Top 15 Superstar Food Fetishes
The new book, What the Great Ate: Culinary History of Food and Fame, got us wondering about some of the more well-known (and some lesser known) food-athlete love connections.
Sure to perform at a world class level, you need to energy. But, like all of us, sometimes even sports athletes can take it too far.
Here are the top 15 examples of athletes, perhaps, who didn't know when to back away from the table.
No. 15: Lamar Odom, Candy
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Even before he became “Mr. Khloe Kardashian” Odom had another nickname by which he was known: “The Candyman.” Everyone loves candy, but Odom takes it to a whole new level. He eats it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.
He doesn’t seem to be able to turn any away. He loves Twizzlers, Gummy Bears, Lifesavers, Starburst Jelly Beans. But Hershey’s white chocholate cookies and cream candy bars are reportedly his favorite.
His candy-diction became so famous that the media speculated Odom’s inability to perform in the fourth quarter was due to his pre-game sugar rush wearing off. Addition specialists and hypnotherapists were even consulted for articles about the issue during the NBA Finals in 2009!
Like many addicts Odom denies he has a problem.
No. 14: Dan Marino and Don Shula, Steaks
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South Florida is known more for their fresh seafood than steaks but don’t tell that to Marino or Shula. The Hall of Fame quarterback owns steakhouses in Las Vegas and Miami; the Hall of Fame head coach owns several more in a handful of states across the country, including eight in Florida.
With the money Marino and Shula were making by the early 1990s, they could afford to eat steak whenever they wanted. Perhaps that’s how they became big enough connoisseurs to open their own steakhouses.
Maybe they both ate too much of their own product and that’s why they needed to do those Nutri-System commercials alongside Mike Golic and Chris Berman.
No. 13: Billy Casper, Buffalo
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This winner of two U.S. Opens and the 1970 Masters Tournament, was regarded as one of the finest putters in the game’s history. But an unusually change to his diet also became popular fodder for sports writers in the mid-1960s.
After his weight ballooned to over 230 pounds, Casper changed what he ate. And steadily ate meals like bear meatloaf and shrimp and avocado for breakfast. His love for Buffalo meat earned him the obvious nickname “Buffalo Bill.” Naturally, the logo for his golf course design company is a buffalo.
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No. 12: Mike Tyson, Ears
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Of course he didn’t really “eat” Evander Holyfield’s ear. But in their 1996 heavyweight fight, Tyson did bite off the Champ's ear.
There’s not much of an explanation for what Tyson did in that third round at the MGM Grand. Except maybe he saw a mirage near the Las Vegas desert. Perhaps he thought Holyfield’s ear was an apricot or something.
No. 11: 1960s-1990s Baseball Players, Greenies
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Today it is steroids and other PEDs that we figure half of major league baseball is or was on. But not that long ago, amphetamines were all the rage in major league clubhouses.
Even as far back as the 1960s, players were routinely consuming what players called “greenies” due to the color of the small pills. In Jim Bouton’s famous tell all, “Ball Four” he talked about the drugs widespread use.
Years later, other players explained that it was not uncommon for players to simply pop a hanful in their mouth then take the field.
No. 10: John Daly, Diet Cokes
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Daly’s semi-destructive habits are abundant: gambling, booze, cigarettes, divorces, those awful outfits.
Still, Daly’s greatest consumption is Diet Coke. Daly has remained himself several times since bursting on the scene with his PGA Championship win in 1991.
Yet for all his efforts to reform, the vice he will likely never give up is the zero-calorie soft-drink.
No. 9: Wade Boggs, Chicken
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Boggs was well known, even a legend, for his beer drinking. He was said to once consume 64 beers on a cross-country team flight.
According to his Boston Red Sox teammate, Jim Rice, the highly superstitious third baseman had to consume chicken every day.
Somewhat unimaginatively, Rice (nothing suggests that HE ate rice before every game) nicknamed Boggs, “the Chicken Man.”
No. 8: Mark Sanchez, Hot Dogs
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Joey Chestnut, Eric "Badlands" Booker and Takeru Kobayash have nothing on the New York Jets quarterback. Yes, they consume dozens of hot dogs in the matter of minutes. But they are professionals!
