PUYALLUP — If you ever took a gander at the sea of fans at a Seattle Mariners or Seahawks game, you might have seen a person dancing with broccoli in both hands.
Jim Stewart Allen, also known as the Broccoli Guy or Broccoli Man, has become recognizable to many. People have posted videos of him on social media, acknowledging his presence and asking for his story.
“It’s just silly, fun, spontaneous and joyful,” Allen, 33, told the Puyallup Herald.
Broccoli is Allen’s favorite vegetable, and he likes to eat it raw. He used to avoid eating vegetables as a child. One of the reasons he dances with broccoli now is to be a healthy role model for children and adults, he said.
“It looks like natural pom poms,” Allen said. “It’s big, it’s vibrant, and it kind of looks like my hair.”
In addition to Mariners and Seahawks games, Allen has danced in front of the Seattle Seawolves and Seattle Kraken. Allen travels from Puyallup to any Seattle-based sporting event if he’s not too busy or tired, he said.
Allen’s routine involves purchasing broccoli from a local grocery store or produce stand on the day of a game. He arrives at the stadium right when it opens and dances in front of his seat while watching the crowd fill in.
He chooses seats where there is “good energy” around or someplace where people are intrigued by his broccoli and dance moves. He might also sit someplace where he can be alone.
“As long as I’m sitting down at the right times and making sure I’m not in anyone’s way or invading anyone’s boundaries, then I’m doing a good job,” Allen said. “The real trick is I dance whenever there’s music.”
His dancing career didn’t begin with the green vegetable.
In 2019, he made a pit stop at a local grocery store to buy an energy drink, during which he saw a display of russet potatoes. He was on his way to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise and thought it would be cool if he danced with some at the game.
“I just really liked that a football game was sponsored by a vegetable,” Allen said. “It’s really cool. It’s a cool vibe.”
When Allen isn’t dancing at sporting events, he works as a K-12 substitute teacher in the Puyallup School District. He’s been with the district for about eight years. Not all students and parents know him as the Broccoli Guy, he said.
Substitute teachers usually move into full-time positions when the time is right, but Allen said he’s been “doggedly stuck” in his position because he loves it. Part of his mission is to improve conditions for substitute teachers, he said.
Allen used to be an in-building substitute teacher at Maplewood Elementary School at 1110 W. Pioneer Ave. He had an office and worked with a specific community. That position was cut last year so now he floats from school to school, he said.
“I’m fighting for that job back because I think it’s really valuable to have substitute teachers that are a part of the community,” Allen said.
