Jordan Mazur ’12 (CAHNR) dreamed of making the National Football League when he graduated from UConn, and he has accomplished that goal with the San Francisco 49ers.
No, you won’t see him on TV with a jersey and helmet as a player — Mazur works behind the scenes, helping the players on the field stay in top shape as the director of nutrition for the NFC West team.
“I oversee every player’s nutrition and have an individualized meal plan for each of them,” says Mazur, a native of Suffield, Connecticut. “I monitor body weight and composition and, along with our sports medicine team, look at a player’s blood work for micronutrient, vitamin, and mineral levels.”
Then he uses the data to customize what each player eats, working with the team chefs and cafeteria staff on what is served during training camp, on practice, recovery, and game days, at the team hotel, and even on the plane for road games.
The meals blend lean protein, whole grains, and plenty of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Mazur’s players, for example, might have a choice between grass-fed flank steak with brown rice, broccoli, organic berries, avocado, and almonds or grilled free-range chicken breast with quinoa, Brussels sprouts, kiwi, avocado, and pistachios.
Mazur says a sports nutrition class he took at UConn piqued his interest in the field. “The class opened my eyes to how nutrition can help enhance performance in athletes,” he says. Nancy Rodriguez “really was the first professor to inspire me and let me know that this field was even something I could … make a career in.”
He added a master’s degree from Florida State and had stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and the University of California before landing his current gig six years ago.
