Titans players going vegan ahead of the 2018 season

We continue to see different types of diets take off around the professional sports world. Earlier in the year, it was all about the protein-heavy Keto diet.

But for NFL players attempting to last through a grueling 16-game regular season, there’s a new trend taking hold. In Tennessee, that now includes more than a dozen players going full vegan.

“There’s the 15-and-growing number of Tennessee Titans players who set aside those doubts and jumped on a plant-based meal plan, which is a phrase that is a little easier to swallow. Still, it’s a bit of a surprise to catch 250-pound NFL players scavenging through large black bags for extra vegan lunch meals after practice,” ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe noted from Titans camp on Wednesday.

This is certainly taking things to a whole new level. We’ve seen players on other teams utilize a diet called pescetarian, which includes no red meat and only fish as protein. But going completely vegan is something we have not seen a whole lot in the past when it comes to the NFL.

Tom Brady’s vegan diet is by now well known. And his ability to continue playing at a high level into his 40s could have led to this trend taking off.

For Titans players, it’s all about overcoming the view of being a vegan and what it means.

“Overcoming the preconceived notions is the biggest part,” Titans pass rusher Derrick Morgan said. “I was a part of it. I used to believe athletes had to eat meat to maintain play, then I educated myself.”

It’s also something that apparently predates training camp.

Now that it’s taken on a whole new life of its own with 15-plus players changing their diet habits, it’s going to be interesting to see how this impacts the Titans’ health moving forward.