On Independence Day, Joey Chestnut still reigned supreme when it comes to the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest.
The 36-year-old scarfed down a world record 75 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes on Saturday to win the Mustard Yellow Belt for the 13th time in 14 years.
Although no fans could attend, people still watched it on TV and enjoyed it as usual. Well, not everybody.
Longtime NFL writer Peter King began trending on Twitter the following day after he took issue with the event.
King, one of the most-respected football reporters in the country, went as far to say that competitive eating is a “sin.”
“Never have. Never will. Not the point,” King said in response to someone telling him to just not watch it. “The fact is, ESPN celebrates the birthday of our country by airing a gluttonous, vomitous and grotesque event. Eating is not a sport. Competitive eating is a sin.”
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Social media, of course, ripped him a new one:
“It was hard,” said Chestnut, who consumed roughly 21,750 calories. “I knew I was fast in the beginning. It was like blistering speed. And the dogs were cooked really well today. Minute six is where I really missed the crowd … and I hit a wall, and it took me a little bit more work to get through it. This is a crazy year, and I’m happy I was able to get a record.”
The last time Chestnut lost this competition was in 2015 to Matt Stonie, who wasn’t able to compete this year because of travel restrictions.
