Kicking System Blog

Titans punter kicks bad nutrition Hentrich loses weight, feels much healthier

By Jim Wyatt • THE TENNESSEAN • May 15, 2009

Not long after the 2008 season, Craig Hentrich’s body told him time was up on his NFL career. Advertisement The Titans punter sat down with his wife and said he wasn’t sure he could play another season. His joints hurt, his body constantly ached. Health-wise he was miserable, and his mood wasn’t much better. “Here I was at 37 years old looking and feeling like I was 60 or 70,” Hentrich said. “Something needed to change.” Not long after that conversation, it did. Hentrich altered his lifestyle and now feels like a new man. After punting retirement talk and signing a new contract with the Titans, he’s preparing for his 16th NFL season. Hentrich credited his wife, Lisa, for steering him in the direction of Dr. John Chappell of Virginia Beach, Va. Now the punter is now on a strict diet based on Biblical principles. It has changed his outlook not just on football, but life. “I figured at the start of this thing if I was going to try and play again I was going to have to do something drastic to make myself feel better,” said Hentrich, who will turn 38 on Monday. “All the anti-inflammatories and medicines I was on, they weren’t helping me. I felt my body didn’t agree with me any more; I just didn’t feel good. Now I feel better than I’ve felt in a long, long time.” Hentrich certainly looks like a different guy than the one who walked out of the locker room in January. For starters, his weight is way down. As part of a “Wellness Diet” he began in February under Chappell’s direction, Hentrich lost 29 pounds, dropping from 217 to 188. The final 15 pounds came off during what he called a four-week “cleansing” or “detox” — when he didn’t chew food. He’s back up to around 197, which is where he plans to stay. Although his diet may be boring to some — he eats plenty of salads, fruits and organic food — it seems to be the perfect fuel for Hentrich. “He’s looking a little younger,” Titans kicker Rob Bironas said with a smile. “I know he is eating a lot better and taking care of himself. He said it’s a complete change in his way of eating and living. I am proud of him, and if it keeps him in this game longer I’m all for it.” Hentrich said he’ll remain on the diet “as long as I am standing.” It made the pain go away after more than a half-dozen surgeries during his NFL career, including two in the last four years on his neck. “My joints don’t hurt, I’ve been doing exercises I haven’t done in at least a dozen years in the weight room as far as squat work and leg work. My knees and legs hurt so bad, but now I feel stronger, feel healthier and I wake up with energy,” he said. “It has been a drastic change in my lifestyle. It’s been awesome, really. I haven’t taken as much as an Aspirin or Tylenol in four months, and I haven’t needed to.” Lisa Hentrich put her husband in touch with a friend in the music business, John Willis. According to Hentrich, Willis is in his 50s but acts like he’s in his 30s. His secret? The Wellness Diet, introduced to him by Chappell. Hentrich went to Virginia and met with Chappell, who also works in the ministry. Now they chat three or four times a week. The diet sprung from the book of Leviticus in the Bible, Chappell said. It is heavy on whole vegetables and vegetable juices, fruits and grains. Things such as beef, pork and cow’s milk are no-nos, as are alcohol and coffee. While he was hesitant to discuss the diet’s impact on Hentrich — “It’s best to ask him about the benefits,” Chappell said — he said the desired effect for the thousands of patients he’s worked with is the same. “I like to see people have their health restored,” he said. “God Almighty is the mastermind. I give credit where credit is due. … God says we’re supposed to eat (healthy).” Getting his family on board with the diet has been easy, Hentrich said, especially since he does most the cooking in the household. Living without coffee was a struggle at first — he used to drink four or five cups a day — and he also misses sweets, but he said the payback has been worth the sacrifices. Hentrich has yet to start his full-bore punting regimen in preparation for the season, so he admitted there is still some fear of the unknown as a result of his weight loss. “My leg feels just as strong if not stronger than it was,” he said, “so I am just waiting for things to come together as far as technique.” The two-time Pro Bowl selection struggled at times in 2008. He battled a midseason slump that caused his net average to drop to 36.5 yards, which tied for his lowest net since 2002. Yet he finished with an overall average of 42.8, higher than each of the previous two seasons. Hentrich now believes his punting problems went out the door with his extra weight. He might be giving up a lot of things, but football isn’t one of them. “I had so many things bothering me with my back and I just didn’t feel well and it created a lot of bad habits with my punting. I kind of got in a slump and couldn’t get out of it for a few games,” he said. “With feeling better and recovering quicker from the injuries you get every year, hopefully I won’t go through that again. “My outlook is I am going to go out there and do the job the best that I can, and if I feel like I can’t do the job for this team then I don’t need to be playing any more. But I feel like I can still do that, so I am going to try again.”

HENTRICH’S DIET

Who. Titans punter Craig Hentrich, contemplating retirement after 15 NFL seasons, in February started a diet under the direction of Virginia’s Dr. John Chappell.
What. Chappell’s “Wellness Diet” is based on Biblical principles and stresses vegetables, vegetable juices, fruits and grains.
Results. Hentrich weighed 217 pounds when he started the diet. He dropped to 188 but is now back around 197, where he plans to stay. “It’s the best thing I have done in a long, long time,” he said.
Food Hentrich can eat in unlimited amounts. Fresh whole vegetables, fresh vegetable juices, fruits, brown rice, herbal teas, fish (unprocessed without skin and organs), fowl (unprocessed without skin and organs), wild game and lamb.
Food Hentrich can eat in moderation. Grains (examples spelt, millet, buckwheat, quinoa and kamut), eggs (organic), seeds and nuts, butter (organic), sea salt and extra virgin olive oil.
Food Hentrich can eat in limited amounts. Goat’s milk, buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit juices from a juicer. Sweets have to be all natural sweetened with honey, molasses and maple syrup, fruit juice, dates, raisins.
Food Hentrich can’t eat. Cow’s milk, alcohol, beef, pork and shellfish, refined sweeteners, refined grains, anything with refined sugars, margarine, additives, coffee and Aspartame.
The hard part for Hentrich. Giving up coffee, but he said he doesn’t need it any more. “I used to drink coffee four or five times a day. But the reason I probably drank so much coffee was because I was tired and run down all the time. I was trying to wake myself up during the day. Now I feel great.”
—JIM WYATT