While the world, including many athletes, is moving towards vegetarian and vegan diets, some remain steadfast in their carnivorous habits. One such individual is Puka Nacua, the Rams’ record-breaking rookie wideout, who unabashedly indulges in meat and openly disdains vegetables. Interestingly, this dietary choice has drawn comparisons from fans and pundits alike to the legendary announcer Al Michaels.
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Warren Sharp of the Ringer recently took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to highlight the striking similarities between Al Michaels’ and Nacua’s eating habits. According to Sharp’s post, Puka avoids greens altogether, opting instead to get his fiber from fruits like watermelon and pineapple.
Similarly, Al Michaels, in an interview, admitted that he has never knowingly eaten a vegetable. Since childhood, the 79-year-old sportscaster has harbored a dislike for veggies and has consistently avoided them, confidently asserting that a man doesn’t need them to survive.
“I was born when my parents were 18. So, she [my mom] just let me have the run of the course. And I always pushed the vegetables away. To this day, no. And I guess what I’ve proven, Chris, is that man does not need vegetables to survive.”
the way he says “oh please” https://t.co/p0mV2u05En pic.twitter.com/AtFflzM5V1
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 5, 2024
NFL players have, over the years, started focusing more on diets and how they have helped battle injuries and aid the recovery process. For instance, Nick Bosa, who suffered an ACL injury in 2020, decided to drop unhealthy calories from his diet, giving up junk food for more of a protein-based diet.
However, he still never pushes his veggies away, as his diet now comprises fish and chicken, low carbs, vegetables, salads, and healthy fats in the form of avocados and steak.
Brady, too, had a weird diet, 80% of which is plant-based, consisting of veggies and whole grains. To this day, he doesn’t consume white flour, sugar, caffeine, dairy, iodized salt, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, eggplants, or fruit. Arguably, it all comes down to metabolism and how individuals process the food they intake. That being said, meat-eater Puka recently gained a unique nickname, courtesy of his teammate’s son.
Puka Nacua Gets Himself a New Nickname
Puka Nacua, who is sometimes affectionately called Puka Doncic, recently got himself another cool nickname from Cypress Kupp, son of his teammate Cooper Kupp. As per Athlon Sports, Cypress (3) calls Nacua “Puka Dot.”
Incidentally, Nacua is itself a nickname that he received when he was born. Puka means ‘fat’ and ‘chubby’ in Samoan, and Nacua was a big and healthy baby when he was born.
After just one season in the league, the former BYU star is amassing quite a reputation, and rightfully so. In his rookie year, Nacua amassed 1,486 yards on 105 receptions along with six touchdowns with the Rams, becoming Matthew Stafford’s main offensive weapon.
With his stellar stats, Nacua broke the 63-year-old rookie record held by Bill Groman in receiving yards and touchdowns. He also broke Jaylen Waddle’s record for rookie receptions. Last but not least, his 181 yards in the postseason broke DK Metcalf’s record for most yards in the playoffs.
While the Rams faltered in the playoffs, losing to the Lions, Puka hopes to make a stronger comeback and put up even better stats than his first year.
