Don’t Sweat the Ball Stuff

The average athlete loses about a liter of sweat an hour; Alberto Salazar, an American marathoner, lost 3.7 liters per hour and 12 pounds of his total body weight during the 1984 Olympic marathon in Los Angeles. For NFL players, the number is lower than sweat champion Salazar, but much higher than their colleagues in sports like soccer or running. Larger bodies aren’t the only explanation for the higher amount of sweat—linemen weigh more and likely have bigger sweat glands, and more of them. Combined, a troop of sweaty football players might produce a grand total of 41745 mL of sweat per Super Bowl, or 11 gallons. That means one single, precious 10-gallon cooler of salty secretion—with a bonus gallon to make the dunking all the sweeter. Jeff and Anthony weigh in on this juicy topic.