Snack Food Invented in Minnesota Now Huge Hit in NFL
The hands-on favorite snack food of NFL players across the league has its roots right here in Minnesota.
If you're a player in the National Football League (NFL) today, you're consuming a diet that contains a lot more calories than the average person. That's not exactly a shock, right? According to an NFL nutritionist quoted in this Doctorpedia story, the average NFL quarterback typically takes in between 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day. And those totals can be even larger for offensive and defensive linemen.
To put that in perspective, those figures are nearly double the amount of calories the USDA says the average person's diet should include, which would be around 3,000 calories for men and around 2,400 calories for women.
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So, to keep those calories coming, many NFL players today (like the Kansas City Chief's star receiver, Travis Kelce among many others) love to chow down on a snack food that got its start right here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. According to this People story, the popular Smucker's Uncrustables are the hot go-to snack for many NFL players again this season, both during the game and while in training.
And, yes, Uncrustables can apparently be traced back to the Bold North. This Racket story says the snack, which has been popular for kids for over 25 years now, was first invented by Len Kretchman in Fergus Falls, Minnesota-- though Racket also says some sources claim he invented it in Fargo, North Dakota.
Four years after coming up with this round peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crust (BTW, Uncrustables says they send those unused crusts 'to companies who transform them into animal feed.'), Kretchman and his partners sold the idea to the food giant Smuckers for $1 million in 1999, and the Uncrustables phenomenon took off. Racket notes that the brand is now worth nearly a billion dollars.
And, yes, Uncrustables ARE popular in the NFL. People says the 24 NFL teams that took part in the survey reported that players easily eat "80,000 Uncrustables a year," the story said, with the Denver Broncos eating the most, downing around 700 a week. Our Minnesota Vikings are in the middle, Racket noted, eating approximately 200 Uncrustables a week.
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In case you're curious, HyVee is currently selling a 20-ounce box of Uncrustables (in the 10-count size) for $9.48 right now, though I'm guessing NFL teams probably have a deal to buy them direct from Smuckers (So, no, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell probably isn't making a last-minute Uncrustables run to the HyVee closest to the TCF Performance Center in Eagan...)
Speaking of the Vikings, we're not sure if Za'Darius Smith, who used to play here in Minnesota (but these days plays for the Cleveland Browns) likes Uncrustables or not, but we do know his kitchen was large enough to store several boxes of them. Keep scrolling to take a look at his former house here in Minnesota!
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Former Minnesota Viking Za'Darius Smith's Home
Gallery Credit: Curt St. John
