Here's What NFL Quarterback Matthew Stafford Eats In A Day
After spending 12 years as the quarterback of the Detroit Lions, Matthew Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams before the 2021-22 season. The trade was a bit unorthodox — two teams basically switched quarterbacks, with Jared Goff being traded to the Lions and Stafford joining the Rams.
This trade was especially important to the Rams' "Super Bowl or bust" strategy, sabotaging their future draft picks in order to succeed in the near future. The 34 year-old's former teammates and Lions fans alike have expressed their support now that Stafford has made it to the Super Bowl. "Me and [Dominic Raiola] are like, 'What we believed in was true. This guy, he is the real deal and he's proving it," Rob Sims, former guard for the Lions, told ESPN.
Along with his talent and experience as a quarterback, Stafford's focus on his health in the offseason may be another reason he has made it to the biggest stage in the sport. "There's probably some old photos floating of me out there ... playing ball at a heavier weight," Stafford told Insider. "But as I get older, fitness is more and more important, that's the biggest thing." Along with his year-round focus on fitness, Stafford also made a few changes to his diet to feel his best on the field.
He eats plenty of fruits and vegetables
While healthy eating and staying active is important for anyone's mental and physical well-being, for professional athletes, it's a whole different ball game. While they spend a huge amount of time refining their technical skills, the physical body is a huge part of their success, too. And that's something that Matthew Stafford knows well.
When Stafford showed up to the Detroit Lions Training Camp in 2018, he had lost some weight. "When you're younger, you can carry more weight, you can get in the weight room and get all big and strong but the older I get, the less I feel like I need that," he explained on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "I need to be flexible and move and throw the ball properly."
To support these goals, Stafford incorporates swimming, yoga, and walking his dogs into his fitness routine, he told Insider. He also makes sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. "I love grilled chicken. I eat all vegetables," Stafford said in a 2012 interview with Michigan publication MLive. "That's one thing I think is important, I eat asparagus, broccoli, spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms, whatever it is, I love all those, and I probably eat those more than anything." If Stafford had to pick a favorite from amongst all the vegetables he consumes, his vegetable of choice would be spinach, A Healthier Michigan reported in 2016.
He indulges every now and then
Although the 34-year old quarterback gets his daily servings of fruits and vegetables, Matthew Stafford admits that he eats other types of protein on occasion, too. "I'm from Texas. I love beef, have a steak every once and a while," Stafford told MLive in 2012.
"Everybody's going to have to go to a barbecue at a buddy's house and eat food that's not maybe the healthiest thing in the world," Stafford said to the outlet, "but it's just making sure that's not a mainstay in your diet."
The social aspect behind a "barbecue at a buddy's house" seems to summarize to Stafford's food philosophy, too. He and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver and teammate Cooper Kupp have started an informal "breakfast club" of sorts where they enjoy the first meal of the day together while talking football, per a 2021 video from The Rams.
Healthy snacks for the whole family
While just one pantry in the Stafford home may not offer too much insight into everything Matthew Stafford puts on his plate throughout the week, it can give some hints about what the pro athlete may be munching on during family movie nights or on days when he's just hanging out at home.
The Home Edit shared in a Feb. 13 Instagram post that the team popped by the Stafford house to organize the family's pantry. They shared a close-up of one section, giving fans a glimpse into the types of snack foods on offer at the Stafford residence. The pantry contained a mixture of healthy and slightly more indulgent packaged snacks, including bite-sized muffins, apple chips, vegetable straws, and even some good old-fashioned Pringles. While many of them were adorably animal-shaped or marketed towards children (the Staffords have four!), the snack pantry is certainly accessible to any member of the family.
As for adults, while the football star was too busy competing on the field to munch on much of this particular spread, his wife, Kelly Stafford, shared a "guacuterie" board she'd created for the Super Bowl. The gorgeous spread featured a big bowl of guacamole as well as a variety of vegetables and tortilla chips for dipping.