Cajun cuisine and creole food can be found in any restaurant in New Orleans, but it tasted extra special at the Taste of the NFL’s, “Party with a Purpose” event held last Saturday. Crowds packed Hall J of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center the night before the Super Bowl 47 for one of the tastiest events in the Big Easy.
For 22 years now, the NFL has raised over $14 million for the millions of American’s who fight hunger every day. Each year, the host city of the Super Bowl hosts this event the night before the Super Bowl where they accumulate the country’s top chefs and the greatest former and current NFL athletes to raise money in support of the food banks throughout America.
Austen Lane, DE of the Jacksonville Jags, was honored to be a part of the Taste of the NFL for the second year in a row. Lane was one of the more recognizable players said, “I am here today raising money and awareness for the hungry. It’s a great cause worth supporting. “
Next to the invited chefs from each NFL city sat a cool cast of NFL players that served up autographs and food favorites to the crowd. The cool cast Pro Player Insiders ran into included: Austen Lane-Jaguars, Thomas Howard-Bengals, Chris Draft-Falcons,Jeff Byers-Panthers, Chester Pitts-Texans, Will Witherspoon-Titans, Kellen Winslow Sr.-Chargers, Qadry Ismail-Ravens, Floyd Little-HOF Broncos, Andre Reed-Bills, Joe DeLamielleure-HOF Bills, John Lynch-Bucs, Steve Grogan, Ted Grogan Ted Hendricks, and Jack Youngblood- HOF Rams, along with a long list of other popular players from the past and present.
This year’s event was hosted by two-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, author, and teacher, Andrew Zimmern. With great experience of hosting, Zimmern is also the host of Travel Channel’s Bizaarre Foods.
Also in attendance this year was Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan of Brooklyn, NY where she made one of her first public debut as the new Miss America. Bringing great entertainment to the night was Soul Asylum to perform hits from their triple-platinum album, “Grave Dancers Union.”
Stay tuned for more exclusive video interviews from the Taste of the NFL 2013.
–Kate Boseman contributed to this story.
