Falcons get healthy dose of food at camp

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For all the NFL’s spectacle — Super Bowl halftime show, the Lambeau Leap, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders — this past weekend brought the renewal of one of the league’s most awe-inspring experiences: the preseason dining hall, where for decades the players creed has been chew, swallow or get out of the way.

Think a teenager will eat you out of house and home? Try sating 80 professional football players for four meals every day for a month.

The number of diners grows to 250 when coaches and support staff are thrown in. Add visitors and corporate sponsors and you’re looking at 1,200 meals a day.

The Falcons opened camp Friday and this much is certain. There is going to be the mother of all grocery bills.

Before it’s all over and the final roster is set, the team will have gone through as many as 600 pounds of bacon, 500 gallons of milk, 1,300 pounds of fish and 4,800 pounds of chicken. And that’s all without colossal Grady Jackson, the 350-pound noseguard, on the team this season.

The responsibility of feeding all those people belongs to Susan Haynes. What started as a one-time catering job for the Falcons has grown into a near year-long operation. The family business, Turnstile Pro Culinary Service, became the team’s full-time food provider eight years ago. She operates from the team’s Flowery Branch headquarters in a kitchen and dining room remodeled just for her company.

While they serve Falcons players and coaches all but two months of the year, no time is more hectic than training camp, with two-a-day drills for an expanded roster. Haynes employs a crew of 30 working in three shifts. The breakfast chef begins at 4 a.m. and the last chef leaves at 12:30 a.m. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late-night snack.

“We call it a snack but I always think of a snack as just a bag of chips,” Haynes said. “This is almost another full meal.”

In the new-thinking NFL and with the new Falcons staff, there is a measured approach to food. Gone are the belly-busting days when Haynes was expected to provide tons of comfort food such as fried chicken and barbecued ribs.

“It’s not like it was 10 years ago,” Haynes said. “The NFL has taken on a different focus as far as nutrition equals strength and conditioning equals players not being injured as much. I’m on my third strength and conditioning staff in this transition and they really are amazing. ... We want the players to be at their peak performance. That’s their goal. That’s my goal.”

Don’t think the players don’t notice. Linebacker Coy Wire spent six seasons in Buffalo before dining at Chez Falcon.

“It really is the best,” Wire said. “That was one of the noticeable differences when I came here. Everything about this organization is first class, even the food.”

Last May, Falcons director of athletic performance Jeff Fish worked with Haynes to design meals around the training camp schedule.

“A lot of teams contract out to a company that provides food,” Fish said. “They provide the food but not food for optimal performance. You might get a high-fat, high-calorie meal before a big practice. ... We got involved to get the right types of food with the right types of energy sources.”

Even those late-night snacks are laid out with a purpose. There are high-protein shakes and food to address tissue damage overnight and are designed for a specific player’s needs.

However, there are still the occasional pig-outs with cookies and brownies.

“They understand their need for sweets,” Haynes said.

The job does come with special orders. For instance, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and new tight end Tony Gonzalez are vegans. So Haynes orders tofu and bean burgers and installed a bean bar.

“Several others on staff lean toward vegetarianism,” Haynes said. “We make sure we have all the things they like. I know everybody and everybody knows me. They know if there is anything they want special, they can just come and ask me. I might not be able to have it for them at that meal, but I’ll have it at the next meal. ... We want to make them feel at home.”

For Haynes, the long hours and hectic schedule are a labor of love. She misses the players who have come and gone, fondly remembering names like Warrick Dunn, Todd Weiner and Jackson. She also embraces the new faces, the undrafted rookies chasing a dream and understands their plight.

She has become part of the team.

“That’s the beauty of the Falcons organization,” Haynes said. “They make everyone feel a part of the team. There are so many times after a win I’ll go up to coach [Mike Smith] and say, ‘congratulations.’ And he’ll say, ‘Congratulations to you, you made this happen, too.’ ”