Willis Going Green?

A good article by Terry Hutchens.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Nobody will ever mistake Darius Willis for a vegetarian.
Indiana's Darius Willis rushed for 67.4 yards per game last season. His plan to stay on the field for the Hoosiers this year? More vegetables (sometimes smothered in hot sauce), less pizza and wings.
Not a chance.
The Indiana redshirt sophomore tailback has spent his life despising vegetables of all shapes and colors. Carrots? Not happening. Green beans? Not in this mouth. Broccoli? He'd probably rather wear black and gold.
But in the past few months, Willis has learned he no longer has a choice. What his mother couldn't force him to do as a child, football might.
After suffering a variety of injuries, IU's leading returning rusher has decided healthier eating could improve his chances of staying on the field. That means limiting fried foods and revamping a steady diet of wings, pizza or sandwiches.
"I'm convinced that not eating well was hurting my recovery time on some of my injuries," Willis said. "I think eating better could make me a different player."
So he is going green. Kind of.
"I cut the vegetables into small pieces and then I mix everything with hot sauce," Willis said, sporting a sly grin. "When I finally get around to eating them, I just take a lot of little baby bites until I get used to it."
Willis' aversion to vegetables started early. When he was a toddler, the smells drove him a different direction and no matter what his mother tried, Willis wouldn't budge.
"He would eat corn, either in the can or on the cob, but that was it," said Tracy Wynn, Willis' mother. "I tried and tried, but I couldn't get him to eat them. A few times I would catch him scooping the vegetables off his plate and on to the floor so the dog would get them.
"He was pretty much impossible when it came to vegetables of just about any kind."
Now he's eating asparagus, carrots, celery, collard greens, green beans and peas.
He hopes the ankle, rib and shoulder problems will become a thing of the past. Even with those injuries, the former Franklin Central High School standout ran for 607 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He topped 100 yards against Michigan, Northwestern and Purdue.
"I just want to play all four quarters of every game so I can help my team out as much as I can," Willis said. "I missed too many games last year and I just don't want that to happen again."
IU opens practice today, and a healthy Willis thinks he has the potential to be a part of a potent offense.
"When you have playmakers like Tandon (Doss), Damarlo (Belcher) and (Ben) Chappell, we have a chance to be in every game,'' Willis said. "And when you have that kind of talent at receiver, I just think it opens up a lot more things for the running game. I think we could score a lot of points this year.''