15 NFL Players Ditch Animal Products

A growing number of players for National Football League (NFL) team the Tennessee Titans are adopting a plant-based diet. Currently, 15 players are adhering to animal-free eating, thanks to an initiative launched in 2016 by linebacker Derrick Morgan and his wife Charity Morgan—a professional Le Cordon Bleu-educated chef who re-trained herself to cook strictly vegan food. Charity explained to ESPN that the turning point came when players smelled the food she was preparing for her husband, whose performance has not faltered since he began following a plant-based diet a year-and-a-half ago. For breakfast and lunch, Charity prepares meals that are plant-based versions of what the players are used to eating—such as soy curl-based chicken tacos, beans, and rice—with many players requesting a dinner meal so that they can continue to eat vegan foods at home. “Overcoming the preconceived notions is the biggest part,” Derrick said. “I was a part of it. I used to believe athletes had to eat meat to maintain play, then I educated myself.”