Chiefs teammates describe kicker Harrison Butker's 'insane' diet, including 2 steaks and 5 eggs each morning
- Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has one of the most reliable legs in all of football.
- Butker fuels his foot in an interesting way — with a diet that is basically all steak and rice, all the time.
PHOENIX — NFL players are finely tuned machines of athletic perfection, so it should come as no surprise that some keep strict diets to ensure they can compete in top form.
But while every player has their own way of reaching their peak, Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker might have the strictest and most intense diet of any athlete at Super Bowl LVII.
"He eats, like, five things," Chiefs fullback Michael Burton told Insider. "Steak, rice, berries, honey, and eggs. That's all he eats. It's insane."
According to his teammates, Butker's breakfast plates are especially daunting.
"That's a tricky question," Chiefs guard Andrew Wylie told Insider when asked if he had ever witnessed Butker having breakfast. "Because I have seen him eat a meal at breakfast. Not necessarily a breakfast food though. He's a steak and rice type of guy, so he has that for most of his meals for the day, if not all of them."
"It's unbelievable," Burton said of Butker's breakfast. "It's like five eggs, two steaks over a bed of rice."
"His breakfast plate is the biggest breakfast plate I've ever seen in my life," said reserve tight end Matt Bushman.
Chris Oladokun, a practice squad quarterback for Kansas City, said that Butker's impressive first meals have carried into Super Bowl week.
"I saw him eat breakfast this morning, and it was insane," Oladokun said on Monday. "He had two full beef filets, like a whole avocado, and a whole plate of rice.
"I left. I didn't even want to see him eat it. It was too gross. It was like 8 in the morning," he said. "We all watch it."
When approached about his diet, Butker first appealed that his teammates were taking it a bit further than was actually true, but then proceeded to confirm almost every aspect.
Asked about the claim that he eats just five foods, Butker argued it was an exaggeration.
So what foods does he eat?
"I eat steak, rice — does salt count? I'll put salt on it. Fruit, honey and some raw dairy. I'll throw that in there."
For those keeping score at home, that is five foods, six if you include salt, which we will not.
Butker cited professional bodybuilder and powerlifter Stan Efferding and his "vertical diet" as inspiration for his eating habits.
According to his website, Efferding has worked with athletes across sports, including Jon Jones of the UFC; Hafthor Bjornsson, better known as The Mountain from HBO's "Game of Thrones;" and Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who will be facing off against Butker in the Super Bowl.
For Butker, his diet is just what gets him going in the morning.
"Breakfast of champions," Butker said. "It sets me up for success. I get a lot of energy. I just like it. I love how I feel. Steak and rice, I can eat it and go and have a lot of energy, work out and do whatever. It's easy for me.
"Think about if I didn't eat the steak and rice, how much thinner I'd be. I need all the help I can get."
For Butker, it didn't used to be this way.
A scroll through his Instagram reveals that his second ever post was a heavily filtered (it was 2013, we were all doing it) photo of a molten chocolate cake.
"Heaven on Earth," Butker wrote a decade ago.
But now in the pros, Butker is doing all he can to stay in top form.
While the diet seems to work for Butker, his teammates aren't eager to go all-in on steak and rice with him.
"I mean, I've had steak and rice before. Who hasn't?" Wylie said. "But who has it three times a day for a year? He's truly something special.
"He's honed into his craft and what works for his body."