Last year, during a Week 8 blowout of the Oakland Raiders, the rookie quarterback from USC somehow got ahold of a hot dog on the sidelines. Not only did he eat it, but he methodically poured mustard from a packet onto the dog.
Perhaps he was trying to one up his forerunner, fur coat-wearing Jets quarterback Joe Namath in sideline audacity.
The only real absurdity that resulted from Sanchez snack was the media's obsession with it. Since they won the game (38-0) who cares what he did on the sideline.
No. 7: George Foreman, Anything Grillable
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There’s no telling how often the former heavyweight champion and gold medalist actually used his famed electronic cooking device. But since it is available everywhere and he keeps “knocking out” new models, you would assume he eats all his meals off of a Foreman grill.
That’s probably not the case, but not since Arnold Palmer’s half-and-half has a eponymous food related product been so closely linked with one single athlete.
No. 6: Andre The Giant, Beer
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Andre the Giant had to have many appetites if he was going to grow roughly 500 pounds. He certainly didn't get that big by eating salads and rice cakes.
But the great wrestler was known to for being able to drink more beer than probably any man in history. Several stars from the old WWF tell stories about how much Andre could consume.
The most famous, however, has to be the urban legend that he could drink an entire keg by himself. No telling on how much time he had to do it (or if it's even true). Still, even the possibility that it is true is a feat in itself.
No. 5: Michael Phelps, 12,000 Calories Worth
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Prior to winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps told the media about his 12,000 calorie per day diet.
The story spread like wildfire and Fox News even ran a story informing people that Phelps diet is “not for everyone.” Clearly. But are the Subway sandwiches that Phelps now endorses for everyone? Ask Jared.
No. 4: Ken Griffey Jr., Nerve Tonic
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Ok, this one is fictional, but still a classic food fetish. When Mr. Burns stacked the Springfield Nuclear Power Plan softball team with major leaguers, he chose baseball’s best young star, Ken Griffey Jr., to play center field.
Not content with a lineup of all stars to play in his annual softball game against Shelbyville’s power plant, Burns offered his players a “potent nerve tonic” to enhance their skills even more. For whatever reason, Griffey was the only one of Burns ringers to become additcted. Why? Because, to Junior, when he drank the tonic it felt like “there’s a party in my mouth and everyone’s invited.”
Sadly, Griffey’s love for the tonic—as Burns warned occurred in rare cases—naturally caused gigantism. Griffey’s head swelled to the size of a beach ball and he was unable to play in the game.
No. 3: Rocky Balboa, Raw Eggs
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We only get one glimpse of Rocky’s pre-workout meal. Still it became one of the 1976 Best Picture winner’s classic scenes.
The Italian Stallion walks up, cracks several egg yolks into a glass then drinks them raw. Did salmonella not exist in the 1970s or had he done it so many times he developed immunity? No one knows.
Odds are, when Rocky got rich and famous, he paid a dietician to provide more traditional training food stuffs, like pastas. Maybe he was a “ham and egger” as he said, because he hadn’t yet learned about carbohydrates.
No. 2: Michael Jordan, Gatorade
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If a company pays you millions of dollars to endorse a product you should probably do your best to always be seen consuming it. Especially if the product is supposed to help you play better.
Throughout the 1990s, the image of Jordan sitting on the bench, covered in sweat, with a small, green paper cup that read “Gatorade” was as recognizable as his “Jumpman” logo.
Together, Jordan and Gatorade made a fortune. Everyone wanted to “be like Mike,” as in the commercial. To do that, we had to guzzle Gatorade by the gallons, like Mike apparently did.
No. 1: Arnold Palmer, Lemonade Mixed With Iced Tea
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No athlete is more closely connected to a particular food than golf’s “King.”
When Palmer “invented” a drink equal parts lemonade and iced tea, it not only caught on nationwide but it became known as an “Arnold Palmer.”
Always capable of turning his fame and popularity into a business (dry cleaners, car dealerships, etc.) Palmer and the Innovative Flavors company now license the drink to dozens of bottlers. At a price, of course.
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