You can call him Rep. John Illg. Or, better yet, just call him Rep. Big.

There’s “Representative Jenkins,” “Representative Harris,” “Senator McMath” and dozens of others in the 144-member Legislature.

There’s also “Representative Big.”

That’s how his colleagues address Rep. John Illg, a Republican from Metairie.

Why?

“Because I’m huge!” says Illg, noting he is 6 feet, 7 inches tall, and 470 pounds.

Illg said friends have called him “Big” since he returned home after growing four inches to his current height during his freshman year at LSU.

Still, Illg acknowledged, he was always rather large.

When he was 12, he couldn’t play in Biddy Basketball All Stars because he exceeded the 5-foot 8-inch height limit.

He weighed too much to play football at Harahan Playground with other 12-year-olds. He had to play with 15-year-olds and found he couldn’t keep up with them.

So Illg took up golf. He became good enough to hit four hole-in-ones and win the club championship twice at Colonial Country Club in Harahan.

“People think a guy my size wouldn’t be a good golfer,” he said.

He’s been a travel baseball coach over the years.

His young players call him “Coach Big.” To nieces and nephews, he’s “Uncle Big.”

Illg, 56, sells flooring products to prevent slip-and-falls.

He was elected to the House in 2019, benefitting from his lifelong residence in the district.

Over the past four years, Illg has developed a solid conservative voting record.

On one of his first votes in the House, Illg couldn’t push the green “yes” button on his desk because he was elsewhere in the chamber. So, following custom, he waved to Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, and gave him a thumbs up. Schexnayder was calling out the other yes votes to be recorded by the House Clerk. “Big,” he called out.

But the clerk didn’t realize that Schexnayder was indicating a yes vote for Illg. His vote went uncounted. The bill’s sponsor asked him afterward why he hadn’t voted for it. The two had a laugh when Illg explained what had happened.

Other lawmakers also have nicknames. Rep. Jerome Zeringue, a Republican from Houma, is known as “Z.”

Sen. Mike Fesi, a Republican from Houma, is known as “Big Mike.”

Illg was disappointed when he first met Fesi.

“I was expecting him to be a big guy,” Illg said of Fesi, who is 5 feet10 inches tall and weighs 245 pounds.

Fesi, it turns out, began calling himself Big Mike to differentiate himself from his son, “Little Mike.”

As for Illg, Fesi said, “He deserves to be called Big.”