Seventeen years ago, Brock Lesnar stepped out of the squared circle and on to the gridiron. The WWE superstar hadn’t played organized football since high school, but his athletic ability made the Vikings curious enough to give the muscle-bound homegrown talent an opportunity to compete in training camp as a defensive tackle.
On the surface, this seemed to be a publicity ploy for the former WWE champion, but there was reason to believe that Lesnar could defy the odds and embark on a legitimate professional sports career. Before Lesnar beat the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker, he was an amateur wrestling phenom at the University of Minnesota, where he captured the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling championship.
At 6’2″ and 285 pounds, Lesnar’s drill times and marks were downright impressive. With a reported 4.7-second 40-yard-dash time, 35-inch vertical leap, and 30 reps on the 225-pound bench press, Lesnar would have bested many DTs at the 2004 combine. For reference, No. 14 overall pick Tommie Harris ran a 4.78-second 40-yard-dash and posted 29 reps on the bench press before the Bears made him the first DT drafted in April.
Despite never playing football in college, Lesnar was still only 26 years old at the time and had real potential as a raw prospect. Still, there was one big problem – an April motorcycle accident left Lesnar with a busted jaw, a broken left hand, a bruised pelvis, and a pulled groin. Playing at less than 100% health, Lesnar’s unlikely mission became even more improbable.
After Lesnar missed the Vikings’ cut in late August, the Vikings offered him a spot on their NFL Europe affiliate team. Citing a desire to stay close to his family in the U.S., Lesnar left football, transitioned to MMA, and went on to become the heavyweight champion of the UFC.
Lesnar’s NFL career was short-lived, but his presence in camp was appreciated by Randy Moss, Nate Burleson, and other members of the Vikings’ locker room who grew up as wrasslin’ fans. Lesnar also got to put his WWE skills to good use while with the Vikes. When a Chiefs defender roughed up Daunte Culpepper during a summer scrimmage, Lesnar grabbed him by the waist, suplexed him high in the air, and slammed him on the turf. At least, that’s how Burleson remembers it.
“Before Lesnar beat the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker, he was an amateur wrestling…”
?
“Before (the script writers determined that) Lesnar (should) beat the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker (and predetermined that outcome), he was an amateur wrestling…”
Literally everyone knows wrestling is predetermined, so there’s no reason to try and look clever by pointing it out.
and you also had no need to get bothered by such action of pointing it out so…
I’m not bothered, just think people who trip over themselves to point out that wrestling is predetermined are trying really hard to show how smart they are. What’s next water is wet, the sky is blue? We get it and correcting a writer because the original commenter needed to show off how enlightened he is looks rude to me.
So, why talk about it as if it’s real…?
It was hyperbole. It’s a literary device.
It’s like saying John McClane beat Hans Gruber.
And to the Astros point below, I cannot argue with that. Actually, unfair to put wrestling in the Astros boat. One is (bad) acting, the other is despicable cheating.
People keep talking about the Astros world series like it’s real, and right now Bleacher Report is full of Jake Paul garbage. Pro wrestling is more legitimate than either of those things.
I bet you’re the guy who watches a magic show and has to point out how you think all the illusions are done, too.
Lesnar is legit a Beast.
Wrasslin? Really?
Are you actually upset that he used the term wrasslin? That’s funny.
Maybe he was intentionally using Randy Moss’ drawl there.
Second factual error in two articles. He was a freestyle wrestler, not Grecho-Roman.
C’mon guys.
You know what would make a better article? Who is the greatest wrestler that once played in the NFL? Tons to choose from – make a poll. Anything would be better than most of these ” this date in nfl history” fluff articles.
I assume you mean “had a successful NFL and wrestling career” when you say that. Steve McMichael would certainly be up there. He and Ernie Ladd, of the Chargers, are the two I can think of who had good careers in both the NFL and pro wrestling.
wahoo mcdaniel also comes to mind. A ton of guys that had a year or two in nfl then wrestling ( goldberg, lex luger).
True, but I think McMichael and Ladd had the best individuaL careers of all the guys who had two. A lot of guys spend a year or two in football and go to wrestling, or a few even vice versa (and that list gets even longer when including secondary football leagues like the USFL or including CFL).
It’s actually pretty hard to find someone who succeeded at both. McMichael and Ladd were both multiple year Pro Bowlers and Ring of Honor level players, and then got some well promoted matches in wrestling. It’s pretty impressive, and probably will be a while before we see something else similar.
Can you really retire from something you never did??
I guess I am a retired surgeon. I made it through 2 years of med school and dropped out. ♂️