Normally when offensive linemen are associated with food, the implication is pancake blocks.
Nick Gargiulo took a different approach.
South Carolina’s 6-foot-5, 327 Ib. offensive line transfer from Yale did not take long to find a favorite spot in Columbia, or to set a record there.
Word of his heroics circulated quickly, and the graduate student finally revealed the story on Tuesday.
“Jack Brown’s in Five Points,” he started. “I did go break the record there; I did eat ten burgers. However, someone went there like three or days later and re-broke it, so I am no longer a champion, and I have no intentions of going back after that.”
Jack Brown’s Beer & on Burger Joint on Harden Street does exactly what it says on the tin. Burgers, beer — over 100 craft, in fact — and the unmistakable charm of a college town bar.
A garnet flag reading “It’s Great To Be A Gamecock” waves above the bar. A South Carolina women’s soccer scarf is proudly displayed in the back. A “Go Gamecocks” sign made of license plates from various states stands just above a chalkboard, which displays the establishment's most famous recent contribution.
The burger challenge. It is as simple as it reads. Come in, eat as many burgers as you can, and you get your name on the board. It was enough for Gargiulo.
“It was probably like a month ago,” Jack Brown’s cook Bri told GamecockScoop. “I can’t remember the exact date and time, but I cooked his burgers for him.”
Gargiulo put away 10 cheeseburgers, a feat nobody at the time had accomplished. It was only the latest moment for the player who has already established himself as a leader in South Carolina’s locker room and a big personality. At Yale, Gargiulo was voted the team’s lone captain last season and played all five spots on the offensive line.
His coaches and teammates, from Shane Beamer himself to fellow transfer offensive lineman Sidney Fugar, have noted his work ethic as a key ingredient for the Gamecocks.
"Nick Gargiulo is actually the heart and soul of our offensive line,” Fugar said. “When it comes to the nitty-gritty, when it comes to leadership, when it comes to bringing us all together, we all count on Nick.”
The tenacity extends outside the gridiron.
“He was pretty motivated to finish,” Bri remembered. “He was with a couple friends. I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted to fail.”
Methodical as ever, like a pulling guard on a counter play trying to soak up the right gap and spring a lane for his running back, Gargiulo chugged away with the strength of any good blocker and the patience of a veteran.
“He took his time,” Bri said. “He didn’t dive in, because you know if you eat too fast it isn’t great. He took his time and finished it.”
Although the record lasted less than a month, a customer named “Pat” came in and one-upped him by knocking back 11 burgers in early August, Gargiulo is satisfied. He has no intentions of trying to wrestle the record back, and is now onto a big year in the trenches.
“I think first and foremost you’ve got to earn the trust and respect of the guys,” Garigulo said. “Initially I came in here and I just wanted to prove to them that I was going to be a contributing member of the room in all facets. That I was going to abide by the standards we operate in the room, and I was going to contribute to the culture that we have.”
He’s hungry for more than just burgers.
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