A year and a half ago, Sam Howell told the world that, to his knowledge, he’d never eaten a hamburger or steak or approached seafood, instead choosing to eat chicken everywhere instead of meat. And we’re not even talking grilled or fried or pan-fried chicken—just tender and nugget-shaped chicken. He only eats at restaurants that serve chicken. When the rest of the Tar Heels ate pregame steak or lobster after the win, Howell was there every time, chicken tenders in hand. you might be wondering I’m thinking of the real Sam Howell, right? This isn’t about some six-year-old with the same name as the quarterback recently drafted by the Washington Commanders?
You think of the right one. Indeed, it’s the 21-year-old University of North Carolina fifth-round draft pick we’re talking about here. While he opened up about his chicken habits in an interview with in December 2020 WTVD at Chapel Hill, his new pro status has reopened history for a whole new world of people to discover. In the interview, he cited Chick-Fil-A as his favorite spot for his nugget needs.
Frankly, the fact that this hasn’t been rediscovered in the countless hours of preliminary draft discussions and research comes as a shock — it’s not as if chicken wasn’t a topic of football interest before, a former Michigan QB said in 2018 Bleacher report that Jim Harbaugh warned his team members against eating chicken “because it’s a nervous bird” and thought that “a kind of disease entered the human population when people started eating white meat instead of beef and pork” . Incredible stuff from Harbaugh who probably strayed a long way from Howell in recruiting. I can’t imagine what kind of tension these extremist chicken views would have caused for the two of them.
It could only get worse — another 2018 revelation was Patrick Mahomes’ ketchup obsession, which saw ketchup slathered on steak, mac and cheese, and even sandwiched between two slices of white bread for a “ketchup sandwich.” Then again, Mahomes has one Super Bowl under his belt, so his odd eating habits shouldn’t be questioned if those are the kind of results they’re producing.
