Connecticut was a toss-up between the OG, Floyd Little, and defensive end Dwight Freeney. While Little is a 5x NFL Pro Bowler and Football Hall of Fame inductee, Freeney has a longer list of notable accolades. Ironically, both Little and Freeney attended Syracuse for their collegiate football stints. Freeney was drafted eleventh overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2002 NFL Draft and a fifteen-year career flooded with accomplishments many NFL alumni never got the opportunity to experience.
First and foremost, Freeney is a Super Bowl Champion as a member of the Colts team who defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. In regards to his personal accomplishments, Freeney has notched seven Pro Bowl nods, three All-Pro First Team selections (2004, 2005, 2009), and named the 2004 NFL sack leader. With 332 tackles and 125.5 sacks, Freeney could be on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer himself.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.