Late in the 2015 season, LSU wide receiver Travin Dural suffered a torn hamstring that cut his season short and likely kept him from declaring for the NFL Draft. In his recovery after surgery, the senior receiver has gained about 30 pounds, but he has a pretty good reason for the weight gain: Popeye’s fried chicken.
Dural spoke with WWL’s Glenn Guilbeau about his weight gain and admitted that he had been eating a lot of Popeye’s. This accompanied by not being able to run or work out was the biggest reason for him putting on the poundage.
“Yeah, Popeyes was putting a lot of weight on me,” Dural said.
He talked about how his mother first noticed his weight gain and when she pointed it out to him, he knew it was time to make a change.
“I went home one day, and my mom was like, ‘Man, you look stuffed,’” Dural said. “So, that’s when I knew it was time for change. I was almost 230 pounds in the spring and I played at 203 last year.”
230 pound is not ideal for a slot receiver at all, but it is pretty suitable for a fullback, which is what running back coach Jabbar Juluke joked with Dural about. He didn’t take too kindly to that and worked even harder to cut weight again.
“And Coach Cameron made a couple of jokes about it,” Dural said. “I didn’t like the fullback and tight end jokes, so I knew I had to slim down. I had to stay away from Popeyes. Oh man, I tried to do a no-meat diet, but that failed miserably. That failed miserably in like two days.”
Luckily for Dural, he has cut down to around 205 pounds and is feeling pretty healthy after a pretty scary injury last year.
“I’m 100 percent,” he said. “I feel great. I feel light. I feel like I was never injured. My hamstring doesn’t bother me at all.”
In three seasons with LSU, Travin Dural has recorded 1,436 yards and 12 touchdowns, including 758 yards and seven touchdowns in 2014. I think his presence on the field is going to be huge for the Tigers.
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