We’re not here to tell NFL players how to get ready for a game, but maybe Cam Skattebo’s pregame snack isn’t one to copy. Early in Thursday Night Football, the Giants running back reportedly threw up on the sideline, drawing a quick response from the team’s medical staff.
With flu season underway, it made sense that people were concerned. Skattebo, though, seemed to laugh after getting sick and appeared to wave off the doctors who came to check on him.
After the game, he explained that he wasn’t ill or nervous. The culprit, he said, was a pretzel-wrapped hot dog he’d eaten before kickoff. He got sick, then felt fine afterward.
I’m a fan of pretzel dogs. Adding “pretzel” to a lot of foods does seem to improve them. But it’s a pretty heavy thing to eat before playing a professional sport. I sometimes wonder whether it’s wise to have a protein bar half an hour before a workout; Skattebo, meanwhile, had a pretzel dog before an NFL game.
So where did he get it? Teams usually provide players with a pregame meal several hours before kickoff, and those menus tend to focus on lean protein, with nutrition closely monitored. A pretzel dog seems unlikely to have been part of the team spread.
That sent me looking around the area near the stadium. Wetzel’s Pretzels is just off the I-95 exit on the way there, and I can’t help wondering whether Skattebo stopped in for a Wetzel Dog. No offense to the restaurant; it’s just an amusing possibility that one of its hot dogs may have unsettled an NFL player’s stomach before kickoff.
