According to ESPN, Tennessee Titan linebacker Derrick Morgan and his wife, Charity, switched to a plant-based diet 10 months ago after learning about the many benefits. Their decision to go vegan has since inspired more than a quarter of the team to ditch animal products.

While some of Morgan’s teammates teased him at first, slowly but surely they came around—even asking to be put on the same meal plan. Brian Orakpo, who was at first skeptical but is now vegan, said: "We all get around this table and have a feast. Everybody is making plays. Everybody is healthy. Everybody is eating right."

The team believes a plant-based diet helps them keep off unwanted pounds, recover faster and play better—all without giving up their favorite foods. As Derrick Morgan said in an interview, "It's not a real sacrifice as far as flavor goes."

Eating a vegan diet is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Experts have discovered that a plant-based diet reduces one’s risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In fact, researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that long-term vegetarians live on average 3.6 years longer than their meat-eating counterparts.

Morgan and his teammates join a long list of athletes who’ve reaped the benefits of a vegan diet. Fellow NFL player David Carter, tennis champ Serena Williams, bodybuilder and strongman competitor Patrik Baboumian, and countless others thrive on a nutritious plant-based diet.

Watch this video of badass professional vegan athletes:

Eating plant-based foods isn’t just great for your health. It also protects the planet and spares farmed animals a life of misery.

Pigs, cows, and chickens at factory farms are treated as mere objects. Their short lives are filled with misery and pain. They’re subjected to extreme confinement; barbaric mutilations; and bloody, violent deaths.

Check out some tasty plant-based recipes.