Vikings draft pick Travis Bond has great size and an equally large sense of humor.

One of three seventh-round draft picks by the Vikings on Saturday, April 27, Bond said he can play guard or tackle in the NFL because his playing weight at North Carolina fluctuated between 316 and 375 pounds.

Now 6 feet 6 and 327 pounds, the guard hit 375 at the end of his junior season and recited a long list of foods — barbecued chicken, cornbread, pork chops and macaroni and cheese — that he was forced to give up after coaches told him to slim down before his senior season.

“It was difficult,” he said. “I’m a southern boy and I come home and my mother, my grandmother, everybody loves to cook. That was the difficult part, just staying away from home.”

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman scouted Bond last season and said he couldn’t find him on the field because he was looking for a guy who weighed 370-something.

“I saw they had pulled half a man out of him,” Spielman said with a laugh. “He was moving night and day from when he was too heavy.”

Bond’s strangest injury occurred during the offseason. He was riding a motor scooter to study hall in February 2012 when he was hit by a truck.

“Turned my life around when it came to scooters,” he said. “I gave that up.”

He and the scooter hit the pavement; the SUV was driven away.

Bond got up, brushed himself off and went on to study hall.

“I was hurt in the process,” he recalled, “and his truck had a boo-boo.”

At first, he didn’t know he was hurt.

X-rays showed no problems, but two weeks later, Bond was working out when his wrist didn’t feel right.

He was bench-pressing 405 pounds, he recalled, “and it just felt funny. I got out from under the bench.”

An MRI revealed that two wrist bones were separated. Following spring practice, he underwent surgery.

“We knew he had a wrist fracture,” Spielman said. “I’m sure the truck took just as much damage.”

Bond said his forte is run blocking, and he’s hopeful he can carve out some big holes for Adrian Peterson to run through next season.

“I feel like I got a lot to prove,” he said, “so I’m just going to come in and work as hard as I can.”

Spielman said, “He fits the type of lineman we’re trying to bring in here.”