Jamir Miller launches Crave Potato Chips

Jamir Miller has stepped off the football field and into the culinary field.

The retired All-Pro linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns is launching Crave, a line of healthier potato chips. He is debuting the product this weekend with free samples at the NASCAR Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Miller, now CEO of the Scottsdale-based Crave, has maintained a residence in Scottsdale since his playing days with the Arizona Cardinals in the 1990s. He developed the chips in his kitchen and believes in their nutritional advantages. The chips are made with U.S. potatoes and kettle-cooked in safflower and sunflower oils.

Crave will be released with four different flavors, three of which will be gluten-free as well.

"The bottom line is I love to eat, and as an athlete I was always conscious of what I put in my body,"Miller said.

"We looked at the marketplace (of potato chips), and it is a category that can definitely be improved upon."

After the brand's debut this weekend, Crave's marketing plan calls for the chips to be promoted at 11 NASCAR events throughout the country. Miller estimated the launch would help the company reach 75 million potential customers.

"In essence, they put on a Super Bowl every weekend,"Miller said.

Not only do the NASCAR events allow Crave to reach a large number of people, Miller said those at the track are the perfect potential customers.

Miller preferred to keep private all details on how the venture was being financed. He hopes to have the chips on store shelves by the end of May and in coast-to-coast distribution by the end of this year.

The chips are manufactured in metro Phoenix.