If you happened to notice, I became rather enamored with the dude that ate the 20-pound burger last week. I mean: look at that burger. It’s just awesome. (Though, not as awesome as some of these.) So, since I was curious about some of the particulars surrounding the event, I tracked Brad Sciullo down, the 21-year-old superstar that accomplished the feat, for an interview. What follows is a good chunk of our phone conversation from earlier this afternoon.
How did you eat it? Bare hands? Fork and knife?
Bare hands, bare hands. I cut pieces off of it. I started with taking the top bun off and ate the toppings off the bun, so that I could use it to dip the meat if I felt like it. Then, I started to cut wedges off of the patty and I’d eat them — that included the cheese of course. And after I got done with that, I moved on to the debris of the patty as well as the onions and lettuce and all that stuff on the bottom of the bun. That was sort of like eating a big taco salad. After I scraped all that off the bun, it was on to the bottom of the bun and I was ready to roll.
What does this do to your body?
It acts as an insulator — like wall insulation. If you didn’t have insulation in your walls, it would be colder in your house or it would be hotter in your house. You’d experience up and down temperature changes. But by insulating the walls, you can regulate heat and you can regulate the temperature. You go up into the attic with full insulation and nothing closing it off — it’s quite hot up there no matter what the temperature is outside. So that’s what it does to your body.
What about, like, um, going to the bathroom? Is it a different experience?
I drank nine Diet Cokes, so I took a few bathroom breaks of course. On the third one, I just dumped my head in the sink to cool off.
What about the day after? Was it normal? Was it bad?
It all eventually (comes out). By the time you wake up the next morning, you feel different.
Was there a crowd around?
Oh yeah. In fact, the regulars were there and they heard that somebody was going to try the burger and when they realized I had got through half the patty in about 40 minutes, which is really quicker than anyone’s done, and it’s a two-man challenge mind you — so they said “you know, there might be something up.” People came in and they continued to stay; some people would leave and come back and everybody was watching at the end of it, especially when they realized I was going to go ahead and finish it. They were big supporters; it was a fantastic crowd. The Denny’s (Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub) staff was great. They made sure I had plenty of paper towels, asked me if I was good and gave me fresh drinks.
What would you say to people that think your feat is gross or disgusting?
I would start by asking them if they had any particular athletic interest, and say they told me jogging. And I’d say, “Well, what if you jogged 20 miles when normally you only jog four. Wouldn’t you try to strive for that?”
To me, it’s the accomplishment. This is a passion of mine; this is my sport. Just like they would try and compete to win a marathon of some sort, I am trying to compete and defeat this burger as an accomplishment — it’s another thing under my belt. And I also can test my skill with it. I never thought my jaws would have held up as well as they did and of course they were extremely sore afterwards. It felt like I got beat up. My capacity I always trusted.
No one had done it. That’s another thing: what if you were the first jogger to ever jog 20 miles? That makes it an even bigger deal. Swimming, jogging, tennis, baseball, football … there are all these accomplishments there. This one was one of mine. This was a competitive eating accomplishment.
So no one had ever eaten this burger before (the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser) or just a burger this big in general?
In general. In fact, two people. Like I said, this is a two-man challenge and no one had even come close before. The biggest burger anyone had finished (at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub) was the Ye’ Olde 96er (six pounds plus toppings and the bun) which is the burger below this particular burger.
So then you had this burger, which was a myth in the eating world. We all talked about it, and we all thought it would be fun to take on some day. But I said to myself “this is the kind of stuff, this is why people don’t go further in sports, when they believe that none of this can happen. When they believe (someone) like Michael Phelps (can’t happen). Who’d of thought a swimmer could take all the medals like that? Nobody. It was a myth. Everybody thought ‘I’m good at this event or that, boy it would be nice to take those medals.’”
Well, Michael Phelps decided he was going to do it and he did it. It wouldn’t have mattered how physically ready I was for this — it wouldn’t have mattered in the least. If for one second I said to myself “I can’t do this or I don’t want to do this or maybe I shouldn’t do this,” I would have been done. I’d have felt sick, I’d have felt terrible, I’d have been in just awful shape mentally and physically if I’d given up the zone.
The only time I talked is when I wasn’t eating and that was about ten minutes of the time.
Final thoughts from Brad:
It’s opening some eyes. This is great for all competitive eaters. Everyone of us is going to benefit from this because this raises the bar. I’m guaranteeing you that from this day forward bigger numbers will be put up — numbers like no one’s ever seen. Things that make this look ridiculously easy because everyone’s going to realize that this is possible. That someone like myself — who isn’t as good as the top-ranked eaters — can do this this is going to send everyone into a frenzy. And it’s going to be great for the sport in general.
And what’s next:
I’m either going to go back to Denny’s and eat every one of their burgers on their menu in the same day, which will equal about what that burger weighed. I’ll eat the two-pounder, the three-pounder, and the Ye’ Olde 96er in the same day. Or I’m going to do a pizza competition.
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