‘Underdog’ Griff Whalen unlike anyone on Miami Dolphins’ roster

[DKphin]

Whalen, 26, eats a strict, plant-based diet. Hasn’t touched meat or fish for two years. Swears he isn’t craving a trip to Shula’s Steak House or a detour to a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-through. Gets weird looks from teammates when he plops his tray on the table.

“I’m kind of that underdog role,” he says. “I’m looking for anything I can do to give myself an advantage.”
It either works spectacularly or fails miserably. If you’re charting Whalen’s four-year NFL career, you won’t find middle ground.



Dolphins receiver Griff Whalen (18) leaps for a pass during organized team activities at training camp in Davie. (Allen Eyestone / ... read more

He wasn’t drafted and was waived four times by the Colts.
He was the guy Andrew Luck — his ex-roommate at Stanford — looked to when the pressure came.
He made costly fumbles.

Griff Whalen celebrates his 18-yard touchdown with Andrew Luck in the Colts’ 34-27 loss to New England last season.


He made huge plays in the biggest games.
He had the starring role in the most infamous play of the 2015 NFL season — that bizarre fake punt that the New England Patriots stuffed, triggering a week’s worth of national laughter.
He wasn’t to blame for it.
What does this all mean?
He’ll be gone before you know it.
Or he’ll become an underdog darling to root for.
Keep in mind that the Dolphins also have Kenny Stills, have invested two years of teaching in Matt Hazel and just drafted Jakeem Grant and Leonte Carroo.
“I was always, especially the first couple of years, kind of that bubble guy,” Whalen says.
Coach Adam Gase says once you get past Parker and Landry, “If you’re not contributing somehow on special teams and you can’t play multiple positions, it’s going to be tough to make the team.”

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news...ff-whalen-unlike-anyone-on-miami-dolph/nrZP4/

 

[t-dubya]

6000 calories a day to maintain his weight, thats crazy

 

[Kdawg954]

He's a great backup slot option to Landry, while Carroo is a higher upside Rishard Matthews. Stills is the X Factor in this group. He really doesn't play much specials but provides the speed threat you want to have on your team.

Whalen will be a tough out for this roster . . . Think he and Ryan would do well together

 

[xXwarXx]

6000 calories a day to maintain his weight, thats crazy

It sounds like a lot, and is a lot of food volume wise.

But because it's all vegan stuff, his body will get rid of it pretty quickly. You'll hear a lot of vegans who will tell you they get there protein from crap like beans, and that it's more than sufficient.

What they dont tell you is that you need to eat massive amounts of it, especially if your an athlete or weight lifter. That stuff goes right through you before your body can even store any of the nutrients. If a serving of beans has 8 grams of protein you'll be lucky to store 2-3 grams of it, which is why you have to eat so much.

I tried going vegan for awhile, It was hard as heck to maintain my weight as a vegan.

 

[gregorygrant83]

Either you can play or you can't. Eating meat or not eating meat doesn't make a difference.

---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------

He's a great backup slot option to Landry, while Carroo is a higher upside Rishard Matthews. Stills is the X Factor in this group. He really doesn't play much specials but provides the speed threat you want to have on your team.

Whalen will be a tough out for this roster . . . Think he and Ryan would do well together

I'm hoping Grant wins the backup slot role.

 

[Krateness]

I watched him for years hear in Indy at Colts TC. He was always a fan favorite who just always seemed to get overshadowed...

 

[RichmondWeb]

It sounds like a lot, and is a lot of food volume wise.

But because it's all vegan stuff, his body will get rid of it pretty quickly. You'll hear a lot of vegans who will tell you they get there protein from crap like beans, and that it's more than sufficient.

What they don't tell you is that you need to eat massive amounts of it, especially if your an athlete or weight lifter. That stuff goes right through you before your body can even store any of the nutrients. If a serving of beans has 8 grams of protein you'll be lucky to store 2-3 grams of it, which is why you have to eat so much.

I tried going vegan for awhile, It was hard as heck to maintain my weight as a vegan.

Interesting. I lost 50 lbs when I went vegan and I have kept it off effortlessly. Yes, calorie counting can be inaccurate because it assumes that your body will absorb them all, which it may not.

