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TOP FIVE WRESTLERS WHO PLAYED COLLEGE FOOTBALL

From the testosterone-fuelled world of college and NCAAF football to the testosterone-fuelled world of professional wrestling…the leap, perhaps, isn’t as great as it may first appear.

Many of the attributes the stars of WWE need – power, strength, bravery, resistance to injury – are useful to have in football too, so maybe it’s no huge surprise to note that many superstars have spent their younger years out on the field.

Indeed, some legendary Hall of Famers and current WWE stars have plotted a path from football to the squared circle. Here’s a pick of the bunch.

'The Rock and John Cena' - Ed Webster via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Rock

Dwayne Johnson was considered a highly promising footballer as a younger man. He attended the University of Miami, and was part of the Hurricanes team that went on to win the National Championship in 1991.

The artist, latterly known as The Rock, then went after a pro contract, and found some success in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders.

However, Johnson found himself cut from the roster shortly into the 1995 season, and that was the trigger for him to follow in the footsteps of his legendary Anoa'i family into the world of wrestling.

In hindsight, it was a pretty good decision!

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Long before he became ‘Stone Cold’, plain old Steve Anderson was a defensive end who many felt would go a long way in football.

His big break came in the form of a scholarship at Wharton County Junior College, before he later transferred to the University of North Texas which was his old stomping ground.

However, the Rattlesnake soon decided that a career in tights and boots was for him, and he signed up to the Chris Adams wrestling school in Dallas.

The rest, as they say, is history.

"Stone Cold Steve Austin" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

 

John Cena

Given that his uncle was the former pro baseball star Tony Lupien, it was always likely that John Cena would make waves in the world of sport.

Privately educated, Cena went on to study exercise science at Springfield College in Massachusetts and, after joining the football team, he went on to become an NCAA Division III All-American.

He took his jersey number, 54, from those days with him into the WWE, and it featured on numerous pieces of merch that he wore while strutting his stuff in the ring.

Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns, or Leati Joseph Anoa’i to give him his birth name, look destined for a career in the paid football ranks.

After a sizzling college career, Reigns was named in the 2007 NFL draft and, while he went undrafted, subsequent contracts with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars were latterly signed. Alas, the complications of leukaemia, which have also blighted his wrestling career, would mean his football career went unfulfilled.

"2013-11-08_20-07-13_NEX-6_7554_DxO" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by miguel.discart

At college level, Reigns was a star. He was a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, earning All-ACC first-team honors in 2006 with a state sheet that included 40 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Sadly for Reigns, recent years have been rather fallow for Georgia Tech, who currently sit bottom of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. As such, they tend to be well backed against in the sportsbooks’ latest NCAA American football odds, and could probably do with somebody of Reigns’ ability to help rally the troops.

Goldberg

Before spearing his way to the top of the wrestling world, Bill Goldberg made NFL history.

Okay, so it wasn’t for all the right reasons: he became the first player in history to be cut by the Carolina Panthers who, at the time in 1995, were the latest expansion franchise.

The former Georgia Bulldog was highly respected in the college ranks and was picked up by the Los Angeles Rams straight out of school, before a stint with the Atlanta Falcons.

Like so many, a freak injury ultimately ended Goldberg’s football dreams, but at least he had a wrestling career to fall back on.

So, keep a close eye on college football: it’s an excellent breeding ground for the next generation of WWE stars!

 

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