Who is Mike Katz?
For the New York Jets in the 1950s, Mike, also known as “Superhuman” and “Big Mike Katz,” developed into one of the NFL’s strongest players.
His knowledge and passion for weightlifting earned him the moniker “Superhuman”.
Short Career of Mike Katz
Mike Katz, though, wasn’t always a self-assured and competitive athlete.
He was bullied for his appearance as a child and faced racist slurs about his faith. Naturally, Katz went on to disprove their claims and excel in every sphere of life.
After leaving the NFL, he transitioned to bodybuilding, where he established a reputation as one of the strongest heavyweight and tall-class competitors of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Body Measurements of Mike Katz
| Full Name: | Mike Katz |
| DATE OF BIRTH: | 1944 |
| ERA: | 1960, 1970, 1980 |
| PROFESSION: | Bodybuilder, NFL Player |
| NATIONALITY: | American |
| ALIAS: | Big Mike Katz & Superhuman |
| HEIGHT: | 6’1″ (185.5cm) |
| WEIGHT: | 235 to 245 pounds (106.6 – 111.1kg) |
Accomplishments
Competition Background
- 1963 Mr. Connecticut 2nd
- 1963 Mr. Insurance City 9th
- 1964 AAU Teen Mr. America; 4th Place
- 1964 AAU Teen Mr. America Most Muscular, 5th Place
- 1965 Mr. New England States 1st
- 1969 IFBB Mr. America Tall, 40th Place
- 1970 IFBB Mr. America Tall & Overall, 4th Place
- 1970 AAU Mr. East Coast Tall & Overall, 4th Place
- 1971 IFBB Universe Tall, 3rd Place
- 1971 Beat Brandon Lewi for the Heavyweight Championship of the World
- 1972 IFBB Mr. International Tall, 4th Place
- 1972 IFBB Universe Tall, 4th Place
- 1973 IFBB Universe Tall, 3rd Place
- 1974 IFBB Mr. International Tall, – 4th Place
- 1975 IFBB Universe Tall, 4th Place
- 1976 Mr. Olympia Over 200 lbs, 2nd Place
- 1980 NBA Natural Mr. America Professional, 4th Place
- 1980 IFBB World Pro Championships Did Not Place
- 1980 Retired after losing to Cooper Hayman in the National Strongman Competition
- 1981 Mr. Olympia 15th Place
“You see, you can beat a dog and it’s going to do one of two things – it’s gonna roll over and die, or it’s going to bite you and attack you. And I’m the kind of person..uh..whose the type of dog that will bite back – I wasn’t going to roll over and die.”
Biography
Young Years
In 1944, on November 14th, Mike was born. Before starting his bodybuilding career, he played professional football for the New York Jets before turning pro in the IFBB. Katz wasn’t always the athletic legend that he is now, though.
Katz experienced anti-Semitic abuse as a child. He was frequently teased for his glasses and tiny size and struggled to defend himself since he didn’t know how. He drastically lost his confidence.
His father was a star athlete and a football player. When he was a child, his father’s friends used to come up to him and inquire about his career goals. “A professional football player,” Katz retorted. He was not taken seriously.
His childhood bullying and the lack of confidence he experienced from others drove him to train and show everyone that he could grow bigger, stronger, and more self-assured.
Without a doubt, Katz developed into one of the New York Jets’ strongest players in the NFL.
Footballer Superman
He established a name for himself as a powerful and intimidating athlete while playing with the New York Jets.
Every Friday before the football game, Mike would work out in the weight room underneath the NY Jets manager’s office.
Even though many people advised against weight training because they thought it would make an athlete “robotic,” Katz knew it would make him stronger and faster than his competition.
At the time, head football coach Jess Dow could hear him working out in the gym below. The “Hell’s bells” What’s Mike doing in the weight room? Jess would yell. Friday evening, right before the game!
Katz didn’t have to reconsider his sporting career until he sustained a significant knee injury. He was able to continue playing despite the pain thanks to his enormous size and strength.
Katz was advised to participate in a few more games during his final NFL season.
“The year before the Super Bowl, I got hurt. They never gave me the chance to recover fully after my knee surgery.
How could Superman be injured, they asked as they referred to me as Superman. I thus played six games on a knee that needed surgery.
Out of the NFL
His career was ultimately irrevocably ended by this injury. His capacity to play through discomfort earned him the moniker “superhuman”.
Mike participating in a New York Jets game.
Bodybuilding Background
One of the bodybuilding underdogs of the 1970s was Katz. He finished fourth in the tall class category of the 1975 Mr. Universe competition.
Following a few amateur contests in the 1960s, Katz focused on Mr. Olympia before moving on to other competitions in the 1970s and 1980s.
By coming in second in the heavyweight division, Katz showed the world that the little boy he once was had grown into one of the best athletes ever.
His most well-known victory was the 1972 IFBB Mr. Universe title, and his 1969 IFBB Mr. America victory marked his professional debut.
A Career in the Profession
After achieving success in sports and rising to fame as a professional bodybuilder, Katz enrolled at Southern Connecticut State College, where he received his degree in 1966. After that, he was a junior high school gym instructor.
Additionally, Katz started several gyms across the nation, which his son now runs and maintains.
“Arnold liked to train legs with me because he hated it and I loved too. My motivation pushed him to bring up his thighs.”
Training
As depicted in the well-known bodybuilding movie “Pumping Iron,” Katz’s training was so rigorous during the “golden era” that he and Arnold recall using every muscle in the body, which encouraged both strength training and cardiovascular exercise.
Katz used to take three to four hours to finish a training session before he relocated to California.
But after meeting Arnold, he reduced the length of his workouts to 1.5 hours, with no breaks in between sets. Drop sets would make up the bulk of their training regimen.
Nutrition
Katz claimed that he consumed 4 pounds of hand-cut beef each day from his neighborhood butcher. Every third day he would eat pasta, and for energy, he would also consume oatmeal, bananas, and entire eggs.
Katz claimed he would consume a lot of meals high in cholesterol to get him through the strenuous exercises.
His manager Joe Weider also provided him with nutritional vitamins, and he consumed desiccated liver tablets and twice-daily protein beverages.
Influences and Idols
When Mike Katz was around 11 years old, he went to the movies and witnessed his very first Steve Reeves-starring Hercules film.
Katz explains, “It had a profound impact on me.
He quickly mailed in his registration for the Weider courses and displayed images of the featured athletes on his basement wall as motivation.
He built a temporary bench using some empty milk crates and the training instructions from the Weider handbook. It is easy to say that Steve Reeves and other well-known bodybuilders of the era strongly influenced Katz.
What Mike Katz Can Teach Us?
Mike Katz has shown us that he overcame adversity, including bullying and ridicule for his ethnicity, his size, and his use of spectacles as a child, to become one of the most powerful NFL players of his era and earn the moniker “superhuman.”
Katz didn’t stop there; he soon turned his focus to bodybuilding, where he rose to prominence as a formidable competitor in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
He demonstrated incredible strength and beauty in the tall-class divisions, demonstrating unequivocally that anyone can succeed in sports if they put in the effort.