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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to architecture and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the magazine urban legends featured so far.

MAGAZINE URBAN LEGEND: Men’s Fitness gave Andy Roddick someone else’s biceps for the cover of the magazine.

NOTE: I did this as a Tennis Legend, but it also belongs here. – BC

Former professional tennis player Andy Roddick was (and is) a very fit man.

Just check him out playing tennis without a shirt on…

The guy had no complaints in the body department.

However, when he was featured as the cover model for a 2007 issue of Men’s Fitness, the folks at Men’s Fitness thought that they could make some improvements…

They gave us this cover…

Roddick took the alteration with pretty good humor, writing on his blog:

I spent the last few weeks in Austin really focused on my training and getting back into shape…but pretty sure I’m not as fit as the Men’s Fitness cover suggests…little did I know I have 22 inch guns and a disappearing birth mark on my right arm. I saw the cover for the first time when I landed after Rome…it was pretty funny…I walked by the newsstand in the airport and did a total double take …I can barely figure out how to work the red-eye tool on my digital camera…whoever did this has mad skills…maybe Rafael Nadal wants his arms back?…if you can manage to stop laughing at the cover long enough, check out the article inside, the photo shoot on the boat was pretty cool..and I recognize the person in those photos…

Men’s Fitness officially blew off the complaints, saying that the changes weren’t a big deal, but at least one design consultant quit the magazine in protest of the photoshopping BEFORE the controversy even hit, so you know at least one person there disagreed with the company line.

The legend is…

STATUS: True

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future urban legends columns! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com