David Carter, otherwise known as The 300 Pound Vegan, signed a one-year contract last week with the Chicago Bears. Though he played for the Arizona Cardinals 2011 to 2012 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2013, this upcoming season with the Bears is the first Carter will play on a vegan diet. On his popular blog The 300 Pound Vegan, Carter writes that his vegan and animal-activist wife Paige inspired him to go plant-based, and though he at first struggled to maintain his weight, he experienced numerous performance benefits, including increased strength, energy, speed, and recovery turn-over. Carter has become one of the most vocal vegans and animal-rights activists in professional sports: he tracks his diet and “plant-based muscle” building on his blog, participated in the 2015 National Animal Rights Day, and posed on the cover of vegan magazine Laika with Paige. On his blog, Carter explains that “the ethical vegan was born when … I learned that you don’t need to take a life to gain muscle or survive … anything else is cruel and unnecessary punishment to animals, the planet, and the body as well.” We hope the Bears’ home stadium Soldier Field will add delicious vegan options to its menu to celebrate Carter’s (and his fans’) cruelty-free diet.

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