As of this past December, Seattle Seahawks free safety and giver of hugs Earl Thomas was on pace for his sixth career Pro Bowl. But then, a freak collision with teammate Kam Chancellor left Thomas with a broken tibia and doubts about his future in the NFL. We checked in with the former Super Bowl champ after the holidays to see how his road to recovery looks now, and if a broken leg changes the way a pro athlete eats.

GQ: Right off the bat, I have to ask, how’s the leg doing?

Earl Thomas: Oh, my leg is good, bro. Actually, I went to the doctor yesterday and they put me in a—it’s not really a walking boot, but a little shoe that they put on my cast. It allows me to put, like, 25 percent pressure on my leg. So I feel like I’m in a great place, especially being four weeks out.

That’s great to hear. I have to imagine that your diet becomes even more important for you while you’re working through this injury.

That’s so true. Right now, it’s really tough to get a sweat in. I think that it’s really important to sweat. But just sitting around, doing whatever, it’s easy to gain weight. So when the leg does get healthy, now you’ve got to run all that weight off. So I’m tuned into that and I’m just really fortunate to have a balanced diet.

It has to be so tempting to think, “I can’t even put weight on my leg for a couple weeks, I might as well enjoy a Big Mac,” though.

My thought process was more drastic, because I was on the verge of retirement. Luckily my mind isn’t there anymore, but this isn’t my rookie year. I’m getting older, plus now the leg injury. I’ve really got to be on point with my exercise and diet. I know I can’t go and tear up McDonald’s. No. I know I need to put good stuff in my body.

So has your diet changed at all right now compared to how it normally would be if you didn’t go down with the injury? Anything to address that you can’t really work out right now?

I’m so active during the season that it’s kind of tough to keep things consistent. When I’m really in it, when I’m playing, I’m so active and busy. My diet can be really sporadic because I can get lost in my work and just forget to eat. So right now, all I can do is control what I can control, and that is making sure I get my breakfast, a nice lunch, and a nice dinner. And I’ve been trying to make sure my core stays strong. Doing a lot of crunches, keeping my core tight and where it needs to be. That’s basically all I can do right now.

For most people in your position, I would think that they would automatically decrease the amount of calories they’re consuming.

I just can’t live my life thinking that much about it. I would drive myself crazy. I don’t want food to be stressful. Honestly, I think I have a phobia with that. I’m not the type of guy to track my calories. I’m always conscious, but I’m going to enjoy life. My wife is from New Orleans, bro, so if I’m down there for Mardi Gras, they have some of the best food around! I gotta try it!

There’s nothing worse than going on vacation or a trip to someplace new and you’re trying new foods and someone is like “Mmm, I’ll just have a salad.” Get the gumbo!

So true.

You mentioned before that you’re paying more attention to getting a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner in now. What do those meals typically look like? Is it typically high protein or…?

I’d put it in the category of high protein. And my wife does a really good job of mixing things up. I’m not a really picky eater. That’s probably why my diet has been so varied before this. But my morning go-to is an omelet with fresh spinach and bacon jerky. For lunch, maybe a bowl of pasta. Penne with shrimp. But, you know, I love chicken. I love steak. I love cabbage. Like I said, my wife does a good job mixing it up.

And dinner?

We really do love a great gumbo at dinner time. Maybe some baked cabbage, cabbage over rice. That sounds good to me.

That sounds like it might be on the docket for dinner tonight.

Yeah. My wife makes a good gumbo.

Any desserts, or have those been totally banned while you’re healing up?

Oh, man. I love sweet potato pie, so on Christmas I got that. I just totally stuffed myself with sweet potato pie.

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