It's True, Bears DT Akiem Hicks Once Drank 40 Beers On Wing Night At Canadian Bar

Drinking stories are always great, especially when the drink totals are so massive that they put most of our drinking resumes to shame. Nothing gets this 45-year-old former farm town high school football player fired up on Facebook like a drinking story, and 6-foot-5, 332 pound Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks delivers a classic. It's about a guy, 40 unsuspecting beers, and a University of Regina bar.

During Monday Night Football, play-by-play guy Steve Levy of ESPN mentioned a 2019 interview between Hicks and an unnamed Canadian reporter. The reporter asked the hulking Hicks what he did for fun in Saskatchewan. Hicks' answer is both horrifying and heartwarming at the same time.

“Fifty cent wing night,” Hicks replied. “Fifty cent wing night with the boys. We had an all day Owl. The Owl was the campus bar. We would go there at noon, and we would drink until there was one guy left. The guy who lasted the longest won.

“One day, I drank 40 beers.”

While the beer night was wild, it doesn't compare to Hicks' journey to the NFL. He started his college career at Sacramento State when he caught the attention of LSU. Unfortunately, recruiting violations left him ineligible to play in 2009. The missed opportunity at LSU led to a job at a DirecTV call center job and eventually a football job offer from the Toronto Argonauts, which Hicks turned down in favor of an offer from the University of Regina, 740 miles northwest of Minneapolis and the nearest NFL franchise.

Hicks eventually made it to the East-West Shrine game and gained enough attention to be selected by the Saints in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

“I’ll never forget those days, man," Hicks told the Canadian reporter. "It was cool. I really enjoyed my time in Canada.”

No one knows for sure whether Hicks consumed Canadian or American beers that night. An all-out war centering on ABV (alcohol by volume) will likely break out at any moment, featuring an appearance from microbrew bro who's going to rip Hicks for his consumption. Microbrew guy wants to discuss quality instead. Another random guy who crushed beers with his fellow broke football teammates in college will also want to weigh in.

It doesn't compare to Wade Boggs' cross-country flight 107 beer story, but it's a story about Hicks' life that brings back special memories for him. The last thing I'm going to do is tell a 6-foot-5, 332 pounder that he probably should've stopped at 24 beers.