Aaron Rodgers has waved goodbye to his beloved "80/20 Rule".
The Packers quarterback long lived by a simple code when it came to his eating habits. If he ate healthy 80 percent of the time, he could eat whatever he wanted the other 20 percent. But as many of us know too well, maintaining peak fitness becomes more difficult as you age. Rodgers, now 32 and an 11-year NFL veteran, knew he had to become more disciplined.
His motivation came from the only quarterback in football more famous than him.
"To be honest, Tom Brady is an influencer there because of the stuff he talks about, and how healthy he is," Rodgers said, according to ESPN.com.
Brady has become a notorious health nut in the second half of his career, and his sustained level of success in his late 30s makes him a walking billboard for the benefits of a strict diet and exercise routine. Rodgers isn't the only one drawn toward Brady's example -- the quarterback is hawking a $200 "nutritional manual" that has sold out multiple pressings.
As for Rodgers, he has spent the offseason working closely with Adam Korzun, the Packers' director of performance nutrition. Together, the pair took a more scientific approach to what the quarterback put in his body. The result is a lower percentage of body fat that has Rodgers feeling like he's in the best shape of his life.
"I think it is all about finding ways to challenge yourself," Rodgers said last week at Packers organzied team activities. "And one area I've really focused on is working with Adam with my nutrition, and really thinking hard about that. We've talked about it the last few years, but even more this year -- just trying to be smart about my eating habits."
We've come a long way from the days when players smoked cigarettes, chugged gluttonous amounts of beer in the locker room and showed up to training camp with a spare tire. Brady will go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, but his disciplined approach to sustained greatness could end up being his most lasting legacy.