Last video 
. one things for sure, had he been born 12 or so years later his channel would have had way more than 4k subscribers.
Army of One,That video is sad. Thank you for sharing it, and thank you for being man enough to show some emotion to express that it's ok for us to be sad about a young man who had family who loved him who died in extreme pain the way Derek did. Some people think men shouldn't express moments of sadness, and I can tell you as a man who is The Rock for literally all the alpha males in my city during their moments of need, that despite not being a man who cries, and rarely having moments of weakness...that there are still days, and I would never downplay the tragedy of a young man dying, leaving behind family behind him who loved him, friends, including many in the industry, who cared about him, and people who just consider young deaths to be just a little bit sadder than a death after a long live well-lived.
Thank you,
Army - for your post, and not being afraid to show some emotion. As someone who liked Derek and considered him a friend, I appreciate you doing that.
Little potshots, I don't mind. But when I get the impression some people were happy - even giddy - over him dying...I just find it sad. Or maybe pathetic would be the more appropriate feeling about that. I appreciate your maturity, and not being afraid to acknowledge that Derek's death was sad. As cocky and annoying - as full of himself at times as he could be - that didn't make him a monster, and definitely didn't make him deserve such a young and painful death. At least, IMO [regardless of the fact that he likely brought all, or at least most, of his health issues on himself]. I still find it sad, and I said that in 2013 when he died.
The video you posted didn't specify, but I assume that little girl singing with Derek was his niece, based on the closeness of their relationship. I don't think he would kiss a little girl on the cheek like that, unless she was a close relative, with a special relationship - like uncle and niece.
I think 32 years old - 32 years young - is way too young to die.
Derek was in great condition [albeit with some noticeable Synthol] in 2004. He was 5'10.5" and around 240-lb, and very lean.
Army of One, to your point: Had he started a YouTube channel in 2013 in that sort of conditioning, I think he could have easily vaulted into the 100K subscriber range on YouTube, as you suggested. I think you are very close with your estimated figure of 12 years. I would say that if Derek had been born nine years later [in 1990] and been in the shape he was at 22-23 in 2013, rather than 2004, he could have thrived in that Wild Wild West period on YouTube for ad revenue that ended in 2016 when Trump got elected, and YouTube realized that social media was having a major impact on politics - and ad dollars vanished almost overnight until YouTube started censoring healthy [videos at least...comments' sections, when news channels leave them open, tend to be pretty uncensored still, and I appreciate that a lot].
Instead, by the time Derek got to YouTube, he wasn't in the same great shape he was in in 2004 [Synthol aside - which was always a detriment/distraction to his physique] by the time he was posting videos. He then ultimately got sick [I'm guessing due to the Synthol being processed by his body/kidneys, with the Synthol leading directly to the health problems he developed, and ultimately died from]. I'm not sure if recreational drugs played a role...but given the stripping lifestyle, it wouldn't surprise me. I have heard stories of bodybuilders using stimulant recreational drugs to get lean [I think mainly meth...but I would think coke would make sense too].
Not healthy...but when is high level bodybuilding ever healthy?
I saw Derek at the 2007 Arnold Classic Expo. I think he was sharing a booth with Jose Canseco, and needed extra security because of all the online hate, which carried its way into the expo and caused some issues for Derek in person. I think Derek said that the extra security was for Jose Canseco...and that would also make sense. I think Special Ed and TheBlockhead confronted him to try to get him to melt [in a comical/trolling way], and Derek Anthony didn't want any conflict. Bodybuilders may be strong - but potentially getting accosted by a group of men who you don't know and who may hate you is going to cause issues for any man, no matter how strong he may be.
Derek and I talked a lot on my old board, and I listened to his podcast. He even gave my bodybuilding website [Bodybuilding
Pro] and message board a shoutout.
He was also on my Facebook friend for years until his death in 2013, and I considered Derek to be a friend. An online friend, mostly [since I only saw him in person once at that Arnold Expo in 2007] - but a friend, nevertheless. I had nothing bad to say about him. I was sad when he died. His death hit close to home for me, because he was only six months older than me...and it kind of hit home because of that. Sad ending to a short life - and he was in a lot of pain towards the end. A LOT. He literally posted on a Friday evening on Facebook about being in tremendous pain from his kidney issues - and he died four days after that post.
Sad stuff.
Imagine being in the amount of pain that literally IS the pain of dying? I can't even imagine that level of pain. That's sad and scary to me. And I was sad for him, regardless of the personal decisions he made that brought about his health issues.
Derek did get into fights online, a lot of which he also did instigate. He felt under attack a lot, which I think resulted in him
being attacked a lot, and it became a sort of self-fulfilling cycle/prophecy. Had he not been so defensive over minor criticisms, I think he would have gotten along better with board members, both on here and on MuscleMayhem back in the day, and had more positive experiences - as well as more positive experiences for the people he got into online spats/fights with. And he contradicted himself by saying that The True Adonis' girlfriend was both "fucking hot" and "fucking busted" in the same AIM conversation with TA, LOL...Derek was funny sometimes. Again, you'll never hear me saying anything bad about him. I liked the guy, but I understand why there were others who did not.
He was a character, but I always liked Derek.
For any beefs he had with other members, Derek and I never had any, and I always liked him. I can't hate on a guy who never disrespected me.
Say what you will, but I don't wish a young painful death on anyone, aside from maybe sick child killers or other similar scum. Even with them, I would rather they have a quick painless death than a slow painful one. Derek had his issues, but he wasn't a monster. His death was depressing, very painful, and just way too young, IMO.
RIP Derek Anthony. You were my friend, and I have absolutely zero shame in stating that. You are missed.
