting center (Barnum) and a potential walk-on starter (Burzynski)?  Probably.  I don't think he's going to end the game with 15 tackles and 3 sacks, but it's going to be very tough to get an interior push.

justingoblue

July 30th, 2012 at 2:17 AM ^

http://www.muscleprodigy.com/the-top-10-strongest-college-football-play…

As of last year, the top DT's were Michigan's Mike Martin (505), Ohio's John Simon (450 in HS, unconfirmed 600+) and Alabama's Josh Chapman (580). So while 600 is definitely an amazing amount for a semi-nimble human to bench, he's only benching 3.5% more than Chapman did last year, and 15% more than Martin, probably the lowest on this list. Again, 600 is incredible, but I wouldn't be shocked if it didn't translate to complete dominance on the field.

jcorqian

July 30th, 2012 at 7:25 AM ^

I have to disagree with you.  Saying that it's only 15% more than Martin, while true, is very misleading.  This is not a linear scale; the incremental effort between benching 600 lbs and 500 lbs is an exponential difference in strength.  Another analogy would be be in track and field, where atheletes can only run 100% of their speed for a short distance, but can run 90% of their speed much, much longer.  The incremental effort is huge.

So it's not like Williams is 15% stronger than Martin, since it's not linear.  He's probably like 30% stronger (just a complete guess).

justingoblue

July 30th, 2012 at 9:32 AM ^

more than 15% more impressive. I'm just thinking that these guys all throw a ton of weight around lifting and experience different results on the field. Once you're benching 500+, I can't see where adding more weight is the most important factor in becoming a better lineman, and that's what I was trying to get across.

NOLA Wolverine

July 30th, 2012 at 10:58 AM ^

There is nothing that indicates that's true, and that analogy is not applicable. The "max" is intended as measure of the most weight you can possibly push succesfully, and any calculation you could present in defense of a relative comparision shows that it's a linear function of weight. 

rob f

July 30th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^

and dominance one-on-one, then Mandarich and MSU would have beat Messner and Michigan.  Didn't happen, though, did it?  Mandarich was a physical freak (roid-induced, of course)  who could whip Messner in the weight room; on the football field it turned out the other way around.

Ventilator

July 30th, 2012 at 2:30 AM ^

Maybe he's wearing a bench shirt. I don't know anything about this but apparently it's some sort of supportive shirt that has allowed a bodybuilder to bench over 1000lbs. with it and only 700lbs. without it. The middle area of his shirt does seem to be raised in a weird fashion.

bacon

July 30th, 2012 at 6:55 AM ^

I don't know much about weight lifting, but Larry Allen is legendary for benching 700.  I wonder if this guy can get to that level.  

BlueLotCrew

July 30th, 2012 at 7:33 AM ^

There are 12 45lb plates plus the 45lb bar... unless I'm mossing something, he's not in the 600 club yet.  This dude is a beast, and with those wrist tats, he has surely just eliminiated any sort of job in the corporate world from his future, so he better make the NFL or go back to the homeland and box kangaroos in an Outback Steak commercial.

HAILtoBO

July 30th, 2012 at 7:44 AM ^

Freak of nature. This truck driver that comes into my work can bench over 700lbs but that's cuz he's roiding. He's got YouTube video and his name is Horace if any wanted to know.