Christian Jones was shocked when Andrew Billings recalled the historic athletic streak he snapped as a high schooler in Texas, the state both Jones and Billings call home.
It was not in football. It was in powerlifting.
"You broke Mark Henry's (record)?" Jones said to his locker neighbor. "What?"
That's Mark Henry, the former WWE superstar who earned the moniker "World's Strongest Man" and competed in the Olympics. After Henry held the Texas state meet record for 22 years, an 18-year-old Billings in 2012 smashed Henry's mark, lifting 2,010 total pounds. It included squatting 805 pounds, deadlifting 705 pounds, and bench pressing 500 pounds.
That was the end of Billings' powerlifting career, because from there his football career took off.
"I didn't know how big of a deal that was in the football world until recruiting and starting talking about it," Billings said. "I think it really helped me out, even being here today."
NFL.com named the then-Baylor defensive lineman "College Football's Strongest Player" in 2015.
The Cardinals are the fifth team Billings will have played for since getting drafted in 2016. His previous stops were with the Bengals, Browns, Raiders, before playing the last three seasons with the Bears.
After the Cardinals released Dalvin Tomlinson, they brought in Billings and Roy Lopez to fill the nose tackle responsibilities. Lopez is coming off of his best statistical season last year. He had career-highs with two sacks and five quarterback pressures to go along with 30 tackles. Over the last three seasons in Chicago, Billings started 39 of 42 games and recorded 71 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and two sacks.
When Billings walks on the field, his presence is immediately noticed. The heaviest player on the team, the 6-foot-1 defensive tackle measured in at 340 pounds.
"Can you imagine trying to move him?" coach Mike LaFleur said. "He's another guy that loves chopping it up there in between those 'A' gaps. Him and Roy have had a really good 10 days. It's good to get Roy back. Obviously I didn't know Roy, but this building did. To bring those two guys in that played a lot of football at the position, you think about first and second down and that's key and critical to make sure you're plugging up those gaps."
Billings said there is a massive difference in his weightlifting regiment during football season since powerlifting is not conducive to playing football. "I tell my wife these are corporate lifts," Billings joked, but said the workout programs in the NFL are centered around tendon work that could help with explosiveness.
With his size and strength, Billings said there are moments late in the second and fourth quarter where he could sense the advantages from his powerlifting background.
"The one thing about powerlifting is as much as it's about strength, it's about technique and helps you push through things," Billings said. "You don't even want to open your eyes half the time, but just pushing past that mental block, it helps you with that. Especially when you're in football. You're tired and probably just got blown up on one play. You're brain is like, 'what are you doing?' But it's pushing past it and telling yourself you got it."
Which is what Billings hopes the kids learn from the football camp he will be hosting Saturday in Waco, Texas. His high school named its weight room after him and hosts the annual Andrew Billings Powerlifting Invitational for both boys and girls. In 2024, Billings was the Bears' nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year, with Billings giving away bikes, helmets, and books for students who missed less than two days of school.
"The why is within the kids, man," Billings said. "It brings more joy to me damn near than it does to them. Lay down at night and remember that kid, or sometimes they even text me what they're doing now. That's something I would have liked. I'm glad I could do that for them because some of them are going to make it and I hope they come back and do what I'm doing."
