When people around professional sports think about insane drinking stories, the first name that comes to mind is Andre the Giant. The iconic wrestler was known for his immense size, larger-than-life personality, and insane drinking habits. One amazing story claimed he drank 14 bottles of wine before his match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III. While Akiem Hicks isn’t that crazy, he certainly doesn’t lack for impressive feats.
The Chicago Bears Pro Bowl defensive end is a big boy in his own right at 6’5, 335 lbs. So it stands to reason the man can hold his alcohol if necessary. While he’s not nearly the purveyor of booze these days, it turns out he could throw them down at a ridiculous pace years ago.
People don’t remember this, but Hicks actually went to college at Regina University up in Canada. The drinking age in that country is 19, so one can bet he partook in that lifestyle quite heavily. As it turns out, things got a little competitive between himself and teammates as he told Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun.
“Fifty cent wing night,” Hicks answered with a hearty laugh. “Fifty cent wing night with the boys. We had an all day Owl. The Owl was the campus bar. We would go there at noon. And we would drink until there was one guy left. The guy who lasted the longest won.
“One day I drank 40 beers.”
What? Forty? Come on.
“I’ve never drank that many beers in my life,” said Hicks. “But those Canadians got me going, man. The drinking age was 19, so we had guys … oh, maybe this shouldn’t be in the article (more laughter). We had a good time, man. We had a really good time.”
According to the Washington Post who did a study, the average human drinks 10 alcoholic beverages per day. This is among the top 10% of American drinkers. Not people who did it far less frequently. So among people who drink the most, Hicks still outdid them by drinking four times as much in one sitting. His liver must’ve really hated him that night.
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If nothing else it’s a fitting testament to the freak of nature he is.
