DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -Jake Long eats his vegetables. He seldom snacks. One piece of cake is sometimes sufficient dessert.
How did he become so enormous?
“I’m not like a huge pig,” Long says. “But I can eat some food.”
Even in an NFL locker room, Long looks large. The Miami Dolphins tackle is 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, and he stood out in the draft last April, when he was the No. 1 overall choice.
He has drawn praise for his play in the first six games this season. And with a five-year contract for $30 million guaranteed – that’s $95,238 per pound – Long is expected to anchor the Dolphins’ offensive line well into the next decade.
Given such stakes, he must eat a lot of steaks to keep his strength up, right? Maybe those 48-ounce porterhouses they serve at Shula’s Steak House?
“No, I can’t do that,” Long says. “I probably could, but I would probably feel sick afterward.”
are small only when compared with him, there’s nothing gluttonous about his diet.
It doesn’t rival Michael Phelps’ 12,000 calories a day, which drew a lot of attention at the Olympics. “That’s a lot,” Long says, studying a list of what Phelps eats.
Long’s own list is much shorter.
“For breakfast I’ll have cereal, a couple of scoops of scrambled eggs, some bacon and a muffin. I’m not a big breakfast guy. For lunch I usually make a sandwich, some type of pasta, salad and some fruit.”
Does he eat two or three sandwiches at one meal?
“Oh yeah.”
Four or five sandwiches?
“I’m sure I could. But I don’t do it regularly.”
And for dinner?
“I’ll eat whatever – steak, chicken, fish – some type of pasta, salad, potato. Sometimes I go all out, but usually it’s just basic stuff.”
Dessert?
“I’ll eat some chocolate cake or cheesecake.”
One piece, or more?
“It depends on how full I am after dinner.”
For a snack, he might have a granola bar at bedtime.
Teammate Justin Smiley says Long’s intake is surprisingly modest given his size.
“Everybody is looking for him to say, ‘I eat two full pizzas,’ and all kinds of crazy stuff, and he doesn’t,” Smiley says. “He’s got the room for it, there’s no doubt. But the thing is he’s a good-looking 315. He’s got a flat stomach, and he’s built the right way. He does a good job.”
count calories, and he has never sought advice from a dietitian. He just eats when he’s hungry until he’s full.
His longtime cook confirms the meal routine is pretty routine.
“I don’t think he really eats that much,” says Long’s mother, Denise. “I have three boys that eat like that. He eats properly – lots of protein and vegetables and fruits and things like that.”
Genetics help explain Long’s size. Mrs. Long is 5-foot-8. Jake’s dad, John, is almost 6-4 and weighs about 265.
“As we get older, we’re shrinking,” Mrs. Long says with a laugh.
Jake’s older brother, John, is 6-5 and 320. Kid brother Joe, a 19-year-old freshman at Wayne State, is 6-6 and 295. Jake was 6-6 and 305 before he left high school.
“You would think they eat a lot, but to me I really don’t think they do,” Mrs. Long says.
Long’s favorite food is steak, cooked medium to medium well. Sometimes he grills it himself. He also loves corned beef and cabbage, meat loaf and lobster tail.
When asked if there’s anything he doesn’t eat, Mrs. Long pauses and laughs.
“I never cooked liver, so I don’t know,” she says. “Maybe he doesn’t like liver.”
As always, Mom is right: Long won’t eat liver.
“No, no, no. No. That’s gross,” he says. “I’m not going to do that stuff.”
Jake Long, picky eater.
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