Panthers G Fanoti: Who You Calling Fat?

All I really knew about G Toniu Fanoti prior to his signing by the Panthers was that he essentially ate himself out of the league two seasons ago. His top weight supposedly pushed close to 400 lbs at one point. So I was very curious to see what kind of shape he would show up in at mini camp . See for yourself below.

Now at 340 lbs Fanoti is still a very laaarge man but he looks fairly trim in this picture. I was expecting a huge gut. I certainly wouldn’t call him fat (but maybe Phat)! Not really….I bet he's thinner than Kemo. Fanoti carries the hopes of a last chance to reclaim his place on an NFL roster and even potentially a starting position.

"I was only 20 years old" as a rookie, said Fonoti, an American Samoan who lives in Hawaii. "I had to grow up. I don't think I had matured like I should have. I think I took some things for granted and it didn't pan out the way I wanted it to.

 Spoken like a guy that has truly looked inward and decided he needed to make a change in his life style. He also decided he needed to heed the age old saying "Birds of a feather…"

Fonoti said one of the main changes he's made has been to be more careful about the people he spends time with and allows to influence him.

"Now I have a tight little group which just consists of my family, me and one or two people outside of my family," he said.

If I could get either of my teenage daughters to learn this lesson any time soon I would be a lucky man. Fanoti appears to be very focused at this point and that could in turn be a pleasant surprise for the Panthers. Keydrick Vincent may have the inside track right now but if Fanoti can get in game shape over the summer he might just yet return to battle in the trenches every Sunday.