Nutrition Lessons with Eagles Jason Kelce & Lane Johnson: 'Drink a Bunch of Beer!'
SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. – With right tackle Lane Johnson turning 33 last May and center Jason Kelce creeping closer to celebrating his 36th birthday in November, the pair are the two oldest members on the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line.
You’d think they’d be more careful about what they eat. You’d be wrong.
“You just drink a bunch of beers, that’s what it usually is,” kidded Kelce on Wednesday during his third annual celebrity bartending fundraiser at the Jersey Shore. “But no, for me, I just kind of keep working out and staying in shape.
"As long as I’m in shape going into camp, everything will kind of figure itself out. You don’t want to overthink it. I work out three or four days a week, run two or three times a week. That’s about it.”
Kelce said he would have called it a career by now if he had to adhere to a strict diet of fish and bland chicken. Give him a McDonald’s sandwich, or a Wawa hoagie and he’ll figure out the rest.
He’s pretty good at doing it, too, judging by the fact that he is entering his 13th NFL and will make his 140th straight start when he lines up against the New England Patriots in the regular-season opener this September.
Kelce’s play has gotten even better with age, making All-Pro in each of his last four seasons and five in his last seven.
“I think a lot of guys take nutrition really seriously,” Kelce said. “There’s a level of it, right? As long as you’re in the middle, you’re going to be fine. Some guys go over the top and want to have six-packs (abs) and all this stuff. I don’t go to that level.”
Kelce believes an offensive lineman has the benefit of not getting too crazy over the top about nutrition.
“I think that you just gotta be smart and do it in a way (and) you’re getting the right amount of protein,” he said. “Once you kind of figure that out, you don’t really have to stay on top of it much.
“I can go to McDonald’s and eat food that I can figure out. I can go to Wawa, look at the menu, and figure out what to have. I don’t need to have brown rice with chicken breast with no flavor. If that’s what’s required of me to play in the NFL, I probably wouldn’t do it.”
Johnson sort of echoed those sentiments during a recent appearance on The Richard Sherman Podcast. He said that it’s probably more important for skill players, who do a lot of running. Defensive backs, too. But Johnson plays the NFL game in real estate that is within a five-yard radius of where he lines up on each play.
“For me, it’s about short-area quickness and being able to transition my weight, so I do a lot of that, and really know when to rest,” he said. “I feel a lot of guys ramp it up and want to rah-rah a lot during this time of year and in the season, but sometimes guys that are big in August are casualties in January.
“So, really it’s about your mindset and having a good routine. And time management. It's a lot different in college. You get into NFL you have a lot more time to yourself. You see guys who take it real seriously and know that’s how a guy got to be who he is. I had a lot of great teachers.”
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Philadelphia Eagles? Click Here.
Want even more Philadelphia Eagles news? Check out the SI.com team page here
