Former Seahawk John Moffitt on What it Took to Maintain His 315-Pound Weight

Welcome back to Open Wide, a new column from KIRO Radio's Rachel Belle that explores the eating habits of Seattle notables.

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[Photos: S. Pratt]

John Moffit said he "quit his job" back in mid-November. His job happened to be playing professional football for the NFL. A former Seattle Seahawk, 27-year-old Moffitt quit two games into his first season with the Denver Broncos because he was bored with the game and feared brain injury. As an offensive guard, Moffitt couldn't drop below 315-pounds and says he would sometimes eat multiple appetizers, entrees and a dessert in a single restaurant meal and then go home for a midnight snack, just to keep his weight up.

But now that he's enjoying his new football-free life, he's all about getting healthy. Since healthy is no fun, Rachel Belle grilled John about what it takes to feed a football player.

When you were 320 pounds you say you were insatiable. What did you like to eat when you had to pack on some extra pounds?
Me and my girlfriend crafted, in our kitchen because I like to cook, these disgusting things. The big one for us was fried cheese. You take a pan, you get it really hot and you just throw in shredded cheese and just let it burn and flip it over. That was a big one. Bacon was a big one so I would do all kinds of stuff with bacon. My favorite was bacon and chocolate. I took bacon, fried it, and I'd put a little chocolate square on top of it and eat it like a little bite.

What is your favorite spot to eat in Seattle?
I have a favorite restaurant in almost every food category. So, steak, I'm really big into John Howie. Nishino has amazing sushi. Umi Sake House. I love Umi. I love their omakase because I think the fish is really fresh. And I do the Badboy Roll. I love that roll. There's one more good one, The Cassanova.

You're from Connecticut, played college football in Wisconsin and spent a lot of time in Denver. What foods do you miss from the other cities you've lived in?
Madison was big [on] fried foods. Fried cheese curds, Friday night fish fry, the whole thing. And beer in Madison. You can drink like 10 beers in Madison and people would be like, 'Oh, you're going light tonight?' AA does not exist in that state. They really do consume more beer than anyone else in the country. So I love that aspect. The east coast, Italian food and pizza. The sushi out here is unbelievable, it's way better than the east coast, but the pizza on the east coast, where I'm from in New Haven [Connecticut], is like the best pizza. Sally's Apizza is rated among the best, the Top 10 in the world.

So you're a beer drinker! You must be loving the beer scene here in the northwest.
I love Georgetown [Brewing Company]. I love all their stuff. They've got Lucille. Big time IPA.

What restaurants should we frequent if we want to have Seahawks sightings?
A lot of guys like to go to Bellevue. A lot of guys will hit Joey's and Earls and then go out to Seattle. We're all big on Umi. Me and Breno [Giacomini] and Russell [Wilson], and a few of those guys, love to go to Umi Sake House.
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