With healthier diet, Bears’ DE Ogunleye vows to return to form
![Chicago Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams lifts defensive end Adewale Ogunleye off his feet during blocking drills at Olivet Nazarene University, Saturday, July 28, 2007, in Bourbonnais, Ill., during the second day of football training camp. M. Spencer Green, The Associated Press](https://dailyillini.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/20234_508ad46d1b49d.imageo.jpg)
Chicago Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams lifts defensive end Adewale Ogunleye off his feet during blocking drills at Olivet Nazarene University, Saturday, July 28, 2007, in Bourbonnais, Ill., during the second day of football training camp. M. Spencer Green, The Associated Press
August 9, 2007
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – No more fast food. No more Starbucks.
Adewale Ogunleye said sweets are out and a healthier diet is in, one the defensive end hopes will boost him back to the Pro Bowl while helping the Chicago Bears make another run to the Super Bowl.
Ogunleye arrived at training camp looking a little slimmer and with just nine percent body fat.
“Fast food is a no-no, and in today’s society, it’s hard to live like that,” Ogunleye said. “You’ve got to cook right. You’ve got to make sure you don’t eat fried foods. Stay away from sugar. It’s basically, not having fun with your meals. It’s really just blah, blah, blah type of meals. Bland meals. But stuff that you know … is going to benefit (you) in the long run.”
Not that there was much flab on his 6-foot-4 frame. Ogunleye said his body fat was about 11 or 12 percent in the past.
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“I was in great shape then, but every year I’ve been here, my body fat has gone lower and lower,” said Ogunleye, in his fourth season with the Bears. “I just feel like this is the best shape I’ve ever been in, and I feel primed to have a big year.”
Last season, there was a dropoff.
While the Bears reached the Super Bowl, Ogunleye wasn’t quite the player who had 15 sacks for Miami in 2003 and made the Pro Bowl or even the one who was a second alternate for the Bears two years ago. He had 6« sacks last season after recording 10 in 2005. And he was in on 58 tackles, compared to 77 the year before.
A hamstring injury kept him out of two games midseason, and Ogunleye said he might have returned too soon. Not until the postseason did he show flashes of his old self, delivering a sack against Seattle and New Orleans on the way to the Super Bowl.
“I played well in the playoffs, and that was really key for me because I was getting a little down on myself with the injuries,” Ogunleye said. “If I can stay healthy early and get off to a fast start, it’s going to be one hell of a year.”
So far, coach Lovie Smith is impressed.
“Just look at him,” Smith said. “He’ll talk a lot about his body fat being down, and that’s what we ask. That’s what you do in the offseason _ get your body in the best shape you can. That’s what he’s done. … We’re hoping to get the ‘Wale that was an All-Pro player back.”
While Ogunleye reported with a slightly different look, the defensive line is undergoing a more noticeable transformation.
Mark Anderson replaced Alex Brown as the starter at right end after delivering 12 sacks as a rookie last season, meaning there are now three players for two spots. A Pro Bowl alternate the past two seasons, Brown asked to be traded during the offseason but nothing materialized.
Now, he’s competing for snaps on the left side with Ogunleye. And if Ogunleye is upset, he’s not saying.
“That doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “Everybody makes a bigger deal of it than it is. At the end of the day, I know what’s going to happen. I know where I’m going to be. All I worry about is myself. I just wanted to have a big year. Last year was a down year.”
Ogunleye said the competition “is cool” and vowed the rotation will work.
“We have no choice but for it to work,” Ogunleye said. “Everybody’s got to try to put their egos aside and do what’s best for the team. Is it going to be frustrating? Yes, it will be. But I really, really haven’t thought about this whole situation.”
He was too focused on his conditioning to worry about that. He wants to get off to a good start and is approaching camp like it’s the regular season.
He said he feels more energetic now that the trips to fast food restaurants and Starbucks are all but a thing of the past. “Maybe once every two weeks or something,” Ogunleye said.
Note:@ Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer limped off the field midway through Wednesday’s practice with a mild sprain of his right foot.