In a delightful intersection of sports and snacks, the New York Times recently published an investigation into one of the NFL’s most beloved locker room staples – the Uncrustable sandwich. From Super Bowl quarterback Brock Purdy to coach Andy Reid, these frozen peanut butter and jelly confections have become an unexpected mainstay of professional football nutrition.
The numbers are staggering: NFL teams collectively consume between 3,600 and 4,300 Uncrustables weekly, or roughly the weight of three Travis Kelces. This amounts to at least 80,000 per year which would cover over 18 yards of a football field.
Of the 24 out of the 32 NFL teams who responded to the survey, the Denver Broncos lead the league in consumption at 700 per week, while the New Orleans Saints maintain a more modest appetite at 50 weekly sandwiches.
Former Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark compares their arrival to the invention of the cell phone: “When they came out it was like, ‘Duh, why did someone not think of this a looong time ago?'” The appeal isn’t just about taste – it’s about practicality. As former Colts center Jeff Saturday puts it, “You could throw your playbook on top of ’em, didn’t make any difference. Squished, unsquished, you’re gonna crush it.”
Today, they’re deeply embedded in NFL culture. San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle eats up to four on flight days, while Travis Kelce claims he eats them more than “anything else in the world.” Some even credit them with Super Bowl success – the Colts ate them during their 2007 victory over the Bears.
Born in the mid-1990s in a small Minnesota kitchen, these circular, crustless sandwiches were the brainchild of Len and Emily Kretchman. Using nothing more sophisticated than a drinking glass to cut perfectly round shapes from regular bread, they solved the age-old problem of leaking jelly by developing a unique “blob in the middle” technique. After being acquired by Smucker’s in 1999, they transformed from a kitchen experiment into a nationwide phenomenon – and eventually, an NFL essential.
While nutritionists might not recommend frozen, processed PB&Js as their top choice, they acknowledge the practicality: quick carbohydrates from the bread and jelly, plus fat and protein from the peanut butter, all in a convenient, comfort-food package. Though the grape versus strawberry debate rages on, one thing’s certain – these humble sandwiches have secured their place in professional football’s pantheon of beloved snacks.