The same applies in the NFL, with many football players being large ... Officially the shortest player the NFL has ever seen, Jack Shapiro managed to defy the odds and make it in a land of behemoths.

Jack Shapiro, 54, of Holbrook — who officials say retired from the NYPD more than a decade ago — became unresponsive as he surfed just off the Babylon beach around 2:20 p.m. Sunday ...