CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After his playing days as a Panther, life changed for former left tackle Jordan Gross.
He's still around Bank of America Stadium, still talking about the game he loves as a sideline radio reporter for the team.
"It's great to be around the game of football. I think if I was to go off into the sunset and never be around Sundays in the NFL again, it'd be a tough transition," he says.
But that's not all that's different. There's a little less Gross to go around now. The once 300 pound lineman is now down to around 235 pounds, less than a year removed from the game.
"It's not overly comfortable being 305 pounds all the time. I knew the time for me to do it was to jump on it right away."
Right away he did. A pretty dramatic transition but he says it really wasn't all too complicated.
"They say motion is lotion, ya know. I think you feel better when you're moving around, and that's just kind of what I've adopted since I got done playing."
During his 11-year NFL and Panthers career, Gross says he had to eat more than normal just to keep the weight on, so naturally when he stopped, the weight dropped off.
"And now I can eat like a normal person should with lots of fruit and vegetables. Lean meats. There's really been no secret to it."
And despite maybe missing some of those high carb foods, he knew the time was right to make a change.
"It wasn't terrible to eat a whole pizza followed by ice cream all the time. But I knew that's not a formula for long-term health and longevity in life. You're body's all you have as you go through this life. It's something you really need to take care of. So for me, so far, so good."
Gross is still making an impact on Sundays, even if it is a little less of one. He says he's enjoying his retirement and that new figure each and every day.
Jordan Gross talked about his weight loss to NBC Charlotte a few times. Hear what his feelings are on diets:
