The words “vegan” and “NFL player” don’t often appear in the same sentence, but defensive end David Carter is proving just how compatible the vegan diet can be with maintaining a (non-kicker) pro-football physique.

When redditor rachelatcheson asked in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) why he chose to dump animal products from his diet, Carter explains, “I was suffering from extreme tendonitis, high blood pressure, [and] nerve damage at 23 …”

But after viewing the popular food doc Forks Over Knives, he “realized I was feeding all of my illnesses with the food I was putting in my body. My wife had been vegan for six years before me, so that had a lot to do with it, but I didn’t change until I began to educate myself.”

Now the 6’5″ footballer is a two-year vegan partnering with Vegan Outreach, “traveling the country as a public speaker and humane educator” and “focus[ing] much of my outreach to communities of color to create a more inclusive movement.”

As he shares in his AMA, he’s actively convincing other pro athletes to try eating vegan, educating the public on potential health benefits, and showing off his muscles as visual proof to debunk the ol’ “only meat has protein” stereotype.

Here are a few of the top answers from his AMA:

Convincing Other Athletes to Go Veg

A Day in the Life of the 300-Pound Vegan

Does He Like “Fake Meat”?

Why 300?

Making the Vegan Community More Inclusive

Omnivore-Pleasing Vegan Snacks?

To read all of Carter’s responses to redditors’ questions, check out the original AMA discussion.