Protein is another nutrition myth cooked up by the meat and dairy industries so you will buy their products (and compromise your health). The body gets plenty of protein from everyday vegetables including salad. Think about it....cows, horses, gorillas, elephants, even bronotosaurii, develop(ed) massive musculature eating grass, grains, and vegetables. Unlike carnivorous species, like dogs, humans have long digestive tracts which work best for digesting plant-based foods. Our bodies have much more difficulty digesting meats and other animal foods so we should eat them sparingly, if at all. If Shula were to get off the steak, he might make it to 100. Meat and dairy foods cause cancer, obesity, allergies, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes etc., etc.. and their production promotes animal cruelty, death, and environmental disaster (global warming).

YAY!!! another vegan NFL'er! I know about Tony Gonzalez and Arian Foster.

Being Vegan isn't hard and I eat as much as I want. Eat a Big Mac and stay hungry, eat a salad and feel full; the body knows when it gets nutrients, and when it doesn't, we feel hungry.

RW

 

[jlfin]

A balanced diet with animal and plant based proteins are still the best way to go. Everything in moderation.

 

[gregorygrant83]

[/B]
Interesting. I lost 50 lbs when I went vegan and I have kept it off effortlessly. Yes, calorie counting can be inaccurate because it assumes that your body will absorb them all, which it may not.

RW

I think he means not losing weight in the first place, such as you dropping 50 pounds at the start. If you're 225 pounds to begin with I would think it would be hard to maintain 225 after going vegan.

 

[Fintastic2124]

I wonder how he compares to hogan when he was here. Whalen looks more solidly build than hogan did

 

[xXwarXx]

[/B]
Interesting. I lost 50 lbs when I went vegan and I have kept it off effortlessly. Yes, calorie counting can be inaccurate because it assumes that your body will absorb them all, which it may not.

Protein is another nutrition myth cooked up by the meat and dairy industries so you will buy their products (and compromise your health). The body gets plenty of protein from everyday vegetables including salad. Think about it....cows, horses, gorillas, elephants, even bronotosaurii, develop(ed) massive musculature eating grass, grains, and vegetables. Unlike carnivorous species, like dogs, humans have long digestive tracts which work best for digesting plant-based foods. Our bodies have much more difficulty digesting meats and other animal foods so we should eat them sparingly, if at all. If Shula were to get off the steak, he might make it to 100. Meat and dairy foods cause cancer, obesity, allergies, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes etc., etc.. and their production promotes animal cruelty, death, and environmental disaster (global warming).

YAY!!! another vegan NFL'er! I know about Tony Gonzalez and Arian Foster.

Being Vegan isn't hard and I eat as much as I want. Eat a Big Mac and stay hungry, eat a salad and feel full; the body knows when it gets nutrients, and when it doesn't, we feel hungry.

RW

For the first bolded part, I was talking About maintaining weight while strength training. Since switching to weight lifting I've probably added 30-35 lbs of muscle. As a vegan maintaining that muscle is ridiculously hard. I cAnt even imagine how many beans I'd have to eat to maintain.

As for protein being a overhyped product of the fitness industry to sell supplements, yeah I completely agree, you don't need anywhere near as much as they say you do even for weight lifters.

For the second bolded part, the reason those large animals can eat nothing but plant based food and still be so big is because there bodies can convert plants into proteins and fats. Ours can't do that.

 

[royalshank]

What was he eating when he took that I'll-fated fake punt snap that so far defines his career?

 

[kcbrown]

I don't preach to anyone about it, but it I went vegan in Nov. 2015. I went from 203lbs to 174 lbs currently.

I didn't want to lose that much weight, but I get a lot of questions from people like, "What did you do?!"

I'm going to try my best to stick with it...but I really miss salmon and "normal" pizza.

Back on topic, I don't think Whalen sticks around long...seems like a quality player though.

 

[spiketex]

New Offensive Coordinator, Clyde Christensen knows Whalen well from Indianapolis. He knows his strengths and weaknesses and probably gave Chris Grier the nod to bring him in to compete. I expect that Jakeem Grant has a lot more upside but Whalen could beat Hazel if we keep 6 WRs.
BTW - he went to Stanford, so you know that he's pretty smart.

 

[gregorygrant83]

To each his own... personally I would rather die at 80 eating meat than die at 100 being a vegan. I feel like 80 years of enjoyment is enough.

Keep in mind my above statement is admittingly nieve and comes from a person who is already over weight and battling prostate cancer. I'm sure my doctor would say "Keep it up and you'll get your wish. You might not have to wait till your 80 either."