Sorry Arian Foster, but you probably couldn't take down a wolf (we checked)

"I honestly think I can get a wolf 1 on 1 tho."
 By 
Keith Wagstaff
 on 
Sorry Arian Foster, but you probably couldn't take down a wolf (we checked)
He can fight off defenders. But a wolf? Credit: J. Phillip/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Arian Foster is a very strong man. He used to play running back for the Houston Texans.

He's so big and strong, in fact, that he's pretty sure he could take down a wolf with his bare hands.

Seriously:

Some users on Twitter were skeptical of Foster's wolf-fighting skills.

Seeing as we trust former NFL players about as much as we trust Twitter randoms when it comes to wolf facts, we decided to ask an expert.

Carter Niemeyer, author of Wolf Land, helped reintroduce wolves to the Northern Rockies in the 1990s. His opinion?

"It is my opinion that a healthy wolf that wanted to kill someone could probably do it fairly easy -- on an even playing field," he said via email. "No guns, knives, just bare hands, I think the wolf would win."

And that's considering wolves are even smaller than Foster guessed -- only 120 pounds, as opposed to 180 pounds.

Plus, trying to grab a wolf's neck probably wouldn't be the most effective strategy.

If a person "didn't care about severe bite wounds, broken bones and, perhaps, death, he might get in a lick or two," Niemeyer said.

But ultimately the animal would have the advantage. The good news, however, is that wolves don't randomly go after people.

"I don't think a healthy wolf will attack anyone, unless the healthy wolf has been habituated by humans to become aggressive because it was being fed," Niemeyer said. "I think the chances for survival around wolves are excellent -- it is the mountain lions and bears that will kill you!!!"

That brings up an obvious question: How would Arian Foster match up against a bear?

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Keith Wagstaff

Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.

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