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As a player, Jets' coach Todd Bowles was fueled by Quarter Pounders

Todd Bowles (AP)
Todd Bowles (AP)

These days, you would be hard-pressed to find an NFL player who doesn’t take his nutrition seriously. Sometimes it’s forced, as the New England Patriots have a dietitian on staff, Ted Harper, who keeps a careful eye on what the players eat, particularly inside the team facility.

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For other players, it’s a way of life: Tom Brady’s adherence to a strict diet has become Twitter fodder, and his new New York Jets teammates are seeing how Matt Forte’s clean eating habits are keeping him, just a couple of months from his 31st birthday, able to get 52 carries in the first two games of the season.

But while Forte is careful about what he puts in his body, his head coach wasn’t during his own playing days.

We had McDonald’s every day for lunch,” Bowles said on Monday, speaking of his days as a defensive back with Washington. “Quarter pounder with cheese, apple pie, french fries. Every day.”

Bowles spent seven years total with Washington; his first stint came from 1986-90, and the team made the postseason three of those five years, so it’s hard to argue that the players’ choice of food impacted their play.

“Friday was Italian day,” Bowles said. “We had pizza and Italian food. Monday through Thursday we had McDonald’s. It was brought in. Our lunch time was McDonald’s back then. Every day. No lie.”

Something tells us Forte and Brady would not approve.

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