Kevin Schroeder (a.k.a. Dancing Kevin) was the Columbus Blue Jackets’ “biggest fan.” He still is, only he’s taking up much less space.
For over ten years, Schroeder has been a fixture at games as he dances wildly yet rhythmically with his shirt off, appearing on the arena’s big screen during timeouts to help elevate the crowd.
Those appearances led to commercials and billboards, to performances with Poison and REO Speedwagon. He threw out the first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers game. Journalists clamored to interview the Blue Jackets’ “biggest fan.”
His weight continued to climb. His mom noticed. He told her he was fine. She went with him to a game and watched him stroll through the arena like a celebrity.
“You couldn’t walk five steps without someone stopping to talk to him, because they all liked him,” Katie Schroeder says. (Columbus Dispatch)
He has been praised for being comfortable in his own skin, but at 358 pounds, he really wasn’t.
“I am a little scared of my skin,” he told the Columbus Dispatch in January.
That’s why the 44-year-old decided to drop the weight. He stopped going to games, he used the team’s training facility, and he cut out those all-too-accessible hot dogs and loaded nachos.
For the first time since his serious weight loss attempt, Schroeder attended a Bluejackets game on Monday night, and he did it 62 pounds lighter.
Of course, he stripped down and exposed his painted belly for fans, who cheered him on as he danced.
Dancing Kevin is still the team’s biggest fan, just a much healthier version.
