Popeyes chicken can be pretty delicious. One LSU football player knows that quite well.
LSU fifth-year senior wide receiver Travin Dural suffered a torn hamstring in November that required surgery that prevented him from using his lower buddy during recovery. It was his torso — or more specifically, his gut — that ended up paying the price.
Dural ended up gaining around 30 pounds because he was unable to exercise while recovering from the hamstring surgery. He told WWL TV that Popeyes fried chicken was the main culprit for his weight gain.
“Yeah, Popeyes was putting a lot of weight on me,” Dural told WWL.
He says he went from his playing weight of around 203 pounds to almost 230 pounds in the spring.
Dural knew things had gotten out of hand with his weight when he started being subjected to many jokes about it.
“And Coach Cameron made a couple of jokes about it,” Dural said. “I didn’t like the fullback and tight end jokes, so I knew I had to slim down. I had to stay away from Popeyes. Oh man, I tried to do a no-meat diet, but that failed miserably. That failed miserably in like two days.”
Dural said he never had to watch his diet until then because he exercised so much. But after the fried chicken debacle, he switched to grilled chicken and eating more salads. Now he’s back to his normal weight.
Dural is looking to improve upon last season where he caught 28 passes for 533 yards and three touchdowns. Being back at his normal weight should help. He also reminds us that unless you’re this man, you need to be careful about what you eat — even if you’re an athlete.
