With Rob Gronkowski bouncing on WWE to resume his football career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we’re taking a look at five pro football players who made big splashes in the business. Names like Goldberg, Roman Reigns, and Ernie Ladd come to mind but what other players made a big splash?
Ernie Ladd (Defensive Tackle: San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers, Kansas City Chiefs)
Ladd began his football career in the AFL in 1961 with the San Diego Chargers. It would be with the Chargers that he experienced most of his success, winning the AFL Championship in 1963. Ernie Ladd also made his wrestling debut in 1961, wrestling in the off-season.
“Big Cat” would go on to be a pioneer in the business, being one of the first major Black heels in a company and was the first Black booker of a major territory, booking for Bill Watts’ Mid-South promotion. In his career, Ernie Ladd had been the heavyweight champion in several territories and as a charismatic 6’9, 290-pounders, he was a big draw all over the U.S during the 1960s and 1970s.
Goldberg (Defensive Tackle: Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons)
We can’t do a list of football players in wrestling without having Goldberg on the list. After an NFL career that finished up in 1995, Goldberg began his training in 1996. By 1997, he was in the ring for WCW. The rest is pretty much history. Undefeated streak, U.S Title, World Title, a streak was broken, poor Japan run, mediocre WWE runs, and returns.
His career is a mixed bag with conflicting reactions that have always seen him as a big to massive draw.
Bob Sapp (Guard: Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings)
“The Beast” had a very short football career that spanned 1997-1998. After being kicked out of the NFL because of steroid use, he fell on hard times and took to moving coffins to make money. In 2000, he would pick up a WCW contract and began wrestling in NWA Wildside in 2001.
Even though WCW was bought out by WWE that year, Sapp would go on to become a big star in Japan a year later. His career has seen him as a massive star in Japanese media, a big draw in Japanese MMA, and for a brief period, a big draw in puroresu as an invading MMA heel in New Japan where he was a one-time IWGP Heavyweight champion.
Mongo (Defensive Tackle: New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers)
Steve “Mongo” McMichael experienced most of his football success with the Bears, winning the Super Bowl in 1986 under Mike Ditka. While training with WCW, he was on-screen as a color commentator in 1995. This was the purest portion of Mongo’s wrestling career as he wasn’t bad bickering with heel commentator Bobby Heenan.
Then he got in the ring. I want to say “And the rest is history” but if you’ve never seen Mongo in the ring then you don’t understand how bad he was. That’s not a cool bad either, folks. He did have success in the business as a member of the Four Horsemen and winning the WCW U.S title in 1997.
Roman Reigns (Edmonton Eskimos)
Reigns had a very short pro career. He entered the NFL in 2007 but wouldn’t be on the field until 2008 when he joined the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. There he played five games before bouncing out on pro football. By 2010, he had signed a developmental contract with WWE. A veteran of NXT’s Florida Championship Wrestling period, he hit the main roster in 2012.
Roman Reigns’ WWE career has been mixed. In weird fashion, he’s an example of “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” He was very well received as the muscle of The Shield heel faction and gets little love to outright boos as a face. That aside, next to Ernie Ladd, Roman Reigns is the second most decorated former pro on the list and one of two to have been positioned as the top face in a major company.
Of course, this list doesn’t include The Rock–cousin of Roman Reigns–who was in the CFL but never played a game.
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