Wade on Birmingham

Big men off campus

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The Biggest Loser

A new year means a new year’s resolution, maybe to stick to a diet or find entertainment in lieu of the writers’ strike.

Done and done.

Former Alabama linemen Roger Shultz (above right) and Trent Patterson (above left) have re-teamed to compete on “The Biggest Loser: Couples” for a shot at $250,000.

The NBC reality show puts overweight contestants in shape through intense training and grueling competitions. Each week, teams vote off one of the bottom two teams.

Meet the Bama Slammers.

Once a jock …

Roger serves as an associate athletic director for Jacksonville State and co-host of the sports radio show “In the Trenches” with former Auburn QB Stan White. He lists Enterprise as his hometown.

The 40-year-old husband and father played at Atlanta’s Peachtree High School before playing as a center for the Crimson Tide. While his playing weight was 269 pounds during the 1990 season, he kicks off the competition at 363 pounds.

Roger’s participation (and absence from last fall’s football season) apparently didn’t sit well with Jacksonville State’s athletic director Jim Fuller: “All of us could lose weight by not going on a reality show.”

Heaviest hitter

His teammate Trent works as a security guard at Chenango Valley High School in Binghamton, N.Y.

Originally from Syracuse, the 39-year-old husband and father starts this season at 436 pounds, a tie for the heaviest contestant in show history. (His senior year playing weight at guard? A mere 271 pounds.)

The self-titled “Bama Slammers” played from 1987 to 1990 under coaches Bill Curry and Gene Stallings. Roger and Trent, the gray team, represent the heaviest of the 10 competing teams at 799 pounds total.

Roger represents the second Alabamian to compete on the show. Melinda Suttle of Huntsville made it four weeks during the third season, dropping from 236 to 209 pounds before elimination, and down to 172 for the finale, a 64-pound loss.

The fifth season started New Year’s Day. Our contributor Ginny will have exclusive weekly recaps on the dieting duo for Wade on Birmingham.

The winners will be announced on the season finale in April.

The show airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on NBC 13.

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Shape up: more on “The Biggest Loser.”

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