Exiting college at Fresno State in 2013, the read on Davante Adams was a little lukewarm. All the buzzwords NFL teams like attached to their wide receivers were there: Long-limbed. Sure-handed. Terrific athlete. Intriguing. But also, according to one NFL scout, “a poor man's Michael Crabtree.”

Ultimately picked 53rd in the draft by the Green Bay Packers, at first Adams did little to counteract that narrative. There were flashes of brilliance throughout his rookie season, but it’s hard to stand out when you’re the third option behind guys like Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. His sophomore season, self-admittedly, was a disaster plagued by ankle issues and culminated with a knee injury during Green Bay’s wild card game against Washington that ended his season for good.

With some time to reflect as he healed up, Adams took a hard look at how his career was trending and decided to make some major changes, specifically to his body and diet. But whereas most pro athletes look to add on muscle and mass, Adams went the opposite route, opting to slim down in an attempt to make himself a better fit within the Packers’s high-octane offense. The gamble paid off—two-time First Team All-Pro, five Pro Bowls, the sixth best player in the entire damn league at any position this season, according to his own peers. The only thing really missing from the resume at this point is a ring, which Adams and the Packers will begin their quest for this Sunday as the odds-on Super Bowl favorites.

We caught up with Adams during Green Bay’s bye week to discuss the changes that not just saved, but propelled his career, plus the mentality it takes to become one of the best wide receivers the NFL has ever seen.

GQ: This is your eighth year in the league, and in that time you’ve established yourself as one of the best players in the NFL. But what about your diet and nutrition? Has that changed much since your rookie season?

Davante Adams: It’s a world of a difference. My first two years in the league, going into my third season, there was no structure whatsoever. I was eating like a kid. I was a lot heavier at that point. I came into the league at, like, 215 pounds. Right now, I’m 202. I’ve learned a lot about my body and how to keep it at a manageable weight for the type of ball we play, which is fast-paced, getting on the ball, and playing at Aaron [Rodgers’s] speed. Being a big, bulky receiver is not the way, so I had to make changes. It was a little bit of diet, and the way I would lift weights was a lot different at that point, as well. But I would just eat whatever—a lot of beef— and have way too many I’m full moments. Now I don’t really ever get to that point. The way I eat now is completely switched up. The times when I eat, the portion sizes, all of that changed.

I definitely want to get into the specifics of that, but you mentioned the style of football that you guys are playing with the Packers, which I think is really interesting. That idea of molding yourself and your body to be the best version of yourself for what the team is trying to do, how did that conversation first start?

If you look at the body type that I had, I came in and I was just swole. You know, big traps. That’s how my body responds when I lift really heavy, I just blow up. And on top of that, I was just eating a lot more food. It wasn’t like I was fat, it wasn’t necessarily a problem. But my first two years weren’t really it in the league. My rookie year was solid and I showed flashes but then second year, I had a really bad year and ended up hurting my knee at the end of the season. Coming into training camp, our offense was even faster than what we do now. The tempo was much faster. So I put the onus on me to figure out a way to be able to run as much as I want. I’m not a guy who likes to sub out of a game. Then it became a combination of me working with our strength staff and coaches.

You can see it in your stats—year three there is just a massive uptick across the board. Which is even more impressive coming off that injury.

I started putting on a little bit more weight because of the knee injury because I couldn’t move around. That’s what got me started with thinking about my portion sizes. I was like, Well, if I can’t run, I’m not able to get that kind of cardio, then I can’t feed myself the same way.

Right now we’re deep into the season. You have a bye week, but we’re into the postseason. At this juncture, what does a typical day of eating look like for you?

Well, it depends when I get my lift in. If it’s a really early workout, I may decide I want to do some fasted cardio. So I’ll get in there and run around a little bit before I do my breakfast. Usually I’ll start off my day with that workout. I’m not big on protein—I’ve never really been huge on just jamming a bunch of protein in your body because I feel like there’s a lot of other ways to [get those benefits]. I really put protein powder down for three, three-and-a-half years. But the Optimum Nutrition whey protein really changed the ballgame for me. I need something that is going to taste good and that I can trust the ingredients—the NFL is pretty strict with how they deem stuff as performance-enhancing, so you really can’t play around with that stuff. Recently, that has been the easiest thing for me to get my day started with.

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So I get that workout in, get my protein shake in, and then get my breakfast. If I feel like having something a little lighter, it’ll be an acai bowl with granola, sliced fruits, and honey on top. That’s my go-to on a lighter day. An off-day type breakfast, I’ll come in and get something like two pancakes and two scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon. Or just a regular scramble with bell pepper and bacon. I kind of mix it up a little bit. One thing that I’ve gotten into recently, which is still kind of light for me, is two over-medium eggs with a little shredded cheese over the top and chopped up bacon bits. I’ll have that with a little bit of hash browns, make sort of a hash browns skillet out of that.

And then I’m guessing most of your day is then spent at the practice facility if it’s not a game day. Is that a bring your lunch to work type situation?

This is one thing I love about the Packers: they are on top of their shit with the meals. It’s like restaurant quality food. I’ve only ever been on the Packers, but I’ve heard so many terrible stories about other teams not putting that time of effort and commitment into their player’s diets. Since COVID, we’re able to pick out of two different things that they have for the day. Usually I gravitate towards the fish or chicken options throughout the week. Today was salmon, seasoned really, really well. It had, like, a sweet-chili glaze on it with some good brown rice and steamed vegetables. And by the end of the day, you’ve got anything from braised short ribs to jambalaya—all different types of stuff. Green Bay makes it so easy and I usually trust them with those meals. I’ll even grab a dinner for my daughter and wife, too. They love the food from the stadium. We all kind of eat the same thing.

Does your routine change drastically on a game day, or do you like to try to keep it consistent with the rest of your week?

I don’t typically eat a whole lot leading up to the games. If it’s a night game, I’ll have something small in the morning, something small at lunch, and then maybe I’ll squeeze a quick snack in before, but it’s never really more than two meals before a night game.

I’d imagine that means the next day your diet is pretty heavily influenced by whatever your recovery process may be.

If I’ve got any type of issues as far as my energy levels go, the amino energy drink from Optimum is so good. That caffeine, it kind of gives me the little spark early in the morning that you especially need with chasing kids around. And I always get a protein shake in on my off days because we’ve always got a flush workout we’ve got to do by noon. I’ll go in and do some Graston and different things to get some of that lactic acid out of my legs. Knock that out, get a meal in me, and on my way home enjoy my protein shake.

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I gotta ask, what’s your go-to protein powder flavor?

My go-to is chocolate with, like, 90 percent of things in general. The first flavor I tried was chocolate. It was already cemented in my mind. I like chocolate ice cream shakes, as well. I definitely live in the chocolate world.

After your morning workout, are you getting fancy with your protein shake? You know, adding in fruits or nuts or anything?

Nah. Like I said, I’ve never really been a big protein guy like that. It’s always been pretty surface level with me. Typically just mixing it with water. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve never really been huge into milk like that, so it’s always been tough for me to add that into the protein shakes. I save that for the milkshakes. Water and powder has been my go-to, and that’s what has been working.

Playing for the Packers, you’re part of a successful franchise that’s typically making playoff runs, so your season usually extends a bit longer than other players. I’m curious, are you the type of guy who likes to shut things down for a bit once a season is over? Just stop thinking about your diet and the workouts for a few weeks?

I was actually having this conversation with somebody earlier today. I used to take, at a minimum, a week and a half to just let my body relax, not do anything. You know, my body has been beat up for the last six months! Car accident after car accident. So why would I just go and beat up more on my body right away? But over the past three or four years, I kind of switched it up. More of, Keep doing something but take it easier than what you were. I don’t like getting back into the groove not having run for almost two weeks. Because when I was chilling, I was chilling. Kicking my feet up and relaxing. And it wasn’t a laziness thing whatsoever. It was more like, you just put your body through hell. But I found now that the recipe for me is to keep the wheels turning to keep everything as fresh as possible. Especially mentally. You don’t realize how much you can do for yourself mentally by keeping workouts the priority rather than laying off a little too much. I really didn’t like how my body was responding to that before.

I was looking at your career stats, and there was one number in particular that really jumped out to me: Your first down receiving stat over the last three seasons. It’s increased from 54 to 73 to 84, which reads to me as a fairly significant jump. And when we’re talking about first downs, often you’re fighting for yardage, those are physical runs. So I’m curious, have you made any adjustments over the last few seasons to ready your body for more of those physical receptions?

Well, I always want to be the guy on every play, but a lot of that is more maturity and discipline. There hasn’t been a whole lot of extra effort put in body-wise to get ready for that. Obviously my quarterback and the type of connection we’ve built up makes it easier. And the plays are more so made so I’m not having to be physical. My coaches do a really good job of making sure they get me into space, regardless of how I’m being played. This year there have been some ridiculous coverages they’ve thrown on me, so finding a way either way has been my mentality and it’s definitely paid off on third downs. I’m just so tapped into winning every single time I have a route out there, and I take every single rep like it’s third down. Every time I go line up and I have a route, whether it’s against zone or man, I’m going to run it one-hundred percent. I’m going to try to make it look like Teach Tape every single time.

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