Running back Tarik Cohen had the same realization millions of men of a certain age come to every year.
"I let myself get fat," Cohen said Tuesday in his first interview since signing with the New York Jets in May. "I was at 207, 208, [fat] rolls on the side. I was at the pool and my friend took a picture and sent it to me, and I almost threw my phone against the wall."
Been there, Tarik, been there.
The former Pro Bowl returner said he started getting into shape without designs on an NFL return after being out of football since 2020.
"I turned it on without the intention of coming back to the NFL," he said, via the team's official website. "I started grinding. When I first saw I was fat, I signed up for a boxing gym and I got a sauna built in my home. Then when I was losing weight, I started working out and changed my diet.
"I eat steak and eggs now. Really, that's my only diet. Like cheetahs and lions only eat to survive, that's what I do now."
Cohen's NFL career has been in survival mode since a gruesome knee injury wiped out his promising trajectory.
A fourth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2017, Cohen got off to a smashing start, playing a pass-catching back role and proving to be a dynamic returner, particularly on punts. After signing a three-year extension in 2020, Cohen was hit on a fair catch in Week 3 against Atlanta, tearing his ACL and MCL and fracturing his tibial plateau.
It was an injury he's yet to return from.
He spent the 2021 season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. In 2022, the Bears released him. After an Achilles tear in training, he was cleared to return in 2023 and eventually landed on the Carolina Panthers practice squad, where a hamstring injury sidelined any real chance to be elevated. Carolina released him in May 2024. Shortly after that, he signed with the Jets.
Cohen's best chance to win a job is likely from the new kickoff rules. Given his previous proclivity as a punt returner, the new format could be in Cohen's wheelhouse if he can stay healthy.
"It's very exciting for me," he said. "I feel like it's a custom-tailored position that they added to football that I can just get out there and compete and play and do well in."
Cohen might be a long shot to make the roster, but at this point, any chance is worth trying. And, hey, at least he's no longer fat.
"That definitely crept into my mind, that you're never going to play again," Cohen said. "That's why I just treat every day like it's a blessing, put my best foot forward and just remember the times I was at home watching everybody on TV."
