The Pittsburgh Steelers have a special connection with Ireland. Why? It’s because their former owner, Dan Rooney, once served as the U.S. Ambassador to the small island nation. So, of course, the franchise went all out for their game in Dublin this past Sunday against the Vikings.
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Pittsburgh brought out team legends Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis to lead the Terrible Towel twirl, and plenty of other Steelers icons were in town for the festivities. Perhaps the one who left the most memorable mark was Maurkice Pouncey.
A lifelong Steeler who started 134 straight games for the club from 2010 to 2020, Pouncey played center in the tradition of greatness at that position in Pittsburgh. As an offensive lineman, he was quite beefy, generally playing at around 300 pounds early in his career.
However, in the five years since his retirement, Pouncey has lost 75 pounds and completely transformed his image. If it weren’t for his trademark neck tattoos, many Steelers fans might not have even recognized him.
Maurkice Pouncey looks great in retirement. He's over in Ireland this weekend. #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/pikvoQQkgK
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 27, 2025
Upon returning from across the pond, Pouncey appeared on his old teammate Cam Heyward’s podcast. After some casual chit-chat there, the pair even got to the subject of Pouncey’s eye-popping weight loss, at which point the center revealed that he and his twin brother Mike (who played nine years in the NFL with four Pro Bowls) actually have very fast metabolisms.
Pouncey then joked that he should have made it seem like losing the weight was harder than it really was. In reality, it wasn’t that difficult, and he went on to share some of his other weight loss secrets.
“But I will say I do the infrared sauna, and I got a bike inside of it, so I do that every single day. I do no more than 50 pounds on the heavyweight stuff like that. A lot of cardio and abs. Once you do that … and I fast too, so I don’t start eating until 12 o’clock, then I stop eating at 6:30,” said the former center.
And while Pouncey did say losing the weight was easier than some think because of his metabolism, there were still a few rough patches. The Oklahoma native said that during the first few months of his fasting regimen, it was very hard for him to stick to his rules.
“And I’m just telling you, those first two to three months, you’ve literally got to tie yourself down to the bed, like literally handcuff yourself away from the refrigerator. Because we’ve got kids, it’s very hard to not have snacks and other small groceries in the house that make you just easily go cheat right,” he continued.
However, as things tend to do if you stick with them, he started to get used to his meal schedule. He also found that he had just as much energy as ever despite fasting in the mornings and evenings.
“But once you break that placebo effect, and you tell your mind you really see that you don’t need it, you’ll still have great energy. It’s more about what you put in your body and how you have your schedule setup. If you’re not hanging out late, late, late at night.”
It’s no surprise that Pouncey has been able to achieve his weight loss goals in retirement. He accomplished nearly every one of his NFL goals during his decade in the league. He was named a Pro Bowler every year of his career except 2013 and 2015, when he suffered a torn ACL and a broken fibula, respectively, which limited him to just one game in those two seasons.
Pouncey was also a five-time All-Pro, twice on the First-Team, and thrice on the Second-Team. He was also named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade, though he didn’t ever reach the pinnacle and win that elusive Super Bowl.
And yet, he no doubt continued that great Steelers tradition of centers. He will more than likely follow Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson into the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in 2026. On Pro Football Reference’s HOF Monitor, Pouncey’s 75.18 score would be the highest among centers who are HOF-eligible but not yet in.
