FOXBOROUGH - Vince Wilfork was no different than many other professional athletes who have retired following a successful career.
He spent many sleepless nights wondering: What’s next?
The Patriots two-time Super Bowl champion, who retired in 2017 at age 36, tried everything.
“I got into trucking, I got into real estate, I got into a lot of stuff,” he told MassLive recently, “but it really wasn’t something that was me.”
Then, two years ago, late Colts owner Jim Irsay invited the Patriots great to attend a concert in Boston. That trip inspired Wilfork’s next chapter.
“We stayed at the Four Seasons. Across the street was the Farmer’s Market,” Wilfork said. “There was tents and everything. I was with my wife (Yunka).”
Wilfork had dabbled in barbecue, which should come as no surprise given a viral video showing him smoking ribs, shirtless, in overalls.
He even co-hosted the Food Network’s “NFL Tailgate Takedown” for a few seasons, but Wilfork wanted and needed to do something more fulfilling.
Walking around Boston, it hit him what his next endeavor was going to be.
“Right then and there, it was like, ‘We’re going to do sauce’ because I want to be there (at the Farmer’s Market),” Wilfork said. “I want to be right there, right on Boylston, at the Farmer’s Market, selling my sauce.”
It was perfect. There was family symmetry. The Patriots Hall of Famer comes from four generations of cooks, including his late father David, who was a “barbecue guy.”
Given the video, and the tailgate show, Wilfork was constantly being stopped by fans, asking for barbecue suggestions.
“People thought I had restaurants. So it was always something,” Wilfork said. “But that day, I took it seriously.”
The past two years, Wilfork, who made an appearance in Foxborough at the Patriots’ Thursday night win over the New York Jets, has been consumed with coming up with just the right sauce, and a distinct flavor.
“I’d make batch after batch after batch trying to find the one,” Wilfork said. “My wife can tell you, there would be nights I wouldn’t sleep. It’d be up til like two-and-three in the morning, just working. Once I go down that rabbit hole, and I’d find something I like … then I’d have to figure out the next four things. And it just never stopped.”
Wilfork had a taste in mind. It was inspired by his father’s homemade sauce. And similar to his mindset taking on double-teams, he wasn’t going to be denied. He consulted chefs he had worked with on the tailgate show. And they provided helpful hints about cooking, spices, etc.
“It’s hard to explain, because all barbecue sauces are different,” Wilfork said. “And it was a special taste I was looking for. My wife will tell you I made over 100 sauces. Then, I finally got it … trust me, you know it when you get it ... I just took what my dad created, and perfected it."
Vince Wilfork
New England Patriots legend Vince Wilfork poses with bottles of his new venture, GHI75 BBQ sauce.(Courtesy Vince Wilfork)
Now Wilfork fancies himself a “sauce-ologist.” And the sauce he created has finally arrived.
It’s called “GHI75″ and comes in three flavors: Original, Hickory & Brown sugar, Sweet & Spicy.
Currently, it’s available on Wilfork’s website (theofficialghi75), Joe’s Butcher & Bay in Foxborough, and The Brook casino in Seabrook, N.H., where he was Saturday, providing complimentary BBQ dishes featuring his sauce.
Earlier in the summer, he tested it out at a food fair. The results?
“It’s one thing for me to be like, ‘Man this is a great sauce.’ I created it, I knew the taste I was going for. But it’s another thing when you put it in front of other people. What is their reaction? What do they say about the sauce?” Wilfork said. “I was nervous about it, even though I knew I had a good product.”
The feedback was positive. He didn’t hear anything that made him cringe or made him feel like the sauce wasn’t good, or would turn out a bust.
“There wasn’t one person that walked away, saying, ‘Nah, I’m not buying this,’'’ Wilfork said. ”It almost brought tears, because people don’t understand the hard work, what I put behind it. And while I’m doing this, I’m thinking of my father. Because this is what we did."
MassLive’s Nick O’Malley also reviewed the sauces over the weekend and gave them a thumbs up.
The GHI75 sauce handle, which is also the name of his company, stands for “Gotta Have It.”
“Growing up, I used to hear that a lot from my father. And when I got here, and in college, those situations in football, those gotta have it situations, I’ve been hearing it my whole life,” Wilfork said. “So when I did the sauce, because my father was big into BBQ, I just put it together. Cuz, it’s me. It’s from my childhood growing up, and from sport. I gotta have it.”
Since the start of the Patriots season, Wilfork, who predicted beforehand the team would “shock” the world and be contenders, has spent a lot of time in the area, taking part in events in the community with veterans, firefighters and police officers, as well as pitching his new sauce.
“My setup is here. I owe it to the fans to start here,” said Wilfork, who has homes in Florida and Houston. “I owe it to fans start here. New England area has first dibs.
“I feel the same as about this (venture), as I did going into the NFL,” Wilfork said. “I’m the 4th generation of cooks in my family. There’s a long lineage. I grew up around it.
“It’s natural. That’s why I knew that was my calling. When I retired, I was trying to figure out that passion ... I know food. That’s what I’m passionate about.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.