The Food That Almost Cost Joe Montana A Super Bowl Win

They say, "you are what you eat." After all, food provides fuel, and in everyday life, it's important to provide the body nutritious and satisfying meals to keep everything on track. When it comes to professional athletes, the food they eat before training or for a game is even more fundamental. Athletes need nutrient-dense meals that will give them the required energy to sustain several hours of intense playing. Professional athletes know all too well what they need to eat to sustain their athletic performance — or at least they should know. 

But even so, there was one time that famous NFL Hall of Famer, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, and four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana (via Yahoo) didn't eat properly before a famous Super Bowl game. And, in an interview with Delish, he shared how those decisions almost had negative implications for him and his team during Super Bowl XXIII in 1989. It sounds scary, but we do know that nothing dramatic happened because Montana lived to tell the tale — and share it with all his fans now.

Joe Montana is quick to admit that he didn't eat enough food during that big game, and it really affected him. As he told Delish, "I had eaten a steak [the night before], but the problem was it was a long way before the game." He believed that, "If your stomach was less full but had enough food ... it would give you enough energy," though he soon discovered his way of thinking was way off.

The football star also realized another issue was, instead of eating healthy snacks, he was drinking liquids to fill up. "I was supplementing with Roger Craig [who] had a ginseng mix that believed it gave him energy," Montana noted. "So I was taking a couple of those throughout the day." And yet maybe the biggest culprit was he was munching on Snickers candy bars, which is not exactly a sustainable source of energy. 

The problem with Montana's food intake was that it caused him to lose consciousness for a moment during the game, a moment he's confident was brought on "from lack of energy and the excitement." But, the good news is the 49ers did win the game and, after this experience, the NFL star ate more before games and became one of the most revered pro athletes of all